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NRG Oncology's 10th Anniversary Meeting
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NRG Oncology will be hosting the 2023 Summer NRG Meeting in Philadelphia, PA. This Summer meeting will be immensely special as we celebrate our 10th anniversary as a group! For the first time in NRG history, we will be hosting an off-site, in-person birthday celebration at the Barnes Foundation, a Philadelphia museum and educational institution that includes one of world’s greatest collections of impressionist, post-impressionist, and modern art. During the NRG Meeting, we will also highlight this milestone achievement in various sessions and will be issuing our very first NRG Oncology Gold Medal on behalf of the remarkable achievements of one of our members. | |
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Protocol Support Committee (PSC) Column
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Life as an Adolescent Young Adult Cancer Survivor
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Written by Diamonique "Diamond" Suber | |
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Imagine entering your senior year of high school as a scholar athlete, looking forward to a full-ride athletic scholarship, only to be diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma a few short months later. This was my reality at just 17 years old.
My journey started as I was walking the aisles of Walmart with my parents, and I felt a small nodule in my neck. I had my mom check out this spot and she took me to be checked.
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As I sat in the emergency room, I was told after my examination that this nodule was simply an infection my body was fighting off that settled in my lymph nodes which would get bigger before it got better. A 14-day antibiotic and two emergency room visits later, I found myself being referred to Brenner’s for a biopsy. | |
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NRG Study News and New Protocols Under Development
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NRG-GY026 Video Interview with Dr. Erickson | |
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Dr. Britt Erickson discusses the NRG-GY026 study: A Phase II/III Study Of Paclitaxel/Carboplatin Alone Or Combined With Either Trastuzumab And Hyaluronidase-Oysk (Herceptin Hylecta) Or Pertuzumab, Trastuzumab, And Hyaluronidase-Zzxf (Phesgo) In Her2 Positive, Stage I-IV Endometrial Serous Carcinoma Or Carcinosarcoma
Watch the full interview
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Patient Webpage Activations
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The NRG-HN001 study patient webpage is now LIVE! Learn more about the trial studying how people with nasopharyngeal cancer, which has not spread to other parts of the body, respond to different types or levels of chemotherapy, based on a specific DNA viral marker in the blood called the Epstein Barr virus (EBV).
www.nrgoncology.org/HN001
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The NRG-HN005 patient study webpage is now LIVE! Learn more about the phase II/III trial for testing reduced-dose radiation with nivolumab immunotherapy for people with Human Papillomavirus (HPV) positive oropharyngeal cancer.
www.nrgoncology.org/HN005
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NRG-GU009 “PREDICT-RT” Patient Video
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The NRG-GU009 study team recently developed a patient-facing video explaining the details of the trial. NRG-GU009, also known as the “PREDICT-RT” study, is for patients with high-risk prostate cancer. The study will be analyzing patient prostate tumor tissue from their biopsy to test for Decipher Risk Score. Patients will receive treatment based on lower vs higher risk score.
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wSAuIeRR-M
Learn more: https://www.nrgoncology.org/PREDICT-RT
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New Protocols Under Development
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NRG Press and Publications
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“The Room Where it Happens” Article Addressing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Published in the JNCI | |
NRG Oncology Gastrointestinal Committee Members Nina Sanford, MD, and Kathryn Hitchcock, MD, PhD, were involved in the authorship of a manuscript regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion across clinical trial leadership in the National Cancer Institute (NCI) National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN). This manuscript was recently published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI). An independent NCTN Task Force for Diversity in Gastrointestinal Oncology was established in 2021 and assessed the existing data on demographics and policies across the five NCTN cooperative groups. The data collected from this Task Force will drive continued efforts towards improving diversity of representation within the NCTN groups. Read More | |
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Addition of EBRT to Brachytherapy Did Not Improve Outcomes for Men with Intermediate-Risk Prostate Cancer, Brachytherapy Alone Remains Standard of Care
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Results from the NRG Oncology NRG-RTOG 0232 clinical trial adding external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) to brachytherapy (BT) in men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer indicate that there was no improvement in freedom from progression (FFP) rates for patients. Late adverse events were significantly increased (> 6 months from treatment start) in genitourinary (GU)/gastrointestinal (GI) and analyzed as grade 2+ and as grade 3+ for patients on the trial who received the combination of EBRT and BT (COMBO arm) compared to patients who received BT alone (BT arm). These results, which were recently published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, suggest that BT should remain the standard of care for this population. Read the full press release here. | |
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AI-Predictive Model Validated Using NRG-RTOG 9408
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A report of an AI-predictive model that was derived and validated from completed randomized phase III trials, including NRG-RTOG 9408 which randomly assigned men to radiotherapy plus or minus four months of androgen deprivation therapy, was recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine. This AI-predictive model was able to identify patients with a predominately intermediate risk for prostate cancer that would be more likely to benefit from short-term androgen deprivation therapy. Read more | |
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ROCKS – ASTRO and NRG Session
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NRG Oncology and the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) previously hosted a webinar session called “ROCKS” on developing cooperative group trials and increasing diversity. NRG Oncology Deputy Chair of Research, Dr. Mitch Machtay, and NRG Early Career & New Investigator Committee Chair Dr. Vinai Gondi, were both presenters during this session. The recording of this webinar can be found here on ASTRO’s website. Stay tuned for more details about upcoming webinars in this program. | |
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Register for the FORTE Workshop on July 21, 2023, at the NRG Summer Meeting in Philadelphia to hear updates on this important colorectal cancer prevention clinical trial!
*NEW* NRG-CC005/FORTE Patient-Directed Videos
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NRG-CC005/FORTE Patient-Directed Videos are now available on CTSU and YouTube for site research staff to share with patients to encourage enrollment in the NRG-CC005/FORTE study. This resource has been CIRB approved for patient use; be sure to determine if videos need to be submitted to your local IRB according to local guidelines.
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“What is FORTE?” addresses eligibility criteria for potentially eligible participants https://youtu.be/JM0LsJMWfR8
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“FORTE: 5 and 10 vs. 10-year Colonoscopy” responds to patient FAQ, “Is it risky for me to wait 10 years to have a follow-up colonoscopy if I have 1-2 non-advanced polyps?” https://youtu.be/H0-TRuiZJ9E
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Dr. Gong Tang Named Statistician of the Year by the ASA Pittsburgh Chapter | |
Gong Tang, PhD, was recently honored as the Statistician of the Year for 2023 by the American Statistical Association (ASA) Pittsburgh Chapter. As regional communities for statisticians and data scientists, ASA chapters are devoted to promoting the understanding, development, and application of statistical principles and methodologies. The Pittsburgh Chapter’s recognition of Dr. Tang is on behalf of his exemplary efforts to broaden advancements in statistics and its applications in clinical trials and encourage effective collaboration among those practicing in the field. | |
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Dr. Tang is Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Pittsburgh and Senior Statistician and Associate Director of NRG Oncology Statistics and Data Management Center (SDMC) Pittsburgh office. His primary research interests involve analysis of incomplete data, clinical trial design, implementation, and analysis, and statistical machine learning. His efforts have applications across a wide spectrum of fields including, but not limited to, breast cancer, enviornmental health of petroleum industry workers, biomarker development, and women’s reproductive health. Congratulations to Dr. Gong Tang on this well-deserved accolade and your outstanding contributions to the statistical community! | | | | |
