NCCN Announces Funding for Lung and Thyroid Cancer Quality Projects, in Collaboration with Lilly

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network's Oncology Research Program to oversee projects focused on improving patient care and outcomes in lung and thyroid cancers.

News provided by

National Comprehensive Cancer Network

Jan 24, 2022, 08:35 ET

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., Jan. 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Comprehensive Cancer Network^® (NCCN^®) Oncology Research Program (ORP) today announced new funding for quality projects to improve patient care and outcomes in lung and thyroid cancers. Funding will be provided through support from Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly).

"The overall goal of this project is to develop innovative healthcare provider and systems performance and quality improvement initiatives to enhance patient care and outcomes in non-small cell lung cancer and thyroid cancer" said Crystal S. Denlinger, MD, FACP, Senior Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer, NCCN. "Congratulations to all of these inspiring investigators. We are eager to learn their findings and hope they can be expanded to other practices as well."

The selected projects are:

Waddah Arafat, MD, UT Southwestern Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center

Harnessing an Electronic Health Record (EHR) Genomics Module to Guide Clinical Decisions for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) Care

Grace K. Dy, MD, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

Multidisciplinary Workflow Optimization to Overcome Challenges in Biomarker Testing and to Expedite Biomarker-Based Treatment Decisions for Patients with NSCLC

Cristina P. Rodriguez, MD and Perrin E. Romine, MD, MSc, University of Washington School of Medicine/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance

Streamlining Molecular Profiling of Thyroid Malignancies in an Academic Tertiary Referral Oncology Center and its Community Satellite Clinics

John Strickler, MD, Duke Cancer Institute

Expansion of the Duke Molecular Tumor Board to Community Oncology Sites Across the Southeast to Support Adoption of Comprehensive Genomic Profiling and Biomarker Driven Therapy Selection for Lung and Thyroid Cancer Patients

"Lilly is committed to supporting initiatives that increase the appropriate use of comprehensive biomarker testing in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer and thyroid cancer," said Anthony N. Sireci, MD, MSc, Vice President, Clinical Biomarkers and Diagnostics Development Loxo Oncology at Lilly. "We are proud to collaborate with NCCN on the selected projects to explore how the proposed innovations can ultimately improve patient care and outcomes."

Proposals were peer reviewed by a Scientific Review Committee, which consisted of leading expert oncologists from NCCN Member Institutions. It is known that predictive biomarker testing on tumor-derived tissue or circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) plays an important role in the treatment decision-making process for both metastatic non-small cell lung cancer as well as metastatic thyroid cancers. The goal of this project is to provide funding to study projects that, ultimately, are aimed at helping healthcare professionals deliver the optimal guideline-adherent treatment to each patient at the appropriate time. The selected projects are set to be completed within two years. The total amount of grants awarded for this research is approximately $1.2 million.

The NCCN ORP fosters innovation and knowledge discovery that improve the lives of people with cancer and supports preclinical, translational, and clinical research and quality improvement projects in oncology at NCCN Member Institutions. In an effort to improve collaboration in cancer research, the NCCN ORP also maintains a shared resources website, an informed consent database, and points to consider on the best practices for biorepositories, registries, and databases. For more information, visit NCCN.org/orp.

About the National Comprehensive Cancer Network
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network^® (NCCN^®) is a not-for-profit alliance of leading cancer centers devoted to patient care, research, and education. NCCN is dedicated to improving and facilitating quality, effective, equitable, and accessible cancer care so all patients can live better lives. The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines^®) provide transparent, evidence-based, expert consensus recommendations for cancer treatment, prevention, and supportive services; they are the recognized standard for clinical direction and policy in cancer management and the most thorough and frequently-updated clinical practice guidelines available in any area of medicine. The NCCN Guidelines for Patients^® provide expert cancer treatment information to inform and empower patients and caregivers, through support from the NCCN Foundation^®. NCCN also advances continuing education, global initiatives, policy, and research collaboration and publication in oncology. Visit NCCN.org for more information and follow NCCN on Facebook @NCCNorg, Instagram @NCCNorg, and Twitter @NCCN.