Clinical research by community oncologists

Practicing and hospital-based community oncologists are increasingly recognized as sources for clinical research activity. Although surveys have documented patients' and physicians' willingness to consider participation in clinical research studies, accrual to clinical trials by adults in cancer research studies remains embarrassingly low. This may be due in part to a lack of knowledge about available studies by community oncologists, a lack of time or interest, or a lack of resources to support the cost of performing clinical trials. This article addresses these issues as an instructional module for community physicians interested in increasing their activity in clinical trials or improving their abilities to facilitate patient accrual to cancer research studies. (C) American Cancer Society 2003.