E-Newsletter - September 2021
New Committee Leadership
ALLIANCE WELCOMES NEW COMMITTEE LEADERS
Kathryn J. Ruddy, MD, and Maryam Lustberg, MD, MPH and have been appointed Co-Chairs of the Alliance Symptom Intervention Committee. The two researchers were selected by a search committee led by Ann Partridge, MD, MPH, and have succeeded Charles Loprinzi, MD (Mayo Clinic), who has served successfully as the chair for the Alliance and its legacy group, NCCTG, for more than a decade.
Dr. Ruddy is a Consultant in the Division of Medical Oncology in the Department of Oncology and a Professor of Oncology at the Mayo Clinic. She has served as a Vice-Chair of the Alliance Symptom Intervention Committee, liaison between the committee and Alliance Breast Committee, and a member of the Alliance Health Outcomes Committee and Alliance Cancer Care Delivery Research Committee. She studies long-term and late effects of cancer treatments, and how to best care for cancer survivors to enhance their quality of life and reduce symptoms. She also collects patient-reported outcomes on clinical trials to better inform treatment decision-making. Dr. Ruddy is also Vice-Chair of the Neurological Complications Study Group in Multinational Association of Supportive Care (MASCC), where she and Dr. Lustberg lead an international group of researchers in neurological complications of cancer.
Dr. Lustberg is Director of The Breast Center at Smilow Cancer Hospital and Chief of Breast Medical Oncology at Yale Cancer Center. She is also an Associate Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology). She serves as Chair of the Neurological Complications Study Group in the MASCC, is the incoming President of MASCC, and participates in the American Society of Clinical Oncology Neuropathy Task Force, which is responsible for the provision of current guidelines on the management of chemotherapy-induced neuropathy. She has been the recipient of three Alliance grants that have investigated novel interventions in cancer therapy-related complications, and she is the Alliance study chair of an approved NCI concept in Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause. In addition, Dr. Lustberg serves as the Associate Editor of the Journal of Cancer Survivorship and a member of the Breast Cancer Research and Treatment Editorial board.
For other articles in this issue of the Alliance E-News newsletter, see below.
- Message From the Group Chair - Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD
- Registration Now Open - 2021 Alliance Fall Virtual Group Meeting
- Alliance Expresses Gratitude to Committee Chairs Ending Terms
- Alliance Welcomes New Committee Leaders
- NCI NCORP Honors Two Alliance Members
-
Spotlight on Alliance Trials
Ten Currently Active Alliance Cancer Control Program/NCORP Research Base Trials
Alliance A171901 - Lung Cancer
Alliance A191901 - Endocrine Therapy Adherence
Alliance A211102 - Testing for Atypia
Alliance A211601 - Mammographic Breast Density
Alliance A221702 - Axillary Reverse Mapping
Alliance A221805 - Peripheral Neuropathy
Alliance A222001 - Reducing Hot Flashes in Men
Alliance A231601CD - Improving Surgical Care/Outcomes (OPIT-Surg)
Alliance A231701CD - Shared Breast Cancer Surgery Decision Making
Alliance A231901CD - Patient-Centered Communication in Breast Cancer
Four Recently Activated Alliance NCTN Trials
Alliance A021901 - Bronchial Neuroendocrine Tumors
Alliance A051902 - Peripheral T-cell Lymphoma
Alliance A031902 - Metastatic Castration-Resistance Prostate Cancer (CASPAR)
Alliance A011801 - HER2-Positive Breast Cancer (CompassHER2)
Closed to Accrual: Alliance A221505 (RT CHARM) -
Alliance Funding Opportunities
Daniel J. Sargent, PhD Memorial Fellowship in Innovative Clinical Trial Design and Methods Award -
Alliance in the News
Patient Perspective in Clinical Trials – Alliance Patient Advocate Julie Krause Interview
Randomized Phase II Study of PET Response–Adapted Combined Modality Therapy for Esophageal Cancer: Mature Results of the CALGB 80803 (Alliance) Trial
Patient Perspective on Clinical Trials - Alliance Patient Advocate Julie Krause
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Clinical Trials
Combining Tumor Deposits with the Number of Lymph Node Metastases to Improve the Prognostic Accuracy in Stage III Colon Cancer: A Post Hoc Analysis of the CALGB/SWOG 80702 Phase III Study (Alliance)
New ECU, Vidant Partnership Provides Access to Clinical Trials for Rare Cancers
Celecoxib Provides No Survival Benefit for Patients with Stage III Colon Cancer
Disparities in Older Adult Accrual to Cancer Trials: Analysis from the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology (A151736)