The Grand Rapids Community Clinical Oncology Program is a consortium effort built upon a six-year history of cooperative effort in cancer control through the Grand Rapids Clinical Oncology Program. The present effort binds together the five acute care hospitals in Grand Rapids, Michigan and includes ten medical oncologists, four radiation oncologists, three oncology specialists (surgical, gynecological, immunological) and four hematologists in a cooperative consortium organization devoted to clinical research. The SOUTHWEST ONCOLOGY GROUP (SWOG) has been selected as our major research base (145 cases) with secondary affiliation with the Comprehensive Cancer Center of Metropolitan Detroit (CCCMD) - Wayne State University (15 cases); the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABBP) (34 cases) and the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) (16 cases). Two thousand eight hundred and forty three new cases of cancer were diagnosed in the Kent County area in 1981, approximately 1,500 of which were referred to the CCOP team. Our total pledge of 211 cases for clinical trials is, we believe, an enthusiastic but conservative estimate of our ability to serve as a resource for clinical research. The proposed organizational structure represents what we feel is a realistic solution to the problems of operating a five-hospital, multi-investigator program. Our cost per case is $513, which we feel will be among the more economically efficient CCOP applicants. The Grand Rapids CCOP proposes a cost-efficient, community consortium capable of making a significant contribution, in quality and quantity to the national clinical research effort, at the same time, improving the delivery of optimum cancer care to the patients in our care.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 174 publications
