Cancer Clinical Trials

ChristianaCare’s Cancer Research Program is part of a select group of 46 research centers (34 community sites and 12 minority/under-served sites) in the United States and Puerto Rico that are funded by the National Cancer Institute to participate in the NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP).

 ChristianaCare also takes part in NCI-funded Cancer Care Delivery Research (CCDR) which is focused on patient, provider and organizational-level influences on cancer outcomes.

Clinical trials test new drugs and combinations of treatments, as well as new techniques using surgery, radiation therapy, gene therapy, immunotherapy and biologics. Research studies encompass a wide range of cancer-related disciplines including hematology/oncology, radiation oncology and gynecologic oncology.

Clinical trials offered by ChristianaCare attract participants from Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Delaware research affiliates that include Beebe Healthcare, Tunnell Cancer Center and South Coastal Health Campus participate in NCI research. Our annual accrual rate—which measures the percentage of patients enrolled in clinical trials—among newly diagnosed cancer patients is among the highest in the nation.

At any given time, we have at least 700 patients enrolled in as many as 100 different clinical trials.

All studies are first approved by the National Cancer Institute Central Institutional Review Board and/or ChristianaCare’s Institutional Review Board, a special committee that reviews and oversees all research projects to ensure that participants’ rights and welfare are protected.