Helpful Information
Preclinical studies (animal studies) of new agents to identify promising anticancer drugs that can be evaluated in clinical trials: The NCI-supported Pediatric Preclinical Testing Program (PPTP) systematically evaluates new drugs and substances using animal models (animals with a cancer similar to or the same as a cancer found in children) to find the drugs most likely to have significant anticancer effects in clinical trials. The program is based on a large amount of research showing that animal models imitate the effects of proven anticancer drugs and can be used to prospectively identify new drugs that are effective against childhood cancers in subsequent patient studies. More information about the PPTP is available at http://pptp.stjude.org/ on the Internet. Questions concerning the PPTP can be addressed to the PPTP Project Officer, Dr. Malcolm Smith (smithm@ctep.nci.nih.gov).
• Projects designed to improve the health status of survivors of childhood cancers: The NCI funds the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS), a study coordinated by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The CCSS has over 25 sites across the country at medical institutions with doctors specializing in long-term care for children and young adults. This study was created to gain new knowledge and to educate cancer survivors about the long-term effects of cancer and cancer treatment. Information about the study is available at http://bit.ly/cK6Pa4
The Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium (PBTC) (http://www.pbtc.org) includes 10 leading academic institutions with extensive experience in the design and conduct of clinical trials for children with brain tumors. The group’s primary objective is to rapidly conduct phase I and II clinical evaluations of new therapeutic drugs, treatment delivery technologies, new biological therapies, and radiation treatment strategies in children up to age 21 with primary central nervous system (CNS) tumors. Another objective of the PBTC is to develop and coordinate innovative neuroimaging techniques. Results from PBTC studies are made available to large international collaborative groups for confirmatory phase II and multiagent phase III clinical trials.
