The Cancer Trials Support Unit is a service of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) designed to facilitate access to NCI-funded clinical trials for qualified clinical sites and to support the management and conduct of those clinical trials.
The NCI launched the CTSU in 1999 to streamline and harmonize support services for Phase III Cooperative Group cancer clinical trials funded by the NCI. Since that time the scope of the CTSU has expanded to include support of multiple NCI-funded networks and clinical trials of all phases and types including cancer treatment, prevention and control, advanced imaging and correlative science studies. The CTSU collaborates with the NCI and its funded organizations to develop and support operational processes and informatics solutions leading to cost-effective solutions that reduce administrative burden on clinical sites.
Goals and Objectives
Facilitate investigator and research staff participation in selected NCI multi-center programs and their clinical trials.
Increase investigator and patient awareness and enrollment to cancer clinical trials.
Provide standardized, integrated and comprehensive support services to selected NCI multi-center programs.
Identify best practices and streamline or eliminate redundant processes and procedures.
Improve operational efficiency, enhance productivity and deliver products offering measurable business value to selected NCI-multi-center programs.
The CTSU supports various NCI cancer research networks, including but not limited to:
The NCI National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) is a clinical trials research network that provides an infrastructure for NCI treatment, screening and diagnosis trials. The NCTN infrastructure allows investigators to begin clinical trials quicker, reach conclusions faster and offer patients studies that incorporate precision medicine at over 3,000 clinical sites.
The NCI Experimental Therapeutics Clinical Trials Network (ETCTN) is a clinical trials network that evaluates innovative cancer treatments using a coordinated, collaborative, and inclusive team based approach to early phase experimental therapeutic clinical trials.
The NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) is a community based program that brings cancer clinical trials, as well as cancer care delivery research, to individuals in their own communities, thereby generating a broadly applicable evidence base that contributes to improved patient outcomes and a reduction in cancer disparities.
The CTSU is funded and directed by the NCI Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP) and operated by Westat.
