Reaching all Communities Touched by Cancer
Ongoing Outreach Initiatives
The Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP) network
enables the participation by community physicians in national clinical trials studies. Participating in these trials makes it easier for
community physicians to more quickly put successful regimens into practice. In fact, over its 23 years of operation, the CCOP, with more
than 4,000 physicians participating at over 400 hospitals, has enrolled more than 200,000 people in treatment and prevention trials.
Up Close with a CCOP Patient
Sue Duyser was leading a busy life in Grand Rapids, Mich., running a pharmacy with her husband. Then she
found a lump in her breast. Her doctors initially thought the lump was a cyst. "I was so busy, I let it go," says Ms. Duyser. Six months
later, a friend who is a
breast cancer survivor urged her
to follow up with her doctors, and Ms. Duyser was found to have a late-stage cancer.
While extended family knew oncologists at the
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, travel was not an option. Ms. Duyser is the primary caregiver for her husband, who
has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair.
Networking through her community, she found the Grand Rapids Clinical Oncology Program, a CCOP site. There
she found Dr. Marianne Lange, a dedicated physician willing to go the "extra mile" to get patients the best possible care. Ms. Duyser
joined an NCI-sponsored clinical trial and though the treatment took many long and difficult months, Ms. Duyser knew she "was in good
hands with the CCOP doctors" and was thankful to be able to be home with her husband, family, and friends. She is, today, a disease-free,
10-year breast cancer survivor.
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National Cancer Institute
