Georgia NCI Community Oncology Research Program (GA NCORP)

This renewal application is for the statewide Georgia National Cancer Institute (NCI) Community Oncology Research Program (GA NCORP) Community Site, which represents a collaboration between the two largest community oncology clinical trial programs in Georgia, Northside Hospital Cancer Institute in Atlanta and the Nancy N. and J.C. Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion at St. Joseph's/Candler in Savannah, and the Georgia Center for Oncology Research and Education (Georgia CORE) in Atlanta. Georgia CORE provides network affiliation for five contracted healthcare organizations across Georgia. In 2016, GA NCORP Affiliates together provided care to approximately 17,000 newly diagnosed patients with cancer and enrolled 1,198 patients to NCI-sponsored trials since August 2014. Through an integrated organizational and leadership structure, leading cancer researchers of GA NCORP are poised to build on a 29-year history of collaboration to further enhance the quality of cancer care in Georgia through improved access to NCI-sponsored trials and through the implementation of the goals of GA NCORP. The overall goal of GA NCORP is to bring cancer clinical research studies to individuals in their own communities through a statewide network utilizing shared infrastructure. This approach generates a broadly applicable evidence base that contributes to improved patient outcomes and a reduction in cancer disparities. Four specific aims are proposed to achieve the overall goal of GA NCORP: 1) to increase the number of eligible patients at risk for, or diagnosed with, cancer and who are provided access to, and enroll in, cancer clinical trials within their community; 2) to enroll participants from underrepresented populations across all study types and settings to reduce cancer disparities (populations include racial/ethnic minorities, sexual and gender minorities, adolescents, young adults, elderly, and rural residents); 3) to create a balanced trial portfolio between treatment trials and cancer control and prevention trials; and 4) to increase accrual and expand network-wide participation in cancer care delivery research. Achieving these aims will improve the quality of care in Georgia through increasing cancer research in local communities, identifying best practices for research accruals, and maximizing capacity and expertise for cancer research statewide.