June 29 2020
The NRG Oncology Biospecimen Bank (NRG-BB) will be awarded six more years of funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to provide biospecimen banking support for the NCI National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) group NRG Oncology. During the peer review grant renewal process, the NRG-BB was ranked within the “Exceptional” range with a score of 18. Reviewer comments highlighted the exceptional organizational structure, the strong leadership and execution of biospecimen banking activities and support provided to NRG clinical trials and translational research activities.
The NRG-BB, with locations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, San Francisco, California, Columbus, Ohio, and Houston Texas collects, manages, and distributes high quality and well annotated biospecimens that are utilized in NRG Oncology phase I, II, and III NCTN and NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) clinical trials. The NRG-BB inventory through August 2019 included 3,276,452 biospecimens collected from 182,749 patients across 404 clinical trials. The biospecimens collected from the banks have been integral in the evolution of cancer care and have led to 82 highly influential and practice-changing scientific publications.
“The work of the NRG Biospecimen Banks is an important component of both NRG Oncology cancer clinical trials and translational research where biospecimens are utilized to test and validate biomarkers of tumor prognosis and to predict patients’ responses to treatments. Our goal is to support NRG Oncology’s mission to improve the lives of those affected by cancer,” stated Richard Jordan, DDS, PhD, the Contact Principal Investigator for the NRG-BB grant and Professor of Pathology, Oral Pathology, and Radiation Oncology at the University of California, San Francisco. “We look forward to the advanced and continued efforts of our excellent team that will extend through the next 6-years of this grant cycle.”
The NRG-BB is projected to continue its growth as NRG Oncology aims to enroll 3,183 patients per year in future trials. The successful, dedicated work of the NRG-BB will continue to secure better quality biospecimens, expand access to biospecimens for translational scientists, and improve research outcomes.
The six year grant cycle starts September 1, 2020
About NRG OncologyNRG Oncology conducts practice-changing, multi-institutional clinical and translational research to improve the lives of patients with cancer. Founded in 2012, NRG Oncology is a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit corporation that integrates the research of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP), the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG), and the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG). The research network seeks to carry out clinical trials with emphases on gender-specific malignancies, including gynecologic, breast, and prostate cancers, and on localized or locally advanced cancers of all types. NRG Oncology’s extensive research organization comprises multidisciplinary investigators, including medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, surgeons, physicists, pathologists, and statisticians, and encompasses more than 1,300 research sites located world-wide with predominance in the United States and Canada. NRG Oncology is supported primarily through grants from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and is one of five research groups in the NCI’s National Clinical Trials Network. www.nrgoncology.org
Media Contact: Angela LaPenta, lapentaa@nrgoncology.org