TAS::75 0850::TAS RECOVERY ACT - ACTNOW CLINICAL TRIAL SUPPORT

Westat, Inc., Rockville MD

Investigators

Abstract

The Cancer Trials Support Unit (CTSU) is a service of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) that provides clinicians across the United States and Canada access to cancer treatment trials. The project is funded and directed by the NCI Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP) and operated by Westat and the Coalition of Cancer Cooperative Groups Goals of the CTSU [unreadable] Provide a wide choice of clinical trial options to the largest possible number of investigators [unreadable] Involve a larger number of treating institutions in the clinical trials process [unreadable] Increase enrollment to cancer clinical trials [unreadable] Streamline or eliminate redundant processes and procedures [unreadable] Provide all necessary support services to make working with the CTSU a positive experience The Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD), primarily through its Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP), sponsors several unique mechanisms to carry out early anticancer therapy development. The mechanisms encompass many of the nation[unreadable]s leading NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, NCI[unreadable]s Cooperative Group programs in adult and pediatric oncology with participating sites in every state, and specialized Oncology Consortia devoted to the study of brain and childhood cancers. The Accelerating Clinical Trials of Novel Oncologic PathWays (ACTNOW) program is focused on accelerating progress by speeding the development of approximately 30 new clinical treatment trials. The accelerated timeline is possible due to the resources provided by ARRA. ARRA funds will assist NCI staff in supporting the accelerated timeline for mounting these 30 clinical trials. Funds will be added to CTEP support contracts including the contract, "Cancer Trials Support Unit."