The primary long-term objective of this proposal is to improve the therapeutic outcome for adults with primary brain tumors. This will be accomplished by fostering Phase I and II clinical evaluations of promising new agents, biologic approaches, and routes of administration in the treatment of primary malignancies of the central nervous system (CNS) through the establishment of the CNS consortium titled """"""""New Approaches to Brain Tumor Therapy (NABTT)."""""""" This consortium is specifically designed to combine and focus the experience, resources, and capabilities of seven outstanding medical institutions (The Johns Hopkins University, Brown University, Columbia University, The Cleveland Clinic, The Massachusetts General Hospital, Northwestern University [Chicago], and The University of Pennsylvania) to bear on primary brain tumors. To meet this objective, the consortium will rely on the special strengths and abilities that rest within each participating institution and within the consortium as a whole. The participating institutions have (1) a large number of adult patients with primary brain tumors, (2) expert multidisciplinary clinical teams in place to care for these patients, (3) extensive clinical and laboratory resources, (4) a striking number of ongoing high quality, clinically relevant, peer-reviewed and NIH funded clinical and laboratory brain tumor research projects, (5) nationally recognized expertise in oncology, pharmacology, new drug development, Phase I and II clinical trials, neurosurgery, and neuropathology (6) extensive expertise in statistics, data management, and the coordination of multi-institutional studies, and (7) exceptional reputations for excellence in clinical care and research. The consortium adds to these strengths by endorsed constitution, well-defined organizational structure, and emphasis on research design, protocol development, quality control, study monitoring, and data management and analysis. The secondary long-term objective of this proposal is to utilize this consortium to share human brain tumor specimens as well as other clinical and laboratory data to conduct additional research pertaining to (1) the basic biology of primary brain tumors, (2) the neuropharmacology of new therapies for primary brain tumors, and (3) improving the care and quality of life of adults with primary brain tumors. This objective will be reached using the strengths of the individual institutions and the NABTT CNS Consortium which are outlined above.
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