July 17 2020
Dr. Walter J. Curran, Jr., was the presiding Group Chair and Session Moderator for the NRG Oncology Town Hall session featuring a presentation from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Director, Dr. Ned Sharpless. Dr. Curran preceded the session by thanking the NRG members, staff, leadership, and patients who have come together during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure NRG Oncology trials and operations stayed on track. He announced that the NRG Virtual Summer Meeting had 2,500 registrants so, despite the troubling times with the pandemic, the virtual meeting space has allowed for more participants in the NRG Meeting and many first time attendees. Dr. Curran introduced Dr. Sharpless by providing background on his previous work with NCI as Director in 2017 before a brief time working as the acting Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Now, as Dr. Sharpless is back in the position of NCI Director, he and the NCI have been essential in the continued mobilization of the NCI’s and NCTN’s cancer activities amid the pandemic. Without the NCI’s support, NRG Oncology would not be able to continue operating at the rate that we currently are.
Dr. Sharpless reviewed many of the NCI’s current initiatives during the pandemic and the need for innovation amid COVID-19 and continuing operations that help us continue the research to improve cancer patient’s lives. During his presentation, Dr. Sharpless highlighted the NCI appropriations and acknowledged the significant amount of congressional support for funding within the cancer research community. In the NCI’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Sharpless exhibited a variety of ways that NCI is making changes and being innovative with how research is conducted, including: NCI-funded research trials related to COVID-19 in cancer patients and genomic studies of COVID-19, flexibility and opportunities for grantees, and guidance curated with the help of the FDA for institutions regarding minor protocol deviations, telehealth operations, shipping of medication, and more. The NCCAPS study for COVID-19 in cancer patients is an example of a full clinical trial that opened on July 7, 2020 and has 612 active trial sites in 45 states, which will collect and research blood samples, medical information, and medical images from 2,000 people with cancer who also have COVID-19 to gain knowledge o fthe disease and its symptoms as they develop and change. Additionally, Dr. Sharpless emphasized that finding ways to help grantees and new investigators continue their training without interruption is a priority for the NCI at this challenging time amid hospital and lab closures as they work on allowing for extended deadlines and project timelines and reallocation or carryover of NCI grant funds when permitted.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also had a tremendous impact on cancer patients, on how researchers work with patients, and on cancer statistics. Dr. Sharpless outlined that, due to the pandemic, we have experienced delayed diagnosis, deffered care, reduced or non-standard care, and reduced access to care. He highlighted that there is plenty would could d do to help minimize the impact on patients, but we have to be innovative at how to complete treatment without putting patients and healthcare workers at risk when delivering care. Dr. Sharpless noted we have already and will continue to learn and adapt from this pandemic to hopefully continue using some of the new tools and processes we have in place such as telehealth, that help improve the patient experience and is more cost-effective. NCI has focused on surveying the NCTN and ECTN investigators who also agree some of the tools and process that have been developed during the pandemic have been very favorable and helpful in the treatment of patients.
At the end of the presentation, attendees were able to submit questions to Dr. Sharpless and the NRG Group Chairs, Dr. Curran, Dr. Norman Wolmark, and Dr. Robert Mannel.