A partnership between Marshfield Clinic Health System, Gundersen Health System and ThedaCare enrolled more than 630 patients from August 2019 to July 2020 in National Cancer Institute-sponsored oncology clinical trials. This made the Research Institute one of two sites to receive two national awards by the NCI for exceptional enrollment.
Cancer Care and Research Center at Marshfield Clinic Research Institute partners with Gundersen Health System and ThedaCare to form the Wisconsin National Community Oncology Research Program (WiNCORP), which is a NCI-supported network that brings cancer prevention clinical trials and cancer care delivery research to people in their communities.
Only four NCORPS received national NCI certificates of excellence for either Exceptional Achievement in Patient Enrollments or Exceptional Achievement in Clinician Enrollments. WiNCORP was one of two programs honored to receive both.
“Clinical trials are an important tool in treating patients when their cancer defies conventional treatments. Successful clinical trials also potentially create hope and better survivorship odds for future cancer patients," said Adedayo Onitilo, M.D., Ph.D., principle investigator for WiNCORP and Cancer Care and Research medical director. “Our collective research efforts were once again recognized at a national level. I am very proud that this is no longer the exception and rather a tradition and legacy for us."
This is the third year in a row that WiNCORP has received awards for oncology clinical trial enrollments. Marshfield Clinic Health System participates in many clinical trials in different specialties, including more than 120 oncology clinical trials actively enrolling adult and pediatric patients.
“It is important to recognize that these awards represent more than individual efforts - they represent our team as a whole and demonstrate what can be attained when we work together. None of this would be possible without the support from Health System leadership, adult and pediatric Oncology service lines, Pathology, Radiology, Pharmacy and the countless other departments that directly and indirectly support the Wisconsin NCORP clinical trial program," said Daniel Wall, research administrator for Cancer Care and Research Center.
As a member of WiNCORP, the Health System and its partners provide access to NCI-sponsored clinical trials to over 680,000 community members within its collective, largely rural, service area spanning most of Wisconsin, upper Michigan and adjacent counties in northern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota. WiNCORP has accrued thousands of individuals for clinical trials during the program's more than 30-year history.
WiNCORP was awarded a 6-year, $15.6 million National Institutes of Health grant last year to continue providing access to clinical trials.