The TRU will attract even more opportunities for partnering with industry to offer clinical trials to patients at the Clinical Cancer Center. Dr. Thomas expects the unit to be operational within the coming year: “It will be one of the few dedicated early phase clinical trial units in the country.”
Recently, research staff throughout the Clinical Cancer Center came together in a newly created Cancer Clinical Trials Office. “Previously, our research coordinators were spread out in different departments – surgery, radiation, medicine, etcetera,” Dr. Thomas said. “Now, they’re all consolidated in one unit. Bringing staff together is more efficient, and it will improve coordination of our clinical research efforts.”
The expanding clinical trials program will emphasize early phase trials developed by Medical College of Wisconsin faculty. “Since 2010, we have recruited 25 new faculty members, all of them involved in research,” Dr. Thomas said. He anticipates that the number of clinical trials available at the Clinical Cancer Center will increase by about 50 percent over the next few years.
This mirrors recent growth in the numbers of patients seeking care at Froedtert & The Medical College. “Close to 4,000 new cancer patients come here each year, many of them seeking clinical trials,” Dr. Thomas said. “We have grown faster than expected, and have become a major regional resource for patients with cancer.”
Partners in Progress
The chance to receive promising new therapies is not the only reason to take part in clinical research. “Patients in Wisconsin and beyond become involved in the hopes of finding better therapies for their cancer. What they may not realize is that they are also our partners in the search for new cancer treatments,” Dr. Thomas said.
“We are making progress, but only 3 percent of adult cancer patients in the United States participate in clinical trials,” he said. “The more people that can become involved, the faster we can develop new therapies and improve outcomes for people with cancer in the future.”
National Cancer Institute Designation
Nationwide, there are currently 66 National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers. According to Dr. Thomas, The Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center – which includes the Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin Clinical Cancer Center – is working to achieve NCI designation in the coming years. “The growth in our clinical research enterprise is very much a part of that plan.”
Good Science is Ethical Science
Clinical research is critical in moving cancer care to a new level, and research involves not only investigations in the laboratory, but testing cancer treatments with patients.
In bringing new and possibly better options to patients, safety must be carefully considered along with progress. At Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin, we are committed to ensuring our patients remain safe and informed as they experience treatment. That commitment earned a special national accreditation from the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protections Programs: we have demonstrated that we provide safeguards surpassing the threshold of U.S. federal requirements.
Good science is ethical science: in our quest to find treatments that cure cancer, our patients’ safety and well-being comes first. “This accreditation confirms Froedtert & The Medical College use the highest recognized research standards. We do sound, compliant, ethical research and will continue to do so,” said James Thomas, MD, PhD, Medical College of Wisconsin hematologist/oncologist.
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Clinical Cancer Center
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