Support for clinical trials
Through the Support for Cancer Clinical Trials and Boost Cancer Research programs, the Australian Government provides $10 million per annum to build Australia’s capacity to undertake cancer clinical trials and support industry-independent cancer clinical trial research in cancer treatment and care.
Applications are now open for new regional centres to join the Regional Multi-site Clinical Trials Capacity Building Network in 2010 - more details
Cancer Australia supports cancer clinical trials in Australia in the following ways:
Cancer Australia is also undertaking specific work on increasing clinical trial information available to consumers.
MULTI-SITE COLLABORATIVE NATIONAL CANCER CLINICAL TRIALS GROUPS
Applications are now closed for Support for Cancer Clinical Trials - Existing National Cooperative Oncology Groups whose current funding expires in June 2010.
The Australian Government is supporting Australia’s capacity to conduct industry-independent cancer clinical trials. Currently thirteen Multi-site, Collaborative National Cancer Clinical Trials Groups are supported by Cancer Australia. These are:
- Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Trials Group;
- Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group;
- Australasian Lung Cancer Trials Group;
- Australia and New Zealand Melanoma Trials Group;
- Australia New Zealand Gynaecological Oncology Group;
- Australian and New Zealand Children’s Haematology Oncology Group;
- Australian and New Zealand Urogenital and Prostate Cancer Trials Group;
- Australian New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group;
- Australasian Sarcoma Study Group;
- Cooperative Trials Group for Neuro-Oncology;
- Primary Care Collaborative Cancer Clinical Trials Group;
- Psycho-Oncology Co-operative Research Group; and
- Trans-Tasman Radiation Oncology Group.
The funding provided by Cancer Australia is intended to support the Groups to build their capacity to conduct cancer clinical trials in Australia.
The application form, application guidelines, draft funding agreement and relevant policy documents are available below.
Applications are now closed.
Other Cancer Australia policy documents:
National Secretariat Services
Cancer Australia has established the National Secretariat Services to provide secretariat and other liaison and support services to all Multi-site Collaborative National Cancer Clinical Trials Groups supported by Cancer Australia.
Funding for the National Secretariat Services was awarded to Secretariat Australia which provides the following services:
- Organising collaborative meetings and teleconferences for and between the Multi-site Collaborative National Cancer Clinical Trials Groups; and
- Organising travel and accommodation requirements for members of the Multi-site Collaborative National Cancer Clinical Trials Groups to attend workshops, conferences and meetings.
Multi-site Collaborative National Cancer Clinical Trials Groups eligible to use the services provided by the National Secretariat Services should contact Alison Gregory at cogs@secretariat.com.au
Cancer Australia Chair in Quality of Life
Professor Madeleine King has been appointed to the position of Cancer Australia Chair in Cancer Quality of Life for three years. The chair will be based at the University of Sydney, within the national Psycho-Oncology Co-operative Research Group, which has created a Quality of Life Office. The Cancer Australia Chair in Cancer Quality of Life will provide expert advice and support to the multi-site, collaborative national cancer clinical trials groups funded under the Support for Cancer Clinical Trials program, to initiate and incorporate quality of life studies into cancer clinical trials. A diagnosis of cancer and its treatment has a considerable impact on the quality of life of individuals, their families and carers.
Quality of life encompasses physical and psychological functioning, and supporting research and clinical trials in this area helps identify effective interventions which can improve cancer outcomes.
Quality of Life resources
Cancer Australia has funded the Psycho-Oncology Co-operative Research Group to develop a number of resources to support researchers in assessing health-related quality of life and other patient-reported outcomes in cancer. The Psycho-Oncology Co-operative Research Group is especially keen to hear from researchers on how the resources might be improved, or added to, to better meet researchers’ needs. The resources are available here.
The resources include:
- Frequently Asked Questions, e.g
- How do I choose which health-related quality of life questionnaire to use in my study?
- How do I assess symptoms / psychological distress /supportive care needs in people with cancer?
- The EORTC QLQ and FACIT measurement suites compared
- Health-related quality of life issues and disease-specific questionnaires for a number of cancer types
- Links to health-related quality of life-related websites (including questionnaire websites and databases);
- Further reading list (including links to full-text articles where these are available online).
Cancer Clinical Trials Development Unit
The establishment of this unit heralds an exciting opportunity for consolidating expert advice, support and trial development to new clinical trials groups, as well as mentoring and support in the area of health economics and pharmaco-economics for all trials groups funded under the Support for Clinical Trials program. As part of the Support for Cancer Clinical Trials program, the services of a Cancer Clinical Trials Development Unit have been engaged to provide:
- expert advice, support and trial development services for the newly established multi-site, collaborative national cancer clinical trials groups, and
- expert advice, mentoring and support services in the area of health economics and pharmaco-economics for both new and existing multi-site, collaborative national cancer clinical trials groups funded under the program.
The Unit’s services are provided jointly by the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, The University of Sydney and the Centre for Biostatistics and Clinical Trials, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. The coordination of Cancer Clinical Trials Development Unit services will afford economies of scale in the provision of technical advice and support to the multi-site, collaborative national cancer clinical trials groups. The Unit will assist the new national groups to build their capacity to design and conduct quality cancer clinical trials and will help all national cooperative trials groups to gather economic evidence for future decision making. Other services from the Unit can be purchased by existing groups.
The Unit has held the first Health Economics workshop for new and existing multi-site, collaborative national cancer clinical trials groups on 9 April 2009 in Sydney to provide an opportunity for the groups to consider current and future clinical trials from a health economics perspective.
FUNDING FOR CANCER CLINICAL TRIALS
The Priority-driven Collaborative Cancer Research Scheme is a funding program to support research that reduces the impact of cancer on the community and improves outcomes for people affected by cancer. Cancer Australia has established the scheme to partner with other organisations that fund cancer research to:
- better coordinate funding of priority-driven cancer research,
- foster collaboration between cancer researchers to build Australia’s cancer research capacity, and
- foster consumer participation in cancer research.
Research grants for industry-independent cancer clinical trials will be administered through the Priority-driven Collaborative Cancer Research Scheme. Please see here for more information.
REGIONAL MULTI-SITE CLINICAL TRIALS CAPACITY BUILDING NETWORK
Cancer Australia established the Regional Multi-site Clinical Trials Capacity Building Network in 2009. The purpose of this initiative is to increase the capacity of regional centres to activate and recruit to trials conducted by the Multi-site Collaborative National Cancer Clinical Trials Groups, and thereby increasing access to high-quality trials to patients in regional Australia.
Cancer Australia awarded funding to five regional centres during the establishment phase. The centres that received funding during the pilot period were:
· Border Medical Oncology (Albury/Wodonga)
· Royal Hobart Hospital
· Bendigo Health Care Group; and
· North Coast Cancer Institute at Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour.
Cancer Australia has also established the National Regional Coordinating Secretariat to provide liaison and secretariat services. These activities are currently being provided by Cancer Trials Australia.
Applications are now open for new regional centres to join the Regional Multi-site Clinical Trials Capacity Building Network in 2010.
Together with the Victorian Cancer Agency, Cancer Australia is calling for applications from regional centres to join this initiative. Funding will be available to provide the person support required for the conduct of, and recruitment to, cancer clinical trials nominated by the Multi-site Collaborative National Cancer Clinical Trials Groups.
Application documentation is below:
· Application form (Word)
· Application guidelines (PDF)
· Travel Policy: Regional Multi-site Clinical Trials Capacity Building Network
· Cancer Australia: Draft Funding Agreement
APPLICATIONS CLOSE: 12 APRIL 2010 AT 5PM EST