- Children's Oncology Group
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Children's Oncology Group
The Children’s Oncology Group (COG), a National Cancer Institute (NCI) supported clinical trials group, is the world’s largest organization devoted exclusively to childhood and adolescent cancer research. The COG unites more than 7,500 experts in childhood cancer at more than 200 leading children’s hospitals, universities, and cancer centers across North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe in the fight against childhood cancer.
Today, more than 90% of 13,500 children and adolescents diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States are cared for at Children’s Oncology Group member institutions. COG’s unparalleled collaborative efforts provide the information and support needed to answer important clinical questions in the fight against cancer.
The Children’s Oncology Group has nearly 100 active clinical trials open at any given time. These trials include front-line treatment for many types of childhood cancers, studies aimed at determining the underlying biology of these diseases, and trials involving new and emerging treatments, supportive care, and survivorship.
The Children’s Oncology Group research has turned children’s cancer from a virtually incurable disease 50 years ago to one with a combined 5-year survival rate of 80% today. Their goal is to cure all children and adolescents with cancer, reduce the short and long-term complications of cancer treatments, and determine the causes and find ways to prevent childhood cancer.
Contents
History
The Children's Oncology Group was formed in 2000 as a merger of four independent cooperative groups; the Children's Cancer Study Group (CCG), Pediatric Oncology Group (POG), Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study Group (IRS), and the National Wilms Tumor Study Group (NWTS).
Quality Assurance
The Children's Oncology Group has all of its protocol-driven cases reviewed at the Quality Assurance Review Center (QARC). As mandated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), every radiotherapy (RT) department participating in an COG study submits their data to QARC for review. QARC is located in Lincoln, Rhode Island and reviews thousands of RT cases per year. The center was founded in 1977 as a not-for-profit health care organization designed to provide quality assurance for CALGB studies. Radiotherapy data from around one-thousand hospitals in both the United States and abroad is reviewed and archived at QARC.
Another center for quality assurance is the Radiological Physics Center (RPC) in Houston, Texas. The primary responsibility of the RPC is to assure the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and its cooperative groups like COG that all participating institutions are following the basic guidelines regarding the physics-related aspects of radiotherapy. Established in 1968, the RPC has consistently received funding from the NCI in order to perform the aforementioned mission.
References
External links
- Children's Oncology Group – website
- CureSearch – COG and National Childhood Cancer Foundation website with trial and educational information
- Quality Assurance Review Center
- Radiological Physics Center
- National Cancer Institute
- National Institutes of Health
- caBIG
- Stanford research on cancer related learning problems
Categories:- Cancer organizations
- Medical research institutes
- Pediatrics by country
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