The Mercy Hospital Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP) is located in Scranton, Pennsylvania, a regional nationally noted for its cancer incidence rate and elderly populations which rank significantly higher than the remainder of the United States. The expansion and development of clinical research and cancer control programs by Mercy Hospital has been a documented part of our growth this past decade. Our goals closely parallel those of the National Cancer Institute in that the keys to achieving NCI's Year 2000 goals lie in the rapid transfer of cancer research and cancer control technology into the community setting through the linking of specialists, primary care physicians and institutions committed to quality cancer care; the implementation of sound data management practices; the implementation of clinical research and cancer control protocols sponsored by recognized national research bases and the development of regional systems to stimulate, initiate and evaluate programs involving ever- widening segments of the regional medical community. These components are functioning successfully at Mercy Hospital today but can become much more effective as part of the National CCOP effort. By focusing all CCOP activities initially at the host institution, Mercy Hospital, the home base of many core and supporting investigators, we will be able to expand outward during the next decade to make available the benefits of the CCOP program to a population base which exceeds 800,000. The Mercy Hospital CCOP, through its partnership with a combination of 8 medical oncologists and radiotherapists will achieve its program goals by placing 105 patients on clinical research and 214 on cancer control protocols in the initial CCOP program year by utilizing the protocols of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG); the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) and the Fox Chase Cancer Center (FCCC) and the services of 2 full time data managers and a minimum of 6 support staff individuals, the services of several to be contributed to the project by Mercy Hospital. Total credits anticipated in the initial program year are 89 clinical research credits and 114 cancer control credits.
