Cooper Cancer Institute will receive the Clinical Trials Participation Award (CTPA) from the Conquer Cancer Foundation of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, formerly known as The ASCO Cancer Foundation. The award recognizes Cooper for its work in improving cancer care through high-quality clinical trials programs. It will be presented to Cooper at ASCO’s 47th Annual Meeting in Chicago, June 3-7, 2011.
“At Cooper Cancer Institute, our number one goal is to be innovative, compassionate and focused on excellence in order to help improve and extend the lives of patients living with cancer,” explains Robert A. Somer, MD, the Director of the Clinical Trials Program, Division of Hematology/Medical Oncology at Cooper. “We are honored to be recognized as a leader in clinical research.”
Of the 1.3 million people who will be diagnosed with cancer this year, only 3 to 5 percent will participate in cancer clinical trials. However, Cooper Cancer Institute averages about 20 percent enrollment in its studies. Cooper’s Division of Hematology/Oncology currently has 50 cancer research studies open across all disease sites.
“The Conquer Cancer Foundation and ASCO are pleased to award the Clinical Trials Participation Award to Cooper Cancer Institute for providing patients with access to high-quality clinical research that ultimately contributes towards progress against cancer,” said Martin J. Murphy Jr., PhD, DMedSc, chair of the Conquer Cancer Foundation Board of Directors.
Clinical trials are research studies designed to evaluate whether a new treatment or procedure is better than the current standard of care. Thanks in large part to the knowledge gained through clinical trials, today two-thirds of cancer patients survive at least five years after diagnosis, compared with half only in the 1970s.
This year’s award winners were selected based on many factors, including patient accrual to clinical trials. Special consideration was given to practices that increased clinical trial participation among underrepresented populations, as well as practices that use innovative techniques to overcome barriers to the enrollment of cancer patients in clinical trials.
A national leader in providing patients access to clinical trials, Cooper Cancer Institute also offers clinical excellence, compassionate care and a collaborative, disease-site specific approach to treating the disease. Cooper Cancer Institute also provides patients and families access to nutritional counseling, psychosocial support services, palliative care and social services. In addition, the Dr. Diane Barton Complementary Medicine Program offers patients a full array “mind-body” therapies designed to help reduce the pain and anxiety associated with cancer.
The Clinical Trials Participation Awards program is supported by the Coalition of Cancer Cooperative Groups and enables the Conquer Cancer Foundation to provide award recipients with a travel grant and complimentary registration to attend this year’s ASCO Annual Meeting.