In response to RFA-CA-13-013, the Carle Cancer Center, a 30 year legacy Community Clinical Oncology Program, is applying for funding to continue its strong commitment to advance and provide cancer prevention, control, screening, and treatment research in the community setting. Dedicated staff and a strong history of high quality and timely data, all while often exceeding accrual goals, has earned Carle the reputation that it has today. Moving forward with cancer care delivery research (CCDR), Carle's strength is a health care system that is highly integrated from top to bottom (organizationally and electronically), comprised of over 370 primary care and specialty physicians all invested in a research culture. Adding to that is a large electronically accessible insurance plan spanning multiple states and a service population that is largely rural and underserved. One previously untapped resource in the Carle community, the heavily NIH funded University of Illinois, has similar aligned interests and is pushing the Carle Cancer Center research initiatives and insight to even higher levels. One of Carle's chief initiatives is to dissect and analyze the surrounding underserved rural population in order to formulate the right questions and address the correct barriers to care. Learning the targets for intervention may facilitate CCDR as a whole. Carle's talented and experienced research team, based on years of experience in NCI initiated clinical trials, has rapidly acquired the skills needed to be productive and successful in cancer care delivery research. Already CCDR accrual accounts for one half of last year's total accrual. Carle Cancer Center projects an increase in cancer treatment contributions with the addition of research oriented specialty surgeons and physicians. Cancer site specialization by physicians and staff, quality initiatives, multiple multidisciplinary tumor boards, an ability to participatein imaging initiatives and bio specimen trials all attest that research treatment options will take te highest priority. Joining in our efforts will be component institutions, Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora, Illinois and Franciscan St. Anthony Health in Michigan City, Indiana. Both bring many years of collaborative experience and serve populations that would embrace participation in cancer care delivery research. Together, the research enterprise through the years is strong, data quality is excellent, and regulatory processes are extensive and impeccable.
The Carle Cancer Research team is at the helm of a large highly integrated health system with all the components to efficiently explore and advance community cancer care delivery as well as promote and develop state of the art treatment trials. Carle as an institution enthusiastically embraces the goals and aims of the newly formed NCI Community Oncology Research Program.
| Himelstein, Andrew L; Foster, Jared C; Khatcheressian, James L et al. (2017) Effect of Longer-Interval vs Standard Dosing of Zoledronic Acid on Skeletal Events in Patients With Bone Metastases: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA 317:48-58 |
