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Date reviewed: 02/19/2003 NCI’s Clinical Trials Cooperative Group Program
The Clinical Trials Cooperative Group Program, which is sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), is designed to promote and support clinical trials (research studies) of new cancer treatments, explore methods of cancer prevention and early detection, and study quality of life issues and rehabilitation during and after treatment. Cooperative groups include researchers, cancer centers, and community physicians throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. They work with NCI to identify important questions in cancer research and to design clinical trials to answer these questions. The Cooperative Group Program involves more than 1,700 institutions that contribute patients to group-conducted clinical trials. Thousands of individual investigators also participate in NCI-supported cooperative group studies. Cooperative groups place more than 22,000 new patients into cancer treatment clinical trials each year. The groups differ in structure and research focus. Some groups, such as the Children’s Oncology Group, consist of investigators that have a particular medical specialty (e.g., pediatrics); some, such as the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group, study a specific type of cancer therapy; and others, such as the Gynecologic Oncology Group, focus on a group of related cancers. The groups share a common purpose—to develop and conduct large-scale trials in multi-institutional settings. The Cooperative Group Program was established in 1955 following congressional approval to increase support for studies of chemotherapy for cancer. Congress initially appropriated $5 million for NCI to establish the Chemotherapy National Service Center. By 1958, 17 cooperative groups were part of the Center. At that time, the main focus of the program was to test new anticancer agents from NCI’s drug development program. The emphasis on chemotherapy gradually shifted to studies of combined therapy approaches in cancer treatment. People interested in taking part in a clinical trial should talk with their doctor. Information about clinical trials is available from the Cancer Information Service (CIS) at 1–800–4–CANCER and the NCI booklets Taking Part in Clinical Trials: What Cancer Patients Need to Know and Taking Part in Clinical Trials: Cancer Prevention Studies. These booklets describe how research studies are carried out and explain their possible benefits and risks. In addition, the NCI’s Web site provides general information about clinical trials at http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/ on the Internet. It also links to PDQ®, the NCI’s cancer information database. PDQ contains detailed information about specific ongoing clinical trials in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere. The CIS also provides information from PDQ. Clinical Trials Cooperative Groups
Sources of National Cancer Institute Information
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