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As researchers develop new and exciting approaches to treating cancer, clinical trials that were once limited to patients treated at large academic centers could now be options for patients in all settings. Clinical trials may offer access to therapies with the potential to be more targeted, less toxic and more effective than current standards of care. For some patients, a clinical trial may be the best opportunity to benefit from the most advanced science in the field.

Despite this progress, access to trials remains uneven. Too often, patients must travel to large academic centers to participate, which cause logistical, financial and emotional hurdles that can make enrollment difficult or even impossible. Expanding clinical trial access in community oncology settings is a necessary step toward addressing these challenges. It can also accelerate innovation, improve patient outcomes and make research more inclusive and patient centered.

Today, we have a real opportunity to make cutting-edge treatments more available to patients closer to their home and ensure that clinical trials are part of everyday cancer care — not the exception.

The Case for Community-Based Research

Today, more than half of cancer patients in the U.S. receive care in community settings. Despite this, clinical trial access has historically been concentrated at large research institutions. This limits patient access and slows the pace of innovation.

Facilitating cancer patients’ access to clinical trials close to home, family and work can reduce the financial and logistical burdens associated with travel. It also preserves patient access to emotional support networks and enables patients — many of whom must continue working during treatment — to maintain their income and health insurance. Local trial access can also broaden participation by reaching patients in underserved communities who might otherwise lack such opportunities

Building the Infrastructure for Research at Scale

To make clinical trials a routine part of community cancer care, and to empower faster clinical trial launches, research must be embedded into the clinical workflow of the practice. At SCRI, we’ve developed the Accelero model, an innovative framework that helps community sites launch trials faster with fewer operational hurdles by:

• Providing standardized protocols and streamlined activation processes to reduce the administrative burden of identifying and enrolling eligible patients;
• Placing trained research coordinators and nurse navigators in clinics to guide patients, coordinate care and make trial participation more manageable; and
• Developing advanced technology platforms that integrate EMR and molecular profiling data to rapidly match patients with appropriate trials.

For clinical trial sponsors, this model can improve patient enrollment, enhance site performance, expand patient access, accelerate timelines to open trial sites and improve data integrity through streamlined data delivery. For participating providers, this model can reduce burdens on staff by delivering consistent, efficient patient identification and enrollment processes. And because the Accelero model is designed to scale, its goal is to make research a sustainable, integrated part of community oncology care.

SCRI is empowering community practices across the country to participate in cutting-edge research and offers:

• Access to a national research network with a broad portfolio of studies
• Centralized trial management and monitoring to reduce site workload
• Data analytics to support site selection and patient matching
• Financial and compliance support to ensure trials are sustainable for practices

These efforts are already making a difference. We routinely see cancer patients who are able to enroll in clinical trials at their local clinics, thus avoiding long trips to their nearest academic medical center and allowing for more time with their families. Stories of patients like these are why we do this work.

The Future of Clinical Research Is Local

Biopharmaceutical companies play a critical role in further expanding clinical trial access into community cancer care settings. To truly reach patients where they are, sponsors must:

• Engage early with community practices to design trials that reflect real-world populations;
• Support awareness campaigns that educate patients and providers about trial opportunities; and
• Adopt flexible site-selection strategies that include high-performing community sites alongside academic centers.

These approaches can accelerate enrollment, broaden participation across a wider range of patient populations and generate results that are more applicable to everyday clinical practice.

Now is the time for all stakeholders — physicians, practice leaders, biopharma partners and policymakers — to come together and build a research infrastructure that meets patients where they are. Together, we can ensure that every patient, regardless of zip code, has the opportunity to benefit from the breakthroughs that clinical trials make possible. Because the future of cancer care depends on it.