The goal of the proposed research is to determine optimum care for children with all types of cancer. The research mechanism involves participation by pediatric investigators in a consortium of medical institutions in North Carolina and West Virginia in collaborative multidisciplinary clinical cancer research protocols generated through the Pediatric Oncology Group. The proposed research grant will allow for the continued participation of Duke University Medical Center, Charlotte Memorial Hospital, East Carolina University School of Medicine and West Virginia University School of Medicine in Pediatric Oncology Group activities. These activities involve studies of the epidemiology and tumor biology of selected neoplasms and the natural history and optimum multimodal therapy of all childhood malignancies. Cooperative studies among physicians from a group of medical centers allow for rapid accrual of a statistically significant number of children with cancer in order to define quickly both those avenues of biologic research which have immediate clinical relevance and those therapeutic approaches which provide prolonged disease-free survival. Through participation in cooperative studies, the entire medical community engaged in the care of children with cancer has a focal point to provide not only improved patient care but also improved multidisciplinary teaching and research. Our objectives for the coming years are: 1) to develop new protocols for the immunologic stratification and chemotherapeutic management of patients with malignant lymphoproliferative and myeloproliferative disorders; 2) to develop protocols for specific brain tumor therapy which take advantage of our expanding knowledge of the biology and pharmacologic sensitivity of human brain tumors in vitro and in vivo; 3) to expand our studies of the pharmacologic agents which influence intermediary metabolism, using our in vitro data as the basis for drug scheduling in clinical trials; 4) to expand our innovative group-wide epidemiology studies to include studies of neuroblastoma and T-cell malignancies which include laboratory investigation (immunologic, biochemical and cytogenetic) where relevant; 5) to expand our multidisciplinary therapeutic research efforts in other pediatric malignancies; and 6) to expand our outreach programs for patient care and education through our regional consortium.
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