Last Updated: 04/06/07
Clinical Trials Cooperative Group Program
http://ctep.cancer.gov/resources/coop2.html
CTEP supports 11 organizations conducting cancer treatment trials through the Clinical Trials Cooperative Group Program. Emphasis is placed on the development and conduct of large, multicenter, randomized phase III studies. Although the program’s mission encompasses a wide variety of investigational efforts, the cooperative groups do not replace funding mechanisms for more narrowly focused research project grants, such as RO1 and PO1 grants or U01 and U19 cooperative agreements.
Cooperative groups consist of networks of researchers who develop and conduct cancer treatment clinical trials. The Clinical Trials Cooperative Group Program reaches scientists and patients throughout the nation:
- In 2005, of all the new patients accrued to CTEP-sponsored trials, about 27,000 entered into cooperative group studies
- 12,000 new patients are evaluated in correlative laboratory studies each year, and many times that number receive follow-up evaluations
- Thousands of investigators participate in cooperative group protocols
Each cooperative group receives support so that it can generate trials compatible with its particular areas of interest and expertise. Unlike most other NIH cooperative clinical trials efforts, the cooperative groups’ funding is not linked to a specific clinical trial.
