This application for membership in the AIDS Malignancy Consortium is submitted by Dr. Joseph A. Sparano on behalf of Montefiore Medical Center (including the Moses Division and Weiler Division) and a consortium of four other institutions, including Jacobi Medical Center, North Central Bronx Hospital, Bronx Lebanon Hospital, and Long Island Jewish Medical Center. At Montefiore Medical Center (MMC) alone, 111 patients with HIV-associated malignancies have been enrolled on clinical trials under Dr. Sparano s direction over the past 8 years. The prevalence of HIV infection in the Bronx, the community served by five of the six hospitals in this consortium, is among the highest in the nation. Of the 1.2 million residents of the Bronx, it is estimated that about 30,000 are knowingly (16,000) or unknowingly (14,000) HIV- infected. This community is served not only by hospital-based HIV specialty care clinics, but also by over 30 community-based clinics affiliated with MMC or Bronx Lebanon Hospital (BLH). BLH also has an active community outreach program. Approximately 5900 patients receive primary HIV care by the consortium institutions. Moreover, among consortium institutions, it is estimated that each year there are approximately 110 patients newly diagnosed with HIV-associated and AIDS-associated cancers each year, including 46 patients wit systemic lymphoma, 14 patients with primary CNS lymphoma, and 50 patients with Kaposi s sarcoma. MMC has extensive experience in clinical trials in cancer and AIDS research. It is the University Hospital of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECOM), and as such is the clinical arm of the NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center at AECOM. Each year, over 100 clinical protocols are active, over 400 patients are enrolled on clinical trials, and about 55 percent of those enrolled on clinical trials are either African- American or Latino. MMC is also a member of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. At ECOG s last audit of MMC s clinical trials performance and data management in 1997, MMC was rated as excellent to outstanding by ECOG. New York State- designated AIDS centers are based at MMC and BLH, and MMC, BLH, and Jacobi Medical Center participate in the CPCRA. MMC and its partners are therefore ideally suited to become productive members of AMC because of its large patient base, its considerable experience in cancer clinical trials, and the scientific leadership that has been demonstrated by its principal investigator.
