Strong Finish to 2016! 3CTN Recruitment Workshop and Annual Stakeholder Meeting Survey Outcomes
2016 finished strong with two important events: the Recruitment Workshop, and the Annual Stakeholder Meeting held on November 17 and 18. Each event was not only a great opportunity for the Coordinating Center to share what was happening in the Network, but it allowed everyone to hear back from the sites about their progress against milestones and deliverables, to learn what can be improved going forward to the next iteration of 3CTN and how events like these can continue to strengthen the enthusiasm for shared causes within the Network.
The Recruitment Workshop on November 17 featured new recruitment tools (Corrective Action Plan, Lessons Learned Template and Decision Aid) developed by a 3CTN working group. In addition, members of the Network and lay representatives presented about improving clinical trial participants’ experience, and providing solutions to the problems of structure and personal attention in cancer care. The afternoon session was dedicated to targeted discussions and networking pertaining to recruitment tool implementation strategies and issues.
The structure of this workshop was heavily influenced by the feedback we received from the participants of the previous workshop held in March 2017. This helped to make this event a great success as demonstrated by the post recruitment workshop survey. Sixty-one per cent of the attendees completed the survey and provided positive and constructive feedback. Favourable comments included having the opportunity to network, and having an enthusiastic environment for improving academic clinical trials and bringing awareness to recruitment challenges the sites are facing. The pre-assigned seating at the workshop was noted to be helpful, because it allowed for more discussion between sites that don’t know each other well, or are engaged in implementing different recruitment tools and strategies. Some suggestions for improvement for a future workshop include more physician engagement and topics discussing how to interact with disengaged physicians or discuss ideas to encourage active physician participation in the recruitment. We appreciate everyone who completed the survey after the Recruitment Workshop, and look forward to implementing provided suggestions in future events.
The Annual Stakeholder Meeting on November 18 featured presentation from the 3CTN’s Scientific Director, Janet Dancey, who provided an overview of the 3CTN business plan renewal beyond 2018, as well as progress updates from the regional sites within the Network. The afternoon session was dedicated to discussions intended to facilitate conversation with the stakeholders about strengths and weaknesses of 3CTN related to objectives, initiatives, patient and public involvements, funding, governance, management, network operations and portfolio.
Thirty-seven per cent of attendees completed the post meeting survey, and provided feedback. We received positive feedback about the organization of the Annual Stakeholder meeting, clarification of some ideas discussed at the meeting, as well as some “success stories” that wouldn’t have been possible without 3CTN. Some of these included that sites are networking and talking to each other unlike ever before, and they are able to implement new processes and procedures based on the experiences from other sites. Increased recruitment numbers in 2016 across the Network is a good indicator that 3CTN has played a crucial role in this achievement.
As 3CTN continues working hard in the coming year, we look forward to implementing some of the suggestions we received during these two events. The 3CTN Coordinating Centre is committed to listening to you, and together we will continue to improve cancer academic trials in Canada!
Looking Forward to the Year Ahead
The team at the Coordinating Center is welcoming 2017 with a busy and exciting schedule and preparing for two major events: the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) 36 month review, and the development of the next 3CTN business plan beyond 2018. As 3CTN is entering its fourth and final year of the current business plan as of April 2017, there is a lot of work to be done in preparing the 36 month progress report for the review by the SAB, while at the same time compiling suggestions and shaping them into concrete ideas for implementation in the next phase of 3CTN, starting April 2018.
Some activities for the creation of the next business plan have already taken place in 2016. These include the collection of feedback on challenges, successes, progress, impact to date and areas for improvement from the regional centers via a number of phone interviews, and from discussion of the renewal plans with the stakeholder attendees at the Annual Stakeholder Meeting. Going forward, the findings and recommendations of the SAB 36-month review will be incorporated into the renewal business plan.
Below is a listing of upcoming activities and timelines to ensure timely and successful completion of both the SAB 36-month review and the creation of the next business plan:
SAB 36 months review:
• The SAB review process will follow a two-step approach: the e-review of the progress report and the “face-to-face” meeting;
• The Coordinating Centre will be working on completing the e-review progress report, and compiling various documents for review by the SAB throughout the months of January to April 2017. The overall progress report will include the regional centre updates, which are comprised of the progress reported at the Annual Stakeholder Meeting in November 2016 and Q3 progress reports that will be available as of February 15, 2017;
• The SAB will be provided with the 36-month e-review package for the Network evaluation on April 5, 2017. Once the e-review is completed, the SAB will report back on the findings by the end of April 2017;
• The review process will culminate in the face-to-face meeting on June 22, 2017, where the SAB will convene in Toronto for a full day discussion about the 36-month review findings and recommendations. Regional centres will have the opportunity to present their progress in person at this meeting.
Business Plan for 3CTN Continuation:
• The Coordinating Centre will begin writing the new business plan in January 2017. It will be reviewed by the Steering Committee in March 2017 and presented for review by the SAB in April 2017;
• The Coordinating Centre will continue discussions with the funders to seek their support and commitment for the next phase throughout February-August 2017 and their feedback will also be incorporated in business plan;
• The business plan will be made available to funders for review in September-October 2017 once all the recommendations from the SAB 36-month review funders and other stakeholders have been incorporated.
• Securing the funding, finalizing the budget and executing funding agreements in the months of November 2017 to March 2018 will ensure that the continuation of funding 3CTN can begin April 1, 2018.
The Coordinating Centre would like to collect “success stories” from sites that were made possible through 3CTN funding. These stories will be included in our presentations and documents with the funders, to motivate and inspire our partners to continue investing in 3CTN. Please take some time to share the important progress you have made, and help us build an even stronger network in the next iteration. “Success stories” can be emailed to suzana.kovacevic@oicr.on.ca or feel free to schedule a meeting for over-the-phone interviews.
The 3CTN Coordinating Centre is confident that the Network will forge ahead with even more exiting progress throughout 2017!
Welcoming a New Member to the Lay Representative Advisory Committee
3CTN is committed to including Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in all aspects of the Network to enhance our work. To help guide the Network in the inclusion of PPI, the Lay Representative Advisory Committee (LRAC), made up of mostly lay representatives, was formed in the early days of the Coordinating Centre (CC), and has been an invaluable resource ever since.
Recently, a new lay representative was brought into the 3CTN fold through his work on a local Patient and Family Advisory Council. Robbie Stewart has now officially joined the LRAC, and we are delighted to have his input at our regular meetings. Robbie was excited to join 3CTN because “PPI is often an overlooked component in clinical trials, and this it is a great opportunity to drive improvement for all clinical trial stakeholders in Canada”.
When orienting a new lay representative in any capacity across the Network, it is important to help train the individual on the particular role they will be playing, as well as assigning them a “buddy” to help with the training. Erwin Wanderer, the Atlantic lay representative, kindly took on the role of mentor in Robbie’s case and this quickly helped Robbie find his footing in his new role. “Erwin took the time to walk me through the world of 3CTN and examples of what the LRAC has done with projects such as the ASK ME campaign,” says Robbie. Robbie was also grateful for the mentoring aspect because “the onboarding process allowed me to transition very easily from my work as a Patient and Family Experience Advisor to being involved with 3CTN”.
We are very pleased to have Robbie join the LRAC, and look forward to working with him in the coming months. Bringing Robbie onboard, through mentoring and training with 3CTN PPI Tools, is a great example of how to ensure a fruitful relationship with any new lay representatives brought into the Network. When your site is considering onboarding a new lay representative in the coming months, be sure to check out the tools and resources on the 3CTN PPI Webpage.
EDGE Tips
Note: The tips provided are meant to help the users and potential sites get the most out of the EDGE platform.
All 3CTN portfolio trials are stored in the EDGE Global Projects library. Variations in title, description and acronym can, on occasion, hinder you from finding the correct project. Please ensure you are searching by using the project title from the protocol or portfolio search webpage, and not the title or acronym the project may be referred to locally. If searching for a portfolio-adopted trial, the most efficient way to do so is to use the NCT number (clinical trial gov. number) as this is a unique identifier.
If you require access to an existing project, navigate to the Organization page, and click Request Involvement. Each site contributes to the global project library, so please provide as much details as you can when you list the trials, so that others can benefit from this collaborative initiative. Please note that the patient and finance details are not shared across the recruiting sites.
Title: OPAR
Full title: A Phase II Randomized Trial of Radiation Fractionation Schedules for Once-a-Day Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation Sponsor: OCOG NCT#: NCT02637024
Significance: This study is directed at 3 Dimensional Conformal Radiation Therapy (3DCRT), which is one of the most attractive approaches to deliver APBI. It is the least invasive and costly, and uses standard linear accelerators and treatment planning systems widely available in Canada. In addition to convenience, an important advantage of APBI is that radiation exposure is reduced to underlying organs such as the lung, heart and chest wall potentially resulting in a decrease in secondary ischemic heart disease and new malignancies. If 3DCRT given once-a-day is shown to be safe, the plan would be to conduct a multi-centre RCT comparing this treatment to the current standard WBI. As the prognosis of breast cancer patients increasingly improves, the onus is on clinicians to provide effective treatments with as limited morbidity as possible.
Sites open to recruitment: 10 Additional sites to open trial: 1 Open to Additional Canadian Sites: No Current Number Enrolled: 58 Global Target Recruitment: 218 Study Duration: Study duration: 2016-2018 – two years for recruitment
Announcements:
Suzana Kovacevic has now officially begun full-time as Project Manager for the 3CTN Coordinating Centre.
Site Job Positings:
The 3CTN Pulse Newsletter will now feature site job opportunities. Please email info@3ctn.ca if you would like your posting to be featured in our next newsletter.
Key Dates:
January 25-27, 2017 – EDGE Admin User Training
February 15, 2017 - Q3 Reporting Deadline
March 1, 2017 – 3CTN Steering Committee Meeting
June 22, 2017 – 3CTN SAB Meeting
Contact Us
For inquiries please contact: info@3ctn.ca or call 1-866-678-6427
Canadian Cancer Clinical Trials Network, MaRS Centre, 661 University Ave,
Suite 510 Toronto, Ontario Canada M5G 0A3
