Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) will participate in the clinical trials of the North American Brain Tumor Consortium (NABTC). The University of California San Francisco (UCSF) will be the lead institution and Dr. Michael Prados will be the group leader for the NABTC. Member institutions of the NABTC will include UCSF, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Pittsburgh, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Dana Farber Cancer Center, University of California, Los Angeles and the Neuro-oncology Branch of the National Institutes of Health in addition to MSKCC. The pharmacokinetic center will be located at the University of Texas, San Antonio. The focus of this grant is to continue to initiate and conduct investigational Phase I/II trials in adult patients with primary brain tumors with a particular emphasis on malignant glioma. Patients at MSKCC will be evaluated and treated by a multidisciplinary team composed of neuro-oncologists, neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists, neuropathologists, neuroradiologists and clinical research nurses; data will be monitored, evaluated and collated by dedicated data managers. MSKCC has state-of-the-art neuroimaging capabilities and dedicated neuroradiologists to develop and participate in imaging projects coincident with planned clinical studies. MSKCC has an active tumor bank and brain tumor tissue obtained from patients at the time of surgery is collected and stored in a tissue bank for ongoing and future laboratory studies; tumor tissue from patients enrolled in NABTC trials will also provide an opportunity for clinical and laboratory correlations specific to the investigational agent under study. The NABTC is multi-institutional to facilitate rapid patient accrual into Phase I/II trials of investigational agents for brain tumor treatment, to share brain tumor specimens among member institutions and to cooperate in developing concurrent laboratory and translational research programs that complement the active clinical trials being conducted within the consortium. MSKCC and the NABTC will be linked to the ongoing interests, needs and support of the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP) and the Radiation Research Program (RRP) of the Division of Cancer Treatment at the National Cancer Institute. The overriding goal of this program is to identify and develop improved therapy for patients with primary brain tumors, particularly those with malignant gliomas, with the purpose of extending the duration and quality of survival.
