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Through 50 CCOPs and 11 Minority-Based CCOPs, more than 400 community hospitals in 36 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico participate with the Cooperative Groups and Cancer Centers in NCI-supported clinical trials. Today, one-third of all patients in NCI-sponsored prevention clinical trials and treatment trials come from the CCOPs and Minority-Based CCOPs. Community oncologists are able to stay involved in clinical research and their patients have access to state-of-the-art cancer care close to home.
CCOPs "have become the primary force behind prevention, cancer control, symptom management, and quality of life research," said Peter Greenwald, M.D., Dr.P.H., director of NCI's Division of Cancer Prevention, commemorating the program's 20-year history. "They are in the forefront of wide-scale testing of preventive interventions, and their research is conducted with exemplary quality and efficiency."
CCOPs made possible several large-scale cancer prevention trials supported by NCI. The Breast Cancer Prevention Trial tested the efficacy of tamoxifen in preventing breast cancer in women at high risk for the disease, and the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial evaluated finasteride as a prostate cancer
prevention drug.
The CCOPs network remains a strong partner in ongoing studies as well. The Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (STAR) compares raloxifene with tamoxifen in breast cancer prevention and runs through 2010. The Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT) is evaluating the supplements to prevent prostate cancer. Results from SELECT are due in 2013.
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