The Iowa Oncology Research Association (IORA) is a multidisciplinary consortium of four Des Moines and two Mason City, Iowa hospitals and their surgical, medical and radiation oncologists and related non-physician cancer care staffs. The IORA has been a principal member of the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) since 1979, and has secondary research bases with ECOG, NSABP, and CCG. The IORA was awarded a CCOP-I grant in 1983. It was refunded in 1986 with CCOP-II and in 1990 with CCOP- III. In recompetition for CCOP-IV in 1993, the IORA was not funded due to deficiencies in cancer control/prevention accrual. Since then, this deficiency has been addressed and corrected. In 1992, the IORA consortium added two hospitals in Mason City (North Central Iowa) and their staff in medical, surgical, and radiation oncology. Demographically, these two catchment areas represent 34% of the entire state's population of which 51% are rural Americans. The South Central area is 11,500 sq. miles and the North Central area is 5,850 sq. miles. The goals of IORA are: 1) Expand its clinical research efforts in cancer treatment and cancer control/prevention through participation of its investigators and patient population in NCI supported trials and research bases (NCCTG, NSABP, CCG); 2) Improve the quality of oncologic care of Iowans by use of state of the art protocol treatments and the diffusion of knowledge that clinical trials bring for even the non-protocol patients and their treating physicians; 3) Sustain the valuable network of cancer clinical researchers and providers in Iowa who collaborate in NCI approved treatment and prevention trials and other endeavors such as the NCI's SEER program, the CDC's NIOSH Demonstration Cancer Control Project for farmers, NCI Patterns of Care Studies, implementing the NCI's five-A-Day Program in local grocery stores, and NCI's Train the Trainers Smoking Cessation; 4) Increase the community's participation in cancer prevention through NSABP's PI Breast Cancer Prevention Trial and the SWOG's Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (SWOG 9217); 5) Recruitment of primary care physician involvement in cancer; 6) Iowa is 97% Caucasian and thus traditionally defined minority groups are infrequent in our population base, but overall rural Americans are a minority in the USA population (30% in the 1990 Census) and our program does attract these people. The IORA has a proven tract record as an efficient and disciplined team of investigators who come from two strategically located Iowa communities that encompass six hospitals, eight major group practices, 37 physicians, 5 clinical research associates, and 19 nurses. The IORA will continue to enthusiastically emphasize quality, accrual, and economy in its research efforts if awarded a CCOP-V grant. IORA's past accrual credits for cancer treatment and cancer control/prevention has respectively been: 1994 89.3/117.9, 1993 85.2/10.3, 1992 106/8.4, 1991 124.5/23.8. Accrual to cancer control/prevention has been rectified, and IORA is in the top 25 sites for accrual to SWOG's PCPT.
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