Physician Data Query
Meaning of Physician Data Query: Two versions of every summary, one technical and one plain, drawn from the same reviewed evidence rather than written independently.
Definition of Physician Data Query
Physician Data Query, almost always shortened to PDQ, is the cancer information database of the National Cancer Institute. Its core is a set of summaries on treatment, screening, prevention, genetics, supportive care and complementary approaches, each maintained by an editorial board of specialists and issued in two versions, one written for clinicians and one for patients.
What is in it?
| Component | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Cancer information summaries | Treatment, screening, prevention, genetics, supportive and palliative care, integrative therapies |
| Drug information summaries | Plain descriptions of drugs approved for cancer and conditions related to it |
| Clinical trials registry | Searchable listings of studies open to enrollment, and records of closed ones |
| Dictionaries | Definitions of cancer terms, drugs and genetics terms for a general reader |
Directories of cancer professionals and organizations were part of the database in earlier years and are no longer maintained, so the current content centers on the summaries, the registry and the drug information.
Who writes it and how is it reviewed?
Each summary belongs to an editorial board of specialists, not to a single author, and boards meet on a schedule to review new published evidence and revise the text. Statements are tied to the strength of the evidence behind them rather than to the opinion of the board, and summaries carry explicit levels of evidence for the studies they cite. Nothing in the database is advertising, and the boards are independent of the National Institutes of Health offices that fund research. This is why the resource is treated as a reference point rather than as one source among many, and why a summary read at two different times may differ.
Why are there two versions of everything?
The health professional version uses technical vocabulary, cites trials by name and reports outcomes in the terms a clinician needs. The patient version presents the same conclusions in ordinary words, without assuming prior knowledge. They are not different documents with different content: they are the same evidence written for two audiences, so a patient and a clinician reading their respective versions are working from the same source. For readers who want help by telephone or online chat rather than a document, the Cancer Information Service answers questions directly, and the summaries on prevention and screening are among the most used sections of the database.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
The oncologist referenced the Physician Data Query summary while discussing treatment options with the patient.
Good to know
Physician Data Query summaries are published in a version intended for health professionals and a separate version intended for patients, which differ in level of technical detail rather than in the underlying information.