At the University of California San Francisco Comprehensive Cancer Center,
a computer database system was created using the FileMaker Pro database pro
gram. The system allows the clinical team to bring together data from all a
spects of a multidisciplinary effort toward improving daily clinical manage
ment, for research, and ultimately, for the clinical standard of care for m
elanoma patients. With modest objectives during the initiation of the datab
ase, its adaptability has allowed it to become an integral link in all the
efforts of the melanoma program. For the future, tapping into the immense p
otential of the Internet has begun to organize multicenter efforts. Through
nationwide collaboration, the Sentinel Lymph Node Working Group will be ab
le to follow, on a larger scale, the successes of the FileMaker pro databas
e at the UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center.