Home  >  Research and Technology  >  Clinical Trials

Clinical Trials

One of the main goals of the National Cancer Institute's Community Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP) is to expand clinical trials and offer patient access to the latest trials available-all within their own community. Since the inception of the NCCCP, the Nancy N. and J.C. Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion (LCRP) has had greater access to clinical trials, expanded the number of clinical trials available to patients, started participating in early phase clinical trials, increased focus on minority and underserved population participation in clinical trials, and joined the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG), which provides greater access to national clinical trials.

The LCRP at St. Joseph's/Candler has a robust clinical trials program, led by H.A. Zaren, MD, FACS, that includes an affiliate relationship with H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, in Tampa, Florida, to allow patients access to additional clinical trials.

The LCRP participates in state, regional and national collaborations with other research sites including: a state collaboration with Georgia CORE; a regional collaboration with Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina; and a national collaboration with another NCCCP site, Gibbs Cancer Center, in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Hollings Cancer Center, Gibbs Cancer Center and the LCRP all work together on a special clinical trial called NAVIGATE (Navigation to Increase Guidance and Awareness of Trials for Thoracic and Esophageal Cancers). NAVIGATE focuses on increasing enrollment in lung and esophageal clinical trials through the use of a lay navigator.

The LCRP also participates in a project on Early Phase Clinical Trial Infrastructure Development, which involves collaborations with the National Cancer Institute and the Medical College of Georgia. The LCRP already has a strong clinical trials program with several Phase I and II clinical trials, including a Phase 1b clinical trial for melanoma.