) Malignant brain tumors are highly lethal cancers. Despite considerable efforts at improving treatment through advances in neurosurgical technique, neuroimaging, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, the overall prognosis of patients with malignant brain tumors remains grim. To improve outcome, coordinated clinical research is required to evaluate promising new treatment approaches. Laboratory studies of basic brain tumor biology are needed to develop more effective and better tolerated therapeutic strategies. The North American Brain Tumor Consortium (NABTC) was established four years ago for the broad purpose of stimulating cooperative efforts among multidisciplinary teams of clinical and laboratory researchers to improve treatment for patients with brain tumors. To accomplish the long term goal of developing more effective therapies for patients with brain tumors, we specifically propose to: 1. Share expertise with brain tumor clinicians and researchers in multiple disciplines. 2. Conduct joint Phase I and 11 clinical trials for patients with brain tumors, providing adequate patient populations for their timely completion. 3. Share brain tumor specimens and data that will be useful in the conduct of clinical pharmacologic and correlative laboratory studies. This proposal describes the neuro-oncology activities at the University of Pittsburgh, and reviews the resources available through the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI), an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), qualifying it for continuing participation in the North American Brain Tumor Consortium. The Central Operations Office/Coordinating Center for the NABTC will remain at the University of California, San Francisco. The UPCI and UPMC will provide essential support for all NABTC-related trials through such facilities as the General Clinical Research Center, the Clinical Core Facility, and the Tumor Tissue Bank. The University of Pittsburgh will collaborate with other members of the NABTC to rapidly evaluate new treatments by enrolling patients in Phase I and 11 NABTC clinical trials and to develop promising new therapeutic strategies through translational laboratory studies of brain tumor specimens.
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