Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group
Encyclopedia
The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) began in 1955 as one of the first publicly-funded
cooperative groups to perform multi-center clinical trials for cancer research. A cooperative group in oncology
constitutes a large network of private and public medical institutions that work toward developing various protocols for effective cancer treatments. Institutional members include universities, medical centers, governments, and other cooperative groups. These institutions share the common goal of ultimately curing cancer. Research results are often provided to the worldwide medical community through scientific publications, but ECOG also works closely with the pharmaceutical industry to test potential cancer drugs.
According to ECOG's website, there are "more than 90 active clinical trials in all types of adult malignancies. Annual accrual is 6,000 patients, with more than 20,000 patients in follow-up."
ECOG's coordinating center is based in Boston, Massachusetts while its Group Chair's office is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
.
(QARC). As mandated by the National Cancer Institute
(NCI), every radiotherapy (RT) department participating in an ECOG study submits their data to QARC for review. QARC is located in Lincoln, Rhode Island
and reviews thousands of RT cases per year. The center was founded in 1977 as a not-for-profit health care organization designed to provide quality assurance for CALGB studies. Radiotherapy data from around one-thousand hospitals in both the United States
and abroad is reviewed and archived at QARC.
Another center for quality assurance is the Radiological Physics Center
(RPC) in Houston, Texas
. The primary responsibility of the RPC is to assure the National Cancer Institute
(NCI) and its cooperative groups like ECOG that all participating institutions are following the basic guidelines regarding the physics-related aspects of radiotherapy. Established in 1968, the RPC has consistently received funding from the NCI in order to perform the aforementioned mission.
National Cancer Institute
The National Cancer Institute is part of the National Institutes of Health , which is one of 11 agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The NCI coordinates the U.S...
cooperative groups to perform multi-center clinical trials for cancer research. A cooperative group in oncology
Oncology
Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with cancer...
constitutes a large network of private and public medical institutions that work toward developing various protocols for effective cancer treatments. Institutional members include universities, medical centers, governments, and other cooperative groups. These institutions share the common goal of ultimately curing cancer. Research results are often provided to the worldwide medical community through scientific publications, but ECOG also works closely with the pharmaceutical industry to test potential cancer drugs.
ECOG's coordinating center is based in Boston, Massachusetts while its Group Chair's office is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
.
Examples of ECOG clinical trials
- 1. "A study that establishes an effective chemotherapyChemotherapyChemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
regimen in acute promyelocytic leukemiaLeukemiaLeukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
."
- 2. "A study that demonstrated that a less-toxic regimen had similar results to the standard treatment of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer."
- 3. "A study that demonstrated that an intensive bone marrow transplant regimen for patients with metastatic breast cancer who responded to in initial standard chemotherapy did not improve time to disease progression or lifetime survival."
- 4. "A study that establishes an effective treatment program involving chemotherapy and radiation therapyRadiation therapyRadiation therapy , radiation oncology, or radiotherapy , sometimes abbreviated to XRT or DXT, is the medical use of ionizing radiation, generally as part of cancer treatment to control malignant cells.Radiation therapy is commonly applied to the cancerous tumor because of its ability to control...
for early lung cancer."
Quality Assurance
The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group has all of its protocol-driven cases reviewed at the Quality Assurance Review CenterQuality Assurance Review Center
The Quality Assurance Review Center is a research program within the University of Massachusetts Medical School that provides radiotherapy quality assurance , diagnostic imaging data management, and clinical research support...
(QARC). As mandated by the National Cancer Institute
National Cancer Institute
The National Cancer Institute is part of the National Institutes of Health , which is one of 11 agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The NCI coordinates the U.S...
(NCI), every radiotherapy (RT) department participating in an ECOG study submits their data to QARC for review. QARC is located in Lincoln, Rhode Island
Lincoln, Rhode Island
Lincoln is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 21,105 at the 2010 census. Lincoln is located in northeastern Rhode Island, north of Providence....
and reviews thousands of RT cases per year. The center was founded in 1977 as a not-for-profit health care organization designed to provide quality assurance for CALGB studies. Radiotherapy data from around one-thousand hospitals in both the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and abroad is reviewed and archived at QARC.
Another center for quality assurance is the Radiological Physics Center
Radiological Physics Center
-Mission statement:The mission of the Radiological Physics Center is to assure NCI and the Cooperative Groups that institutions participating in clinical trials deliver prescribed radiation doses that are clinically comparable and consistent....
(RPC) in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
. The primary responsibility of the RPC is to assure the National Cancer Institute
National Cancer Institute
The National Cancer Institute is part of the National Institutes of Health , which is one of 11 agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The NCI coordinates the U.S...
(NCI) and its cooperative groups like ECOG that all participating institutions are following the basic guidelines regarding the physics-related aspects of radiotherapy. Established in 1968, the RPC has consistently received funding from the NCI in order to perform the aforementioned mission.