Cancer Trial Groups ECOG and ACRIN Complete Merger

The American College of Radiology’s Imaging Network and the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group have completed their merger, which was first announced in March 2011.

As of May 17, the two groups will be known as the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group. The merger became official when they completed and approved a constitution that fully integrates the governance, administrative, and scientific components of both groups.

The new ECOG-ACRIN group comprises nearly 650 institutions and 6,000 individuals from a variety of disciplines.

The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group was one of the first clinical trial cooperative groups sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. Now, it claims to be one of the largest cancer research organizations in the United States.

The American College of Radiology’s Imaging Network has a network of investigators from 100 academic and community-based facilities in the United States and overseas.

The merger is part of an ongoing process to streamline and consolidate the NCI cooperative groups. The overhaul was spurred by a 2010 Institute of Medicine report that found the NCI clinical trials enterprise had become unwieldy. Cooperative groups also were finding themselves increasingly in the position of competing for the same limited amount of resources for cancer research.

In a joint statement issued upon completion of the merger, ECOG-ACRIN cochairs Dr. Robert L. Comis of Drexel University and Dr. Mitchell L. Schnall of the University of Pennsylvania, both in Philadelphia, said that the new group "establishes for the public and private sectors one organizational structure capable of studying the entire cancer care pathway – prevention and screening, surveillance, early detection, staging, diagnosis, treatment, follow-up, and survivorship."

The two groups also believe that they will be stronger together than they would have been individually, said the joint statement. "For example, our core pathology and imaging scientists, and their associated laboratories and extensive IT infrastructures, make it entirely possible for the Group to integrate large data sets required for biomarker-driven science," the statement said.

Dr. Comis is also chairman of the Coalition of Cancer Cooperative Groups.

When the merger was announced in 2011, the two groups said that the new entity would focus on three main areas: early detection and diagnosis; biomarker-driven phase II and phase III therapeutic studies; and "genetic, molecular, and imaging marker research to predict and monitor treatment response."

The newly merged group said that it expects to start enrolling patients in joint clinical trials soon.

The American College of Radiology’s Imaging Network and the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group have completed their merger, which was first announced in March 2011.

As of May 17, the two groups will be known as the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group. The merger became official when they completed and approved a constitution that fully integrates the governance, administrative, and scientific components of both groups.

The new ECOG-ACRIN group comprises nearly 650 institutions and 6,000 individuals from a variety of disciplines.

The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group was one of the first clinical trial cooperative groups sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. Now, it claims to be one of the largest cancer research organizations in the United States.

The American College of Radiology’s Imaging Network has a network of investigators from 100 academic and community-based facilities in the United States and overseas.

The merger is part of an ongoing process to streamline and consolidate the NCI cooperative groups. The overhaul was spurred by a 2010 Institute of Medicine report that found the NCI clinical trials enterprise had become unwieldy. Cooperative groups also were finding themselves increasingly in the position of competing for the same limited amount of resources for cancer research.

In a joint statement issued upon completion of the merger, ECOG-ACRIN cochairs Dr. Robert L. Comis of Drexel University and Dr. Mitchell L. Schnall of the University of Pennsylvania, both in Philadelphia, said that the new group "establishes for the public and private sectors one organizational structure capable of studying the entire cancer care pathway – prevention and screening, surveillance, early detection, staging, diagnosis, treatment, follow-up, and survivorship."

The two groups also believe that they will be stronger together than they would have been individually, said the joint statement. "For example, our core pathology and imaging scientists, and their associated laboratories and extensive IT infrastructures, make it entirely possible for the Group to integrate large data sets required for biomarker-driven science," the statement said.

Dr. Comis is also chairman of the Coalition of Cancer Cooperative Groups.

When the merger was announced in 2011, the two groups said that the new entity would focus on three main areas: early detection and diagnosis; biomarker-driven phase II and phase III therapeutic studies; and "genetic, molecular, and imaging marker research to predict and monitor treatment response."

The newly merged group said that it expects to start enrolling patients in joint clinical trials soon.

The American College of Radiology’s Imaging Network and the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group have completed their merger, which was first announced in March 2011.

As of May 17, the two groups will be known as the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group. The merger became official when they completed and approved a constitution that fully integrates the governance, administrative, and scientific components of both groups.

The new ECOG-ACRIN group comprises nearly 650 institutions and 6,000 individuals from a variety of disciplines.

The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group was one of the first clinical trial cooperative groups sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. Now, it claims to be one of the largest cancer research organizations in the United States.

The American College of Radiology’s Imaging Network has a network of investigators from 100 academic and community-based facilities in the United States and overseas.

The merger is part of an ongoing process to streamline and consolidate the NCI cooperative groups. The overhaul was spurred by a 2010 Institute of Medicine report that found the NCI clinical trials enterprise had become unwieldy. Cooperative groups also were finding themselves increasingly in the position of competing for the same limited amount of resources for cancer research.

In a joint statement issued upon completion of the merger, ECOG-ACRIN cochairs Dr. Robert L. Comis of Drexel University and Dr. Mitchell L. Schnall of the University of Pennsylvania, both in Philadelphia, said that the new group "establishes for the public and private sectors one organizational structure capable of studying the entire cancer care pathway – prevention and screening, surveillance, early detection, staging, diagnosis, treatment, follow-up, and survivorship."

The two groups also believe that they will be stronger together than they would have been individually, said the joint statement. "For example, our core pathology and imaging scientists, and their associated laboratories and extensive IT infrastructures, make it entirely possible for the Group to integrate large data sets required for biomarker-driven science," the statement said.

Dr. Comis is also chairman of the Coalition of Cancer Cooperative Groups.

When the merger was announced in 2011, the two groups said that the new entity would focus on three main areas: early detection and diagnosis; biomarker-driven phase II and phase III therapeutic studies; and "genetic, molecular, and imaging marker research to predict and monitor treatment response."

The newly merged group said that it expects to start enrolling patients in joint clinical trials soon.