Current Activities of the Coalition of Cancer Cooperative Groups

Abstract The Coalition of Cancer Cooperative Groups is an organization representing the interests of patients and researchers who conduct research through the National Cancer Institute-supported National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN). The NCTN provides a crucial mechanism for executing practice-changing cancer clinical research to achieve both cancer control and development of new therapeutic agents or modality approaches. Public funding, largely through the National Cancer Institute, ensures that the work of the NCTN achieves important research that would not otherwise be accomplished in the private sector. In fall 2017, the Coalition of Cancer Cooperative Groups convened a Scientific Leadership Council to review the current state of the network with regard to research capabilities and to develop a list of research questions to be prioritized by the network. This report presents the results of this meeting, detailing a roadmap for future work by the NCTN.

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Issues and Challenges With Integrating Patient-Reported Outcomes in Clinical Trials Supported by the National Cancer Institute–Sponsored Clinical Trials Networks

Journal of Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1200/jco.2007.11.3324 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 25 (32) ◽

pp. 5051-5057 ◽

Cited By ~ 51

Author(s):

Deborah Watkins Bruner ◽

Charlene J. Bryan ◽

Neil Aaronson ◽

C. Craig Blackmore ◽

Michael Brundage ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Trials ◽

Patient Reported Outcomes ◽

Online Survey ◽

Cancer Control ◽

The United States ◽

Cancer Clinical Trials ◽

Cooperative Group ◽

Cooperative Groups ◽

End Points ◽

Patient Reported

Purpose The objective of this report is to provide a historical overview of and the issues and challenges inherent in the incorporation of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) into multinational cancer clinical trials in the cancer cooperative groups. Methods An online survey of 12 cancer cooperative groups from the United States, Canada, and Europe was conducted between June and August of 2006. Each of the cooperative groups designated one respondent, who was a member of one of the PRO committees within the cooperative group. Results There was a 100% response rate, and all of the cancer clinical trial cooperative groups reported conducting PRO research. PRO research has been conducted in the cancer cooperative groups for an average of 15 years (range, 6 to 30 years), and all groups had multidisciplinary committees focused on the design of PRO end points and the choice of appropriate PRO measures for cancer clinical trials. The cooperative groups reported that 5% to 50% of cancer treatment trials and an estimated 50% to 75% of cancer control trials contained PRO primary and secondary end points. There was considerable heterogeneity among the cooperative groups with respect to the formal and informal policies and procedures or cooperative group culture towards PROs, investigator training/mentorship, and resource availability for the measurement and conduct of PRO research within the individual cooperatives. Conclusion The challenges faced by the cooperative groups to the incorporation of PROs into cancer clinical trials are varied. Some common opportunities for improvement include the adoption of standardized training/mentorship mechanisms for investigators for the conduct of PRO assessments and data collection and the development of minimal criteria for PRO measure acceptability. A positive cultural shift has occurred in most of the cooperative groups related to the incorporation of PROs in clinical trials; however, financial and other resource barriers remain and need to be addressed.

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A Database of Drug Repurposing Clinical Trials in Oncology

10.31219/osf.io/yagft ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Pan Pantziarka ◽

Liese Vandeborne ◽

Gauthier Bouche

Keyword(s):

Clinical Trial ◽

Clinical Trials ◽

Clinical Trial Data ◽

Drug Repurposing ◽

Therapeutic Agents ◽

Trial Data ◽

Summary Statistics ◽

Online Database ◽

Research Questions ◽

Clinical Trial Activity

Drug repurposing is an expanding field in medicine but to date there has been little analysis on the degree of clinical trial activity in oncological repurposing. Such analysis is hampered by the lack of a single unified source of clinical trial data. Utilising publicly available registry data, we report on the construction of an online database of clinical trials assessing the use of licensed non-cancer drugs as therapeutic agents against cancer. We outline the methodology for the construction and maintenance of the database, called the ReDO_Trials_DB (https://www.anticancerfund.org/en/redo-trials-db). Summary statistics are reported and also discussion of the research questions arising from the data.

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The Judgment of Personality: An Overview of Current Empirical Research Findings

10.31234/osf.io/8t63v ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Tera D. Letzring ◽

Nora A. Murphy ◽

Jüri Allik ◽

ANDREW BEER ◽

Johannes Zimmermann ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Collaborative Writing ◽

Consensus Building ◽

Important Research ◽

Rater Agreement ◽

Personality Judgment ◽

Writing Processes ◽

Current State ◽

Research Findings ◽

Research Questions ◽

Robust Evidence

This article presents an overview of the current state of knowledge in personality judgment research. We address (1) the words and phrases that people use to describe one another and themselves, (2) research in the “variable-centered” tradition, which investigates judgments of targets by perceivers on single traits, and (3) research investigating judgments of targets by perceivers on whole profiles of traits. Our focus is on inter-rater agreement, accuracy, and bias. We also provide (4) an outlook regarding important research questions that remain to be answered in this field. Although we consider our attempt to jointly identify the most robust evidence in the field to be largely successful, we acknowledge that the process of consensus building was fairly difficult. Thus, we close with a number of concrete suggestions for making such collaborative-writing processes as constructive as possible.

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Experiences with the Execution of Intercultural, Intercontinental Trials - Part I

Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences / Journal Canadien des Sciences Neurologiques ◽

10.1017/s0317167100014256 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 40 (3) ◽

pp. 324-329 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

H. J. M. Barnett

Keyword(s):

Clinical Trials ◽

Large Scale ◽

Effective Means ◽

Important Research ◽

Adequate Funding ◽

Research Questions ◽

Clinical Questions

Large scale, international clinical trials are formidable challenges, but they are the most effective means of answering important clinical questions in a definitive, generalizable manner. They require adequate funding and must be rigorously conducted. Much can be gleaned from such studies, which address the important research questions and provide answers to related questions. Such trials are enormously rewarding and are worth the expense and effort.

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The judgment of personality: An overview of current empirical research findings

Personality Science ◽

10.5964/ps.6043 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

Author(s):

Tera D. Letzring ◽

Nora A. Murphy ◽

Jüri Allik ◽

Andrew Beer ◽

Johannes Zimmermann ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Empirical Research ◽

Important Research ◽

Rater Agreement ◽

Personality Judgment ◽

Current State ◽

Research Findings ◽

Research Questions ◽

Personality Judgments

This article presents an overview of the current state of knowledge in personality judgment research. We discuss accuracy and bias in personality judgments, including types of inter-rater agreement and elements of criteria used to determine levels of agreement and accuracy. We then address 1) the words and phrases that people use to describe one another and themselves, 2) research investigating judgments of targets by perceivers per trait, and 3) research investigating judgments of targets by perceivers on profiles or sets of traits. We also provide 4) an outlook regarding important research questions that remain unanswered in this field.

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Cancer Control and the Community Oncology Programs: Minority Participation in the National Cancer Institute Clinical Trials Network

Minorities and Cancer ◽

10.1007/978-1-4612-3630-6_8 ◽

1989 ◽

pp. 95-101 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Carrie P. Hunter

Keyword(s):

Clinical Trials ◽

National Cancer Institute ◽

Cancer Control ◽

Minority Participation ◽

Community Oncology

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Effect of 9–11 on U.S. national cancer clinical trials accrual and lack of effect of National Cancer Institute budget increases

Journal of Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1200/jco.2007.25.18_suppl.6551 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 25 (18_suppl) ◽

pp. 6551-6551 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

A. Bleyer

Keyword(s):

Clinical Trials ◽

Cancer Treatment ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

National Cancer Institute ◽

Age Groups ◽

Cooperative Groups ◽

Treatment Trials ◽

The Past ◽

Beneficial Impact ◽

The Impact

6551 Background: During the past decade, a variety of initiatives have been implemented to improve the accrual of cancer patients on clinical trials. In the U.S., these have included comprehensive reviews and recommendations by the two most recent National Cancer Institute (NCI) administrations, reorganization of the clinical trials infrastructure at the NCI, and campaigns by the NCI Cooperative Groups and their Coalition. During the past six years, additional funds were allocated to this effort as part of the doubling of the NCI budget. The impact of these efforts on national cancer treatment clinical trials was evaluated, with emphasis on age groups. Methods: Accrual data from NCI-sponsored treatment trials conducted between 1997 and 2006 were obtained from the NCI Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program. Entries were analyzed by patient age, gender, race, type of cancer treated, and calendar year of trial entry. Results: Overall, national cancer treatment trial entries declined after 9–11–2001 and in 2003 reached the lowest levels since 1997. As of 2005 accrual recovered to pre 9–11 levels only in 15–29 and >60 year-olds, with the former demonstrating the greatest gain ( Table ). Entries among <15 and 30–49 year- olds declined steadily since 1997 with no evidence for recovery as of 2005 ( Table ). Overall, the estimated proportion of the nation's cancer patients entered onto national treatment trials remains below 3%. Conclusions: Despite continued national and local efforts to increase the participation of cancer patients on clinical trials, accompanied by significant increases in the NIH and NCI budgets, there is little evidence of a beneficial impact. The effect of 9–11 has yet to be overcome, except in young and elderly adults, in whom specific, targeted initiatives appear to have been successful. The latter approaches may be useful to apply to other age groups, particularly in view of the recent cuts in the cooperative group budgets and current mandated decreases in study accruals. No significant financial relationships to disclose. [Table: see text]

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Role of KRAS and EGFR as biomarkers of response to erlotinib in National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group Study BR.21.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.1124255.580526 ◽

2008 ◽

Author(s):

Nico van Zandwijk

Keyword(s):

Clinical Trials ◽

National Cancer Institute

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Targeting p53-MDM2 Interaction Using Small Molecule Inhibitors and the Challenges Needed to be Addressed

Current Drug Targets ◽

10.2174/1389450120666190402120701 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 (11) ◽

pp. 1091-1111 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Maryam Zanjirband ◽

Soheila Rahgozar

Keyword(s):

Clinical Trials ◽

Small Molecule ◽

Small Molecule Inhibitors ◽

Tp53 Gene ◽

Therapeutic Agents ◽

Negative Regulator ◽

Mdm2 Protein ◽

Independent Effects ◽

Small Hydrophobic ◽

Targeted Therapeutic

MDM2 protein is the core negative regulator of p53 that maintains the cellular levels of p53 at a low level in normal cells. Mutation of the TP53 gene accounts for 50% of all human cancers. In the remaining malignancies with wild-type TP53, p53 function is inhibited through other mechanisms. Recently, synthetic small molecule inhibitors have been developed which target a small hydrophobic pocket on MDM2 to which p53 normally binds. Given that MDM2-p53 antagonists have been undergoing clinical trials for different types of cancer, this review illustrates different aspects of these new cancer targeted therapeutic agents with the focus on the major advances in the field. It emphasizes on the p53 function, regulation of p53, targeting of the p53-MDM2 interaction for cancer therapy, and p53-dependent and -independent effects of inhibition of p53-MDM2 interaction. Then, representatives of small molecule MDM2-p53 binding antagonists are introduced with a focus on those entered into clinical trials. Furthermore, the review discusses the gene signatures in order to predict sensitivity to MDM2 antagonists, potential side effects and the reasons for the observed hematotoxicity, mechanisms of resistance to these drugs, their evaluation as monotherapy or in combination with conventional chemotherapy or with other targeted therapeutic agents. Finally, it highlights the certainly intriguing questions and challenges which would be addressed in future studies.

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