Local Cancer Patients Now Eligible for Cutting-Edge Clinical Trials at Commonwealth Atrius Cancer Center
Weymouth Office of Commonwealth Hematology-Oncology
Selected by NCI to be Clinical Site
Weymouth, MA: Local patients undergoing cancer treatments at Commonwealth Atrius Cancer Center (CACC) can now participate in cutting-edge clinical trials that previously would have necessitated inconvenient and sometimes impossible travel to downtown medical centers. The Weymouth office of Commonwealth Hematology-Oncology (CHO) at CACC has joined other CHO offices that are implementing this newly launched clinical trials program in conjunction with the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Independent Clinical Research Site Program. This program is part of NCI’s Cancer Trials Support Unit.
This new relationship between NCI and CHO gives patients access to more than 60 leading cancer trials. These are the same trials that patients would receive at internationally renowned cancer centers such as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Massachusetts General Hospital.
“We want patients to have improved access to better treatment options that are closer to home, in smaller, community-based sites. This program enables us to do so,” says James Everett, M.D. “Clinical trials offer hope for the future. Eligible patients can participate in a study, and their success can help many other community residents as well as future generations.”
According to Michael Anderson, MD, NCI created this program to make it easier for community cancer care practices to offer clinical trials and reach more patients with the newest treatments being studied nationwide. Previously, he says that CHO relied on local hospitals to do the regulatory work, but that could take six months to be approved, and by then, the studies with limited enrollment might be closed. Now, the relationship with NCI allows CHO to be approved as an independent entity outside the hospitals, providing one central regulatory body. This gives immediate access to the newest trials, which helps to determine if a new treatment is more effective than an existing one.
The trials will be available for patients undergoing treatment for a wide range of cancers. Depending on the patients’ needs, the trials may involve chemotherapy, targeted therapies, radiation treatments, hormones, or surgery. Most will be “Phase II or Phase III” trials, or those that compare new medicines to existing, standard, state-of-the art treatments.
Jenny Hopkins, RN, BSN, Program Manager for NCI’s Independent Clinical Research Site program, says CHO was the only Massachusetts practice selected for the program because of its large network and reputation for top-quality community cancer care. “CHO will bring the trials under one umbrella to its many community offices. This will simplify matters so all CHO sites will have access to a single trial,” she says. “People west, north, and south of Boston will no longer have to travel to Boston to participate in these trials.”
Dr. Everett encourages interested patients to inquire about this program through their primary care physician and to visit www.chomed.com for more information.
Other physicians in CHO’s Weymouth office include: Claire Fung, MD; Carol Mei, MD; Thomas O’Connor, Jr., MD; and Anne Roberge, MD.
Commonwealth Atrius Cancer Center (CACC) in Weymouth, Mass., the first comprehensive, freestanding cancer center in the area, is a collaboration between Commonwealth Hematology-Oncology (CHO) and Atrius Health. CACC, features personalized, multidisciplinary cancer care with all non-surgical cancer care services— medical oncology, radiation oncology, imaging, and other allied health services— under one roof. The radiation oncology suite, operated by Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates (an affiliate of Atrius Health), offers the area’s most advanced radiation therapy.
Commonwealth Hematology-Oncology (CHO), with offices and clinical sites throughout Massachusetts, is the largest private practice cancer care network in New England. Known for its leadership in community-based cancer care, CHO physicians have been caring for patients for over three decades. CHO was the first group practice in the state to develop treatment guidelines for specific cancers, the first to develop a computerized software program for chemotherapy ordering, the first to create a patient advocacy program, and the only area practice to be selected by the National Cancer Institute to offer a community-based clinical trials program. For more information, visit www.chomed.com.
Five community-based, multi-specialty medical groups— Dedham Medical Associates, Granite Medical, Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, Southboro Medical Group, and South Shore Medical Center— have joined together as Atrius Health to create a better approach to patients’ health. Building on a long and proud history of high quality and preventive care for Massachusetts residents, Atrius Health cares for nearly 600,000 adult and pediatric patients across more than 35 specialties, from obstetrics to pediatrics, including hematology/oncology, radiation oncology, dental services, cardiology, ophthalmology, sports medicine, allergy, dermatology, surgery, and behavioral health. With more than 700 physicians and 1,000 other medical professionals, Atrius Health serves patients at 30 convenient practice locations in eastern Massachusetts.