The support requested in this application is for the ongoing participation of the Department of Radiation Oncology of the University of California, San Francisco, and its affiliate institutions (the University of California, San Diego; the University of California, Irvine; and Fresno Community Hosptial of the UCSF Fresno campus) in the activities of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG). The Department of Radiation Oncology at UCSF is comprised of facilities at four institutions, that of Moffitt - Long Hospital, Mt. Zion Hospital, Franklin Hospital, and the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, together treating 2,700 new patients per year. UCSF has participated in the RTOG since 1972 and are entering approximately 150 patients per year into various group Phase I/II/III protocols. Faculty members of the Department of Radiation Oncology at UCSF have served under various committees and provided scientific input into many of the RTOG protocols especially in the areas of radiosensitizers, radioprotectors, isotopic immunotherapy, head and neck, CNS, and GYN tumors and brain and liver metastases. Dr. Theodore L. Philips, the Associate Principal Investigator and the Vice-chairman of the RTOG Modality Committee was instrumental in the introduction of the radiosensitizer Misonidazole into clinical use in the United States. The Department of Radiation Oncology at UCSF was the primary institution wherein a number of Phase I/II radiosensitizers protocols were carried out. Support through this application will allow continued RTOG participation by the Department of Radiation Oncology at UCSF and its affiliate institutions with the goal of accessing 150-175 patients per year into various RTOG Protocols. Extensive research into hyperthermia, chemical modification of radiation effects, and radioimmunotherapy is expected to lead to innovative protocol development within the group with a corresponding increase in the accession of patients into studies sponsored by the RTOG.
