The CALGB is comprised of 31 academic medical centers and over 185 affiliated community hospitals joined in the pursuit of improved cancer treatment and better understanding of tumor biology via the conduct of controlled clinical trials. Over 3000 members of the Group including oncology physicians, statisticians, clinical research associates, oncology nurses, pharmacists, epidemiologists, and basic scientists participate in these studies. From 25-35 phase III protocols are active at any one time, along with Phase II, Phase I and pilot studies required for the appropriate design of large scale randomized trials. In 1996 the CALGB accrued nearly 4700 entries to its protocols. Multidisciplinary disease committees of the Group design and implement protocols for the treatment of patients with leukemia, lymphoma, breast, respiratory, GI, and prostate cancer. Modality Committees, including Clinical Economics, Correlative Sciences, Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Psycho-Oncology, Surgery, Pathology, Radiation Oncology, Transplantation, Oncology Nursing, and Clinical Research Associates serve as the sites for planning and implementing new approaches for these disciplines and most committees develop these concepts jointly with the appropriate Disease Committees. Major area of emphasis in CALGB include development of innovative treatments for patients with cancer; studies of molecular predictors of prognosis and response to therapy; studies of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of new and established anticancer drugs; evaluation of minimally invasive surgical techniques; determining the cost and cost-effectiveness of new cancer therapies; evaluating the impact of cancer and its treatment on the quality of life of cancer patients and their caregivers; developing new strategies for cancer prevention; and addressing the needs of special populations, particularly minorities and the elderly.
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