The Statewide Clinical Trials Network of Texas (CTNet), a non-profit clinical trials network that focuses on collaborative cancer research announced today the signing of 20 research agreements with leading community-based oncology groups and research institutions throughout Texas.
A grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), CTNet will help a somewhat fledgling industry in Texas that has the potential to provide groundbreaking research in the field of biomarker-driven phase II clinical trials.
This unique approach to cancer research will not only be a boon to research in general, but it will also provide benefits to Texans with cancer in the fact they will have access to new and innovative approaches to treating cancer.
Leader of the CTNet management team is Dr. Charles E. Geyer Jr., president and chief medical officer as well as famous medical oncologist and clinical researcher. Dr Geyer had these positive words in support of the agreement:
“A critical barrier to the rapid conduct of biomarker driven clinical research has been the lack of large-scale programs offering state of the art, comprehensive analyses of cancers from patients with recurrent cancers to determine if their cancers contain the genetic abnormalities targeted with new agents in clinical trials. CPRIT funding has made it possible to establish such a program in Texas through collaborations with the Cancer Genetics Lab at Baylor College of Medicine and the Texas Cancer Research Biobank, another CPRIT-funded initiative.”
The following organizations have joined together to create the Statewide Clinical Trials Network of Texas (CTNeT): Baylor College of Medicine; Cancer Care Centers of South Texas; The Center for Cancer & Blood Disorders; Mary Crowley Cancer Research Centers; The Methodist Hospital Research Institute; Oncology Consultants, PA; South Texas Oncology & Hematology (STOH) Research at the START Center; Scott & White Healthcare; Texas Children’s Cancer Center; Texas Oncology; Texas Tech Health Sciences Center; The UT Health Science Center at Houston; The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio; The UT Health Science Center at Tyler; The UT MD Anderson Cancer Center; The UT Medical Branch at Galveston and The UT Southwestern Medical Center.