As a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Network Lead Academic Participating Site (NLAPS), Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) will provide leadership and robust accruals for the National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) Program. As evidenced by our prior success as a NCI U10-funded NLAPS partner, the HCI NLAPS will contribute to the development and conduct of clinical trials in association with SWOG, NRG Oncology, and Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology (ALLIANCE) NCTN Groups, as well as substantial accrual to clinical trials across the entire NCTN. The HCI NLAPS executive team is well-qualified and experienced in cooperative group research. The PI, David Gaffney, MD, PhD, is a radiation oncologist with a long history of leadership and participation in NCTN activities. HCI's faculty adds significantly to the leadership of the NCTN program through participation on steering committees, task forces, and group activities. In the past four years, three HCI faculty were national principal investigators (PIs, study chairs); two faculty members are national PIs of pending trials. HCI has a strong, established commitment to participation in NCTN trials. In 2017, 18% (96/532) of HCI therapeutic accruals were made to NCTN trials and, consistently, >50 NCTN therapeutic trials are open, including rare disease trials. In 2016, 27% of all HCI trials (n=67) were for rare cancers. HCI saw a greater than 50% growth in NCTN accruals in the past U10-funded grant cycle: from 61 to 96 in grant years 1- 4. HCI has a vigorous and growing clinical trials program, with strong commitment from the University of Utah, substantial philanthropic support, state-of-the-art facilities, a dedicated Cancer Hospital, and a centralized infrastructure for its clinical research enterprise housed in new, contiguous space. Our Center also has unique assets of value to clinical research, including rural and Native American populations, an NCI Center for Quantitative Imaging Excellence, and the Utah Population Database, a powerful interlinkage of population- based genealogical data and statewide medical and vital records. In 2015, HCI advanced to Comprehensive Cancer Center status, receiving an overall merit descriptor of `Exceptional'. Housed at the University of Utah, the only academic medical center in the Mountain West, HCI draws cancer clinical trial patients from across Utah, as well as from Idaho, Nevada, Montana, and Wyoming, and provides near-exclusive access to this patient population. As a NLAPS, HCI will be a strong, committed, and sustaining partner to the NCTN program as a cancer center characterized by expertise, leadership, and active accrual. HCI will work vigorously to ensure the success of the NCTN's cooperative endeavors to eradicate cancer.
Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) will provide leadership in the development and conduct of NCTN cooperative clinical trials; robust accrual of patients from the Mountain West to a broad array of NCTN trials, including trials in rare cancers; and unique assets that can contribute value to the NCTN Program. HCI will work vigorously to ensure the success of the NCTN's cooperative endeavors to eradicate cancer.
