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Clinical Trial Registration, Amendments, and Updates

When to Register Trials 

Interventional trials should be registered in CTRP prior to enrollment of the first patient. Trials can be registered prior to activation so that the registration record can be made available for ClinicalTrials.gov registration. Observational studies should be registered sufficiently in advance so that they can appear on the CTRP-generated Data Table 4 for observational studies.

Which Trials Need to be Registered

All NCI-supported interventional trials open to accrual as of or after 1/1/2009 and observational studies open to accrual as of or after 1/1/2018, including all taking place in NCI-Designated Cancer Centers, need to be registered in CTRP. This also includes both industrial trials and non-cancer trials.

CTRP supports, but does not currently require, reporting of Ancillary-Correlative and Expanded Access/Compassionate Use studies. However, single patient studies are not in scope for CTRP.

  • All interventional trials and non-interventional studies (observational or ancillary-correlative) must be registered in CTRP in order to appear on a CTRP-generated Data Table 4.
  • NCI-Designated Cancer Centers can request exclusion of expanded access/compassionate use trials and trials that are not cancer-focused from their CTRP-generated Data Table 4.

Who Needs to Register Trials

All NCI-Designated Cancer Centers and other NCI awardees are expected to register any trial that is either directly or indirectly supported by NCI. Exception: The following trials do not need to be registered in CTRP, as this information will be transferred to CTRP within NCI:

  • Trials that are reviewed and monitored by NCI CTEP PIO and NCI DCP PIO. This applies to all NCTN, NCORP, and ETCTN trials.
  • Trials that take place in NCI's Center for Cancer Research (CCR).

How to Register Trials

There are 3 ways to register trials with CTRP:

  • Online via the CTRP Registration Site
    Trial owners enter a limited number of data elements into the CTRP website and upload documents required for registration, including:
    • Clinical trial protocol
    • IRB approval form
    • Informed consent form (if not part of the protocol document) – optional for observational studies
    • A list of participating sites (if not part of the protocol document)
    Note:
    • Submit required documents in machine readable format only, e.g., Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF.
    • Submit a full protocol document and consent form. Incomplete documents, e.g., protocol summaries will not be accepted.
    Following submission, the NCI's Clinical Trials Reporting Office (CTRO) abstracts the protocol, capturing key data (e.g., eligibility criteria, trial design, outcome measures).
  • Using Web Services
    NCI will work with individual cancer centers wishing to adapt their CDMS to use the CTRP registration service. If you are interested in using this approach, please contact us at ncictro@mail.nih.gov.

Trial Policies: Amendments, Updates and Verification

Amendments to a clinical trial protocol must be submitted to CTRP within 20 days of the approval by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Amendments include changes that substantively alter one or more of the following:

  1. Treatment administration
  2. Study design
  3. Principal Investigator

Amendments are to include all changes and updates since the most recent protocol submission.

Overall trial and participating site status changes (e.g., a change from "Active" to "Temporarily Closed to Accrual") should be submitted no later than 30 days after the status change took place.

Updates to basic trial data should be reported to CTRP at least annually. Updates are defined as other changes to the protocol that do not substantively affect the scientific conduct of the study, the study design, and/or the sites in which patients are being enrolled on the trial. Note: If the Interventional trial or Observational study is multi-institutional, then the lead organization should submit amendments, updates and changes in participating sites as frequently as needed to assure the accuracy of the use of the record by participating sites.

Bi-annual Record Verification – Required for All Trials/Studies Registered in CTRP

Trials must be reviewed for accuracy at least twice each year. Automated email reminders will be sent to trial owners, trial submitters, and site administrators one month prior to the Trial Record Verification due date and monthly thereafter until the trial(s) have been verified.

NCI CTRP and ClinicalTrials.gov

NCI awardees that are sponsors as defined by the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007, P.L. 110-85 (FDAAA) are responsible for submitting data to ClinicalTrials.gov in compliance with FDAAA. NCI cannot submit data to ClinicalTrials.gov on behalf of NCI awardees for non-NCI sponsored trials.

NCI worked with National Library of Medicine (NLM) ClinicalTrials.gov to implement the “Upload from NCI CTRP” function in ClinicalTrials.gov. (PRS User's Guide, Section 9.1). This feature enables clinical trial sponsors, as defined by 21 CFR 50.3, to use CTRP data to register and update their clinical trial records in their organization’s ClinicalTrials.gov account. Advantages of using “Upload from NCI CTRP” feature include reuse of the information abstracted in CTRP as well as consistent formatting of persons and organizations.

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