Celebrating International Clinical Trials Day
Each year, International Clinical Trials Day (ICTD) is held on May 20 to commemorate the day James Lind, the famous 18th century Scottish physician began trials into the causes of scurvy.
To mark ICTD for 2019, a majority of 3CTN sites across the country committed to a relaunch of the established Ask Me Campaign as a key part of planned events throughout the week and on an ongoing basis to raise patient, public and institutional awareness about clinical trials and research happening at their centres.
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In preparation, the 3CTN Coordinating Center held a series of orientation and learning webinars for clinical trial site staff and many newly-recruited Patient Representatives to review elements of the Ask Me Campaign. Turnout and engagement was very strong with a total of 38 attendees representing 18 NCCs and NACCs, a reflection of 3CTN’s commitment to PPI. Participants gained an understanding of best practices for organizing and implementing successful local campaigns and reviewing lessons learned collectively from previous years’ experiences.
Following their respective ICTD events, teams from Manitoba and Quebec shared highlights with the Network:
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In Manitoba, the Network Cancer Centre set up display booths with information about clinical trials. Staffed by the team, including Patient Representative and Chair of the 3CTN Patient Representative Advisory Council, Fred Clark. In addition, the site also had a display on clinical trials for Adolescents and Young Adults with all research staff wearing their Ask Me Campaign buttons.
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 Across Quebec, a total of 10 NACCs participated in ICTD with 20 booths organized to disseminate information and educate the public about the importance of clinical trials. Amelie Berube from Q-CROC shared her experience, “The booths across the cancer centres made for a great outreach project, with 10 patient partners and approximately 70 research professionals involved and drawing more than 500 visitors. Moreover, it was a great opportunity for clinical research staff to directly engage with the public and talk about clinical trials.” add text to your template. |
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Year 5 Recruitment to Academic Cancer Clinical Trials
At the conclusion of the past fiscal year, 3CTN cancer centres collectively surpassed the annual accrual target established for the Network as a whole, achieving 74% above pre-3CTN baseline recruitment, well above the targeted 55% increase. Final adult patient accrual figures were at 116% above target. The following figure shows the breakdown of accruals by province as well as adult & pediatric populations.
Click to view past Performance Reports.
Available Per Case Funding (PCF) was earned by 17 sites (six Network Cancer Centres and 11 Network Affiliated Cancer Centres) amounting to a total of over $475K paid-out for full accrual beyond established recruitment caps.
Congratulations to all member sites on your contributions towards the Network’s success in bringing trial options to cancer patients! |
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New & Improved Name, Same Great Committee!
Formerly known as the Lay Representative Advisory Committee this group has been renamed to Patient Representative Advisory Committee to better reflect its membership and purpose for stakeholders.
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Patient Representative Onboarding Tools for Network Cancer Centres
Over this past year Network members, with input from the 3CTN Patient Representative Advisory Committee, created a Patient Representative Orientation toolkit. Developed to be tailored to suit individual sites’ capacity and priorities, the following template resources help teams get started and facilitate a more robust onboarding and orientation process for new Patient Representatives. this new resource is comprised of:
- a template role description;
- a responsibilities matrix to assist centres and patient candidates identify opportunities, align interests and set priorities where patient input in clinical trial activites including planning, design, recruitment, conduct, review and advocacy;
- an orientation checklist.
Network sites are encouraged to consult the toolkit when planning to incorporate the patient voice within their current PPI strategy and going forward as additional Patient Representatives are engaged in their centre’s research activities.
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Special Announcements
Dr. Peter Selby’s Retirement and Scientific Advisory Board Chair Transition
After a long and highly distinguished career in cancer research in the United Kingdom, Professor Peter Selby retired in June from his role as consultant physician at the Leeds Cancer Centre - St James’s University Hospital and as Associate Dean & Professor of Cancer Medicine at the University of Leeds. Peter will continue to serve as Chair of 3CTN Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) through the forthcoming 18-month SAB review, whereupon responsibilities for SAB Chair will transition and be assumed by Dr. David Cameron (see below).
Dr. Selby has led the SAB from inception and provided foundational support in establishing the Network and guiding its success. On behalf of the entire Network, our stakeholders and the thousands of cancer patients who have had the option for involvement in academic clinical trials, we would like to offer our heartfelt appreciation and sincerest thanks to Dr. Selby and warmest wishes as he enjoys his retirement.
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Dr. Janet Dancey, 3CTN Scientific Director deliverered remarks on Dr. Peter Selby’s retirement, which can be found here: https://bit.ly/2Gs9z6V |
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Welcoming Dr. David Cameron to the 3CTN Scientific Advisory Board
We are very pleased to announce the addition of Dr. David Cameron as a member of our Scientific Advisory Board, appointed as the incoming Chair following the 18-month review process planned at the end of the current fiscal year.
Dr. Cameron is Professor of Oncology at Edinburgh University, Director of Cancer Services with the National Health Service as well as Clinical Director of the Cancer Research UK Edinburgh Centre where he has responsibility for oversight and strategy of clinical and translational research. Professor Cameron has an M.D. in Clinical Oncology from the University of Edinburgh, is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology & the European Society for Medical Oncology and has extensive research interests in breast cancer.
Previously the Director of the UK’s National Institute of Health Research-funded National Cancer Research Networks, he has also been an active member of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) throughout his career, including serving as a past chairman of the EORTC New Agent Committee.
We look forward to the strategic insights and experience Dr. Cameron can offer to 3CTN, drawn from both his position as the Chief Scientist’s Office Clinical Cancer Research Champion in Scotland in addition to memberships in several cancer research funding committees and NIHR funding bodies in the UK.
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Cameron to 3CTN!
Dr. Ian Tannock recognized with 2019 ASCO S. Litcher Visionary Leader Award
3CTN congratulates Dr. Ian Tannock on receiving the prestigious ASCO Allen S. Litcher Visionary Leader Award for 2019 in recognition of his critical influence on clinical trials design, visionary leadership and significant research accomplishments over his distinguished career. Read more here.
Dr. Tannock is Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Medical Biophysics at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and University of Toronto and serves as the Chair of 3CTN Management Committee. |
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Dr. Colene Bentley presents 3CTN-Sponsored Research Project at the 2019 ARCC Conference
Dr. Colene Bentley presented results from the recently completed qualitative research project conducted in collaboration with 3CTN members at the Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control (ARCC) 2019 Conference held in Halifax, Nova Scotia on May 27. Drawn from surveys of 3CTN Investigators and research professionals, results presented in the poster summarized barriers to, and supports for cancer clinical trials that currently exist in Canada. Those in attendance at last year’s Annual Stakeholder Meeting may recall Colene’s summary presentation of ARCC’s findings. Plans for journal publication of the study manuscript later this year will aim to share these findings with a wider, targeted audience to follow. Thank you to everyone who participated in this important work.
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EDGE-CTMS Lead Administrator User Training and Interactive Workshop
During the month of July, the Coordinating Centre delivered a three-day workshop on the EDGE Clinical Trials Management System for lead admin users. Representatives from six sites were in attendance in the session co-facilitated by Rebecca Xu and James Schoales:
| Eastern Health Regional Authority |
Montreal Childrens Hospital |
| North York General Hospital |
Lakeridge Health |
| Walker Family Cancer Centre |
London Health Science Centre |
In addition to core functionality and system configuration, facilitators introduced data analysis resources and customizable dashboard tools during hands-on workshops to help end users maximize EDGE’s capacity for data collection and reporting.
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Key Dates
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Do YOU have news to share?
Be featured in the next 3CTN Newsletter by submitting a brief (~250 word) story along with pictures to info@3ctn.ca |
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