This research proposal is designed to enable continued participation in the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Program (NSABP). The overall specific aims of the NSABP are to improve disease-free survival and survival in patients with primary operable breast and colorectal cancers. The Boston University Medical Center has been an NSABP member since August 1971 and is currently following 360 patients previously randomized on long-term adjuvant protocols. We expect to increase accrual to 70-80, or possibly even, 90, patients per year. The entry of these patients into NSABP protocols will enable a more rapid and effective evaluation of current therapeutic regimens and will provide information for the design of future studies. Under the leadership of Dr. Peter J. Mozden, Chief of Surgical Oncology, BUMC was the pioneer in the Boston area in the development of the Regional Oncology Programs under the auspices of the PL-89-329 (Heart Disease, Cancer, Stroke Law). This involved the tri-state area of massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire from 1969 to 1976, with over 24 hospitals participating. This continued as the Regional Oncology Program at BUMC as part of the Comprehensive Cancer Center (Dana Farber Cancer Institute) Outreach Program from 1977 to 1983. Since then with the loss of funding in 1984 the BUMC Regional Oncology Network Program has been recently reorganized as the BUMC-NSABP Clinical Trial Group.
