Illinois CancerCare Recognized as One of Nations Top Enrollers in Clinical Research
Peoria, IL May 20, 2015 – The Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology (Alliance) recently announced that central Illinois-based Illinois CancerCare, a member of the Heartland Cancer Research NCORP (NCI Community Oncology Research Program), was ranked second in overall accrual of patients into clinical studies, just behind Washington University – Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis, MO. Heartland’s enrollment surpasses such noted names in cancer research as Dana-Farber, Ohio State, University of Chicago, Mayo Clinic and Southeast Cancer Consortium.
“Illinois CancerCare regularly enrolls more patients and out performs larger, well-known national institutions in clinical studies. This is due to our Hub and Spoke model of delivering care,” said Jamie Harper, Director of Clinical Research for Illinois CancerCare. “Our ability to reach out to patients in their hometown through our satellite facilities enables us to bring clinical trial opportunities to the patients rather than the patients having to travel great distances to get to trials at larger academic-based institutions.”
Illinois CancerCare was also recognized by Academic and Community Cancer Research United (ACCRU) as one of the top three enrolling community sites for clinical research.
“It’s important to understand the value of participating and being a leader in these clinical studies,” said Illinois CancerCare’s NCORP principal investigator Jane Liu, MD. “We get to work first-hand with the new therapies and treatments that are utilized during these clinical trials. This reduces our team’s learning curve significantly when these protocols are implemented as standard of care. We have a much better understanding of how to utilize the best science to develop optimal treatment and wellness strategies for cancer patients. ”
Heartland Cancer Research NCORP is comprised of three nationally recognized community cancer programs located in Peoria, IL, Decatur, IL and St. Louis, MO. Locally, the clinical trials of Heartland Cancer Research NCORP are available primarily through Illinois CancerCare.
The Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology is part of a national clinical trials network sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The Alliance comprises nearly 10,000 cancer specialists at hospitals, medical centers, and community clinics across the United States and Canada. Through collaboration with the NCI National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN), they develop and conduct clinical trials with promising new cancer therapies as well as research methods to alleviate side effects of cancer and cancer treatments.
About Illinois CancerCare
Illinois CancerCare is one of the largest practices in the state of Illinois that treats patients with cancer and blood diseases. It provides state of the art treatments to its patients against these complex diseases by staying at the leading edge of clinical research. Illinois CancerCare is central Illinois’ largest network of cancer care specialists with approximately 100 open clinical cancer research trials being conducted at any given time. The group has been recognized by the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) Certification Program for outpatient hematology-oncology practices that meet the highest national standards for quality cancer care. Illinois CancerCare has 18 physicians, 18 APN’s and more than 300 staff members. Illinois CancerCare serves patients in 12 cities and 12 counties throughout central and western Illinois including Bloomington/Normal, Canton, Carthage, Eureka, Galesburg, Kewanee, Macomb, Ottawa, Pekin, Peoria, Peru and Princeton. For further information please visit www.illinoiscancercare.com.
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