Association of American Cancer Institutes

Website: http://www.aaci-cancer.org

The Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) established the Cancer Imaging Initiative to explore how cancer centers can partner more effectively with NCI, private industry, and other cancer research entities to develop new research and clinical trials opportunities in imaging.

AACI partnered with ACRIN, a cooperative group supported by CIP, to cosponsor a special imaging workshop for cancer center directors and chairs of radiology departments. This workshop identified barriers to productive collaboration by the two groups and developed recommendations to promote imaging studies in cancer research. In response to one of these recommendations, CIP developed Imaging Response Assessment Teams (IRATs), comprising radiologists and imaging scientists, to participate in the initial design of therapy-based clinical trials. A particular focus is to advance imaging as a means of assessing response to therapy, particularly by applying imaging end-points in clinical trials.

The first IRATs were formed in 2005 at eight NCI-designated cancer centers and will be funded for three years. Once they have participated in their first round of trials, they will begin to disseminate their methods and successes with IRATs at other institutions.