The Colorado Cancer Research Program (CCRP) is a consortium of community hospitals located in Denver (6 hospitals) and Colorado Springs (Penrose Cancer Center, which draws on 3 hospitals). Building on its original CCOP structure, the consortium has continued to grow as a dynamic research organization providing NCI clinical trials and investigational drugs to its physician investigators and their patients. The enthusiasm and dedication of the consortium physicians and hospitals has also prompted the CCRP to develop a successful cancer control component in spite of limited funds. Part of the CCRP's success in cancer control research is due to a broad spectrum of physician associates and other health professionals who lend enthusiastic support to new projects. One third of all Denver-Colorado Springs patients are members of HMO's or PPO's, and CCRP physicians participate in these organizations. Together the CCRP consortium hospitals diagnose over 6,000 new cancer cases each year, drawing from a population base which represents over 10% minorities. The organization has strong physician leadership in its Principal Investigator, Associate Principal Investigator and a core of active co- investigators, who play key roles in protocol evaluation and selection, implementation, and patient management. The CCRP staff is highly qualified to meet the administrative and professional responsibilities of the program in terms of study coordination, data collection, investigational drug management, and quality assurance. During the past year the CCRP entered 163 persons on clinical trials; and 71 of these were enrolled in the Breast Cancer Prevention Trial. The CCRP physicians are affiliated with the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG), the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP), the Childrens' Cancer Group (CCG) and M.D. Anderson Cancer Research center (MDACRC). These research bases offer a variety of excellent treatment trials and promising cancer control studies which the CCRP plans to actively participate in, particularly with the help of a CCOP grant. With this in mind, the CCRP has defined its immediate objectives as: increase participation, especially among minorities, in clinical trials and cancer control projects; include a wide range of health-care providers in CCRP studies; publicize the NCI-sponsored clinical research and cancer control activities, so that the general public will recognize and endorse these efforts.
