The Billings Interhospital Oncology Project (BIOP) consists of three entering physicians (two medical oncologists and one surgical oncologist) together with the ancillary services of a radiation therapy center, two hospitals and a data management nurse, all located within a three block radius in downtown Billings, Montana. Our cancer control record has been the largest experience within the Southwest Oncology Group and dates back four years to 1978. Since that year we have patient accrual in excess of 50 patients per year. Our overall experience constitutes 17.8% of the entire SWOG cancer control effort (279/1566). This experience enables us to anticipate potential problems with increasing patient accrual while sustaining quality data. The BIOP patient projection of 150 patients in its first year will require the full-time services of a coordinating nurse data manager. Currently one of our hospitals employs her and she has split responsibilities which jeopardize her availability. We additionally feel she needs a data manager assistant for the increased numbers we project. We are proposing in the current grant request the half-time services of one hospital pharmacist who fortunately has an interest in oncology. We feel this is essential for proper management and distribution of investigational drugs in an experience which will be progressively larger. Another problem we have experienced has been that of maintaining records from outlying communities where patients are often treated in this large geographic area with sometimes severe travel restrictions. We are proposing in our budget expenses for travel, for both data collection and dissemination of educational material to these outlying areas. Communication with research bases and the ability to maintain registry information on our patient catchment population will be facilitated by our proposed WATS line accessibility and computer system with five separate outlets in the radiation therapy center, the two hospitals, and two involved physicians offices. In short, we feel our grant request is both fiscally responsible and scientifically essential to clinical oncology research in our area. Our joint goals with the NCI are all addressed in our proposal: 1. Expansion of our current clinical research effort. 2. Increased involvement of outlying practitioners with clinical oncology research. 3. Establishment of a centralized base for easy NCI-research base review as well as future cancer control activities and reduced cancer mortality.
