Cancer Clinical Research Unit

Overview

The Cancer Clinical Research Unit (CCRU) coordinates and supports protocol management and clinical/translational research projects that carry high impact for advancing cancer knowledge and patient care.

The CCRU is located at the London Regional Cancer Program (LRCP) at Victoria Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) and is a part of the Gerald C. Baines Centre for Translational Cancer Research.

Clinical Research

Clinical research at LRCP is carried out through disease-specific multidisciplinary teams: breast, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, gynecological, head and neck, central nervous system, skin, thoracic, sarcoma, neuroendocrine, and through the Supportive Care Program. The CCRU has extensive experience across a spectrum of clinical trial activities and offers the following services:

Access to a large patient population across multiple disease sites;
Study design, protocol development and methodological advice;
Database development, support and form design;
Statistical support including sample size, analysis and interpretation of results;
Management of ethics documentation, including initial submissions, amendments and safety reports;
Completion of regulatory documentation;
Patient recruitment;
Case report form completion;
Long-term follow-up for adjuvant trials;
Design and maintenance of tumour bank and database projects;
Sample collection for pharmacokinetic studies;
Quality assurance;
Liaison with granting agencies, the pharmaceutical industry and government; and,
National and International Central Databases.

CCRU Highlights

Regularly recruits 250-400 patients each year for 50 to 70 active trials.
Has developed close collaborations with Cooperative Groups and Pharmaceutical Industry.
Implemented quality control procedures which have been validated by multiple external audits (Cooperative Group, Industry, FDA).
Staff have developed and published an innovative patient assessment record (PAR) of treatment toxicities, widely adopted by other clinical research programs.
Major participation in studies which resulted in changes to standards of care.

The CCRU Team

Clinical Research Coordinators are responsible for the organization, implementation, coordination and documentation of clinical research projects.
Clinical Research Associates and Clinical Trial Research Assistants coordinate the follow-up phase for clinical trials subjects, complete case documentation and assist Clinical Research Coordinators with the coordination of active research projects.
Clinical Trial Activation Coordinators are responsible for ensuring the regulatory requirements are complete.
Data Management Coordinators maintain central databases for provincial, national and international multi-centre studies.
A Biostatistician works with the LRCP professional/academic staff on the methodological and statistical aspects of their research.
A Statistical Database Coordinator creates data management systems to facilitate data collection and analyses of retrospective and prospective LRCP-based research projects.
An Ethics Regulatory Coordinator is responsible for initial and ongoing ethics approval submissions.
An Administrative Assistant is responsible for ongoing administrative/secretarial support for all CCRU activities.