IOM releases recommendations for cancer clinical trials | HemOncToday

"After the release of the report, Richard L. Schilsky, MD, immediate past president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology released a statement.


“The Cooperative Clinical Research Program is the jewel of our nation’s cancer research system, and is critical to advancing progress against the disease. In fact, the majority of what we know about treating cancer has come from this program. ASCO supports the recommendations in the IOM report and we urge NCI to increase the program’s funding and make needed changes to the system,” Schilsky said.

“The report emphasizes that adequate investment is essential to the continued success of Cooperative Group trials. But today, the system is being starved of funding. In real dollars, the program receives less funding today than it did a decade ago. Considering the program’s vital importance to the nation’s fight against cancer, it is clearly not in the public interest that it receives such a small fraction of NCI’s overall budget. ASCO calls on NCI to double its support for cooperative clinical research within five years.” ......"