The Metro-Minnesota Community Clinical Oncology Program (MMCCOP) represents a consortium of eight hospitals which, through its NCI-funded Community Hospital Oncology Program (""""""""CHOP"""""""") and operational CCOP, has already developed a common approach to the management of cancer patients and has an established mechanism for entering and following patients on treatment and cancer control protocols. The consortium has a community- wide computerized data management system capable of prospective data collection. The community offers 5 HMO programs, all of which are represented among these eight consortium hospitals. Together, the eight hospitals see an average of 7500 new analytic cancer patients per year. The sixty-seven core investigators, representing oncology, hematology, radiation oncology, urology, gynecologic oncology, neurology, ENT, and colorectal surgery, have worked extensively together on cancer program development and protocol management. The MMCCOP staff is qualified and trained in oncology and data management, and has been involved in the development of the current program structure and operation. During the most recent NCI-funded grant year (6/93-5/94), the MMCCOP entered 318 patients (144.7 treatment credits/86 cancer control credits) onto NCI- approved studies. An additional 64 men were enrolled in the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial and were pending credit (not allowed until after completion of 3 month run-in period). The MMCCOP intends to sustain a region wide community and hospital consortium which provides the community with the most recent advances in cancer control and treatment. This will be accomplished through expansion of the CCOP into established outreach communities; work with hospitals, foundations, insurers and Integrated Service Networks (ISNs) to develop funding and reimbursement support for participation in clinical trials; increased involvement of primary care physicians; providing the expertise, resources, and large population base to develop, implement and evaluate clinical cancer treatment and control trials through affiliation with the NCI, ECOG, M.D. Anderson, NSABP, URCC, and RTOG; improve and expand the current MMCCOP data management and communication system to increase the number add level of participation of the investigators in accrual, program operations and research base activities; identify and recruit key investigators to access minority group participation; and increase the professional and lay community awareness of the CCOP and benefits of clinical cancer trials. Based upon past experience and improved cancer control implementation models, MMCCOP investigators intend to accrue 350 credits onto NCI-approved cancer treatment and control studies during the first year, exceeding the minimum requirements for both types of studies.
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