The Mayo Clinic, through the vehicle of the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) and, increasingly, through the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology (aka, Alliance or ACTION), will serve as a primary research base for the 34 CCOPs with current NCCTG affiliations, providing both treatment and cancer control trials. We will also serve as a research base for cancer control and treatment protocol activity of non-CCOP members of the NCCTG. We will cooperate with our affiliated CCOPs and other members in conducting appropriate continuing education and workshops. The research base will provide training and active support for their data managers/research associates and oncology nurses. We will coordinate their multidisciplinary involvement in clinical cancer research protocols. By group meetings involving NCCTG and Alliance members, we will facilitate the review of ongoing research, plan future research and conduct related professional activities. The research bases will continue the rigid quality control procedures which have proved so successful in the past, and upgrade these procedures as indicated. We will constantly monitor CCOP and member performance, not only by timely review of patient accrual, data sheets, pathology material, operative reports, and radiation therapy port films, but also by periodic, randomly-scheduled monitoring site visits. The research bases will work with investigators and members in preparing publications as well as presentations for national and regional meetings. We will make every effort to provide members with reasons to be proud of their participation in the National Cancer Program. Our focus, over this grant period, will be on the further expansion of our cancer control efforts to include high priority symptoms adversely affecting completion of cancer treatment as well as survivorship quality, cancer prevention, and screening. We will incorporate associated basic laboratory support, leading to scientifically rigorous translational research efforts. Lastly, we will strive to meld ourselves, with two other current cooperative oncology groups (CALGB and ACOSOG) to become one Alliance group to continue the efforts described in this current grant proposal.
This project is very relevant to public health as cancer is such a large clinical problem leading to substantial disability and death. This program will define optimal means for controlling symptoms related to cancer and/or cancer therapy along with investigating methods to detect cancer early and prevent cancer. It will involve academic medical centers and also non-academic cancer clinical practice sites.
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