The Kalamazoo Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP) is a consortium of West Michigan Cancer Center, Borgess Medical Center and Bronson Methodist Hospital which serve as referral centers for the 9- county Southwest Michigan area. The Kalamazoo CCOP has been successful in the development of clinical trial infrastructure, accruing cancer patients into clinical trials and individuals into prevention trial. The overall objective is to enroll more patients on clinical trials by incorporating clinical trial within the practice of community oncologists and physicians to better care for the population they serve and meet the needs of the NCI clinical trials research program.
The specific aims to accomplish this will include: Initiate a new CCOP administrative structure, leadership transition, and formal mentoring of junior investigators. This enhanced research infrastructure will provide improved opportunities to expand effective enrollment into NCI sponsored trials in the proposed funding years and in the future. Maximize trial menu diversity, availability and enrollment opportunities by substantial increase in research bases and a more thorough trial selection and patient screening process. Develop at least 3 new satellite clinic relationships with the infrastructure to increase enrollment. Continue to improve the academic quality and clinical research potential of the CCOP participating cancer specialists both at WMCC, the collaborating hospitals, and the new Western Michigan University (WMU) School of Medicine, which should enhance enrollment. Continue to enhance accrual of the uninsured/underinsured, underserved and minority patients onto clinical trials, through collaboration with community programs such as the Family Health Center and the Hispanic American Council, and our development of a network of outlying satellite clinics capable of enrollment of rural patients onto CCOP trials. Through the support of WMCC, the development of clinical research faculty in the medical school and a partnership with another CCOP prepare the Kalamazoo CCOP for an N-CORP application.
The Kalamazoo CCOP has and will continue to address the challenges facing clinical research and practice, continue medical progress that benefits patients, providers and society and assist with the translation of research into practice. The Kalamazoo CCOP will contribute to the goals of the CCOP network by increasing community involvement, expanding access to clinical trials to minorities, women and the underserved and accelerating the transfer of knowledge gained from clinical trials.
