Expansion of the translational oncology initiative into Dayton continues efforts to increase access to cancer clinical trials in the community setting. Independent community-based oncologists can join the network to bring first-in-man clinical trials of cancer therapeutics to their hometowns.
“This unique research program will provide patients and physicians in our community access to advanced clinical trials that are not otherwise available locally”, said Robert Raju, US Oncology Research, a unit of McKesson Corporation, and Kettering Medical Center medical oncologist.
Raju is a founding member of the translational oncology initiative and has now brought the sponsor- and investigator-initiated clinical trials programme to Kettering Medical Center, Dayton. Joining the network gives oncologists access to clinical trials and a centralised support system.
Phase I initiative
US Oncology Research established the translational programme, which has enrolled more than 1,000 patients, “to address the special challenges of Phase I clinical trials, including increased safety concerns and more complex trial designs”.
Oncologists in the network benefit from: biostatistics and medical writing services; centralised regulatory processes; a dedicated institutional review board IRB); a centralised investigational pharmacy; and tissue banking and analysis.
Phase I trials are also supported by a personalised research unit, offering trial design and diagnostic biomarker analysis, and a technological division. The technological unit operates electronic data capture (EDC) and clinical trial management systems (CTMS).
US Oncology Research now supports 14 Phase I sites, and many more Phase II and III centres, that run cancer clinical trials in 11 US states. Many of the Texas-based organisation’s sites are in its home state but the network has spread across the US, from Washington to Florida.