The San Gabriel Valley Community Clinical Oncology Program, a multihospital consortium including Community Hospital of San Gabriel, San Gabriel; Methodist Hospital of Southern California, Arcadia; St. Luke Hospital, Pasadena; and Huntington Memorial Hospital, Pasadena has been formed to develop a joint clinical cancer program for our community. This consortium is applying to NCI for funding under a cooperative agreement in order to bring advantages of clinical research to cancer patients within our community by having practicing community physicians participate in appropriate clinical treatment research protocols; reduce the national cancer mortality through the transfer of newly developed cancer treatment technology to participating physicians and their patients in a timely manner; assist NCI in testing the diffusion hypothesis which presumes that the introduction of clinical treatment research protocols will also benefit those cancer patients who are not treated as part of those protocols; develop community programs which will serve as part of a nationwide resource for quality-controlled distribution of increasing numbers of experimental anti-cancer agents; and involve a wider segment of the community in cancer control activities and facilitate greater participation by community hospitals and physicians in future cancer control and prevention research activities planned by NCI. Professionals at the member institutions of the San Gabriel Valley Community Clinical Oncology Program treat over 90% of the estimated total number of cancer cases in their service area. Using conservative figures, it is estimated that 102 evaluable cancer patients will be accrued for high priority protocols through the professionals at the member institutions, thereby exceeding the minimum of 50 patients per year requirement. Research Base affiliation agreements have been made with the Southwest Oncology Group and the Gastrointestinal Tumor Study Group. A Memorandum of Understanding to affiliate has been accepted with the University of Southern California Cancer Center. These agreements have been made based on clinical research interests, patient load characteristics and available high priority protocols which includes Phase I, II and III protocols of special interest to San Gabriel Valley CCOP physicians.
