HOUSTON -The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) and US Oncology, Inc. have entered into a collaboration to increase patient access to national cancer clinical trials with a radiation focus in the community setting.

The collaboration means patients receiving cancer care at practices affiliated with US Oncology have access to RTOG trials for disease sites including brain, head & neck, lung, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, cervix, and breast cancers. RTOG trials focus on testing the integration of radiation therapy with new systemic therapies and surgery.

The collaboration also marks the first time US Oncology, as a network of member practices, has participated in cooperative group trials in radiation oncology. In addition, US Oncology is the first multi-state, national organization to become an affiliate member of RTOG. Current members include large regional practices and academic practices with several facilities in metropolitan areas.
"Our collaboration with US Oncology and its network of member practices is attractive due to the organization's strong commitment to clinical trial participation, leadership and accrual," said Walter Curran, MD, Group Chairman of RTOG and professor and chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology of Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Curran also serves as Chief Medical Officer of the Winship Cancer Center at Emory University. "We were confident their track record as a multi-site organization with significant accruals in a variety of clinical trials would be a good fit," said Dr. Curran.

Following infrastructure development to centralize the IRB, data collection, reporting, credentialing and quality assurance to operate as a network, US Oncology was granted affiliate member status in the RTOG late last year.

The collaboration began with 10 US Oncology affiliated practices working as a network; due to interest from radiation oncologists, the number expanded to 14 sites. The participating affiliated practices include: Texas Oncology practices at Sugar Land, Medical City Dallas, Sherman, Methodist Dallas, Klabzuba, and Bedford Harris; Kansas City Cancer Center's North, South, and Southwest sites; Willamette Valley (Oregon) Cancer Center; Central Indian Cancer Center-South; Arizona Oncology Associates-Tucson; Rocky Mountain Cancer Center-Aurora, and New York Oncology Hematology-Albany.

The first US Oncology patient was enrolled in an RTOG trial in March 2008. From March to mid-October of this year, a total of 17 patients from eight fully credentialed sites have been enrolled, exceeding the minimum requirement of five enrolled patients during the first year of membership. Among the eight sites, an average of six studies are open to enrollment at any given time.

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