The National Cancer Institute has recognized that the majority of cancer patients are treated in the community setting. The Kalamazoo hospitals intend to form a community clinical oncology program which will expand the availability of clinical research to cancer patients treated in this community. The expanded use of formal research protocols is expected to speed the transfer of newly developed cancer treatment technology to widespread use within the community and increase the speed with which valuable research data is gathered. The two community hospitals (Borgess Medical Center and Bronson Methodist Hospital) serve as the cancer care referral centers for a defined population of 790,000 people living in the nine counties comprising Southwestern Michigan. The hospitals provide 937 patient care beds and a total of 76 dedicated oncology unit beds. Approximately 1500 new cancer patients are diagnosed and treated in the community each year. Local oncologists have extensive experience in managing patients on national cooperative group protocols. A computerized cancer data management system has been established for following all patients treated in the community. The cancer care services are coordinated through the Kalamazoo Community Hospital Oncology Program (KCHOP). Multidisciplinary committees of physicians have reviewed current literature and developed 34 site specific patient management guidelines outlining criteria for diagnosis, pretreatment evaluation, staging, multidisciplinary consultation, and followup care. As part of the Kalamazoo Community Clinical Oncology Program (KCCOP), these guidelines will be modified and used to communicate the availability of high priority research protocols to all local physicians. In addition, the same research bases will be used by all local oncologists. Each protocol will be reviewed by the KCCOP Clinical Research Committee which includes all practicing oncologists, as well as, primary physicians. Protocols will also be reviewed by the appropriate multidisciplinary physician site committees. The communication, organization, and coordination of the KCCOP, combined with a commitment to excellence in patient care, should result in more than 100 eligible cancer patients being formally entered onto high priority clinical research protocols annually. We believe this will benefit our cancer patient population and contribute valuable data toward advances in cancer care.
