NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP)

The NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) was launched in 2014 to ensure that people have access to clinical trials and the benefits of the latest research, regardless of where they live.

NCORP is a network of institutions that conduct clinical trials and cancer care delivery research in the community, where most cancer patients receive their care. The NCORP network designs and conducts cancer prevention, supportive care and symptom management, screening, and surveillance clinical trials. The network also participates in treatment and imaging clinical trials conducted by NCI's National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) and integrates health disparities research questions into NCORP studies.

The NCORP network includes 7 research bases and 46 community sites, including more than 900 locations. The research bases design and spearhead multicenter clinical trials and care delivery studies and provide overall administration and scientific leadership for the program. The community sites implement the studies and accrue patients and participants to NCI-approved cancer clinical trials and research studies. The sites are consortia of researchers, public hospitals, physician practices, academic medical centers, and other groups that provide health care services in communities across the United States.

Twelve of NCORP’s community sites focus on minority and underserved communities that have patient populations of at least 30% racial/ethnic minorities or rural residents who cannot travel long distances to receive care at an NCI-designated cancer center.