Approximately 85% of all patients with cancer are diagnosed and treated in community settings. Despite this, only 3% of those patients are enrolled in clinical trials. Inadequate time, infrastructure, resources, incentives, and reimbursement all contribute to this sparse participation rate.
To address this disparity, the ACCC Community Oncology Research Institute (ACORI) was launched in 2021. ACORI’s mission is to establish clinical trials as a standard of care for all patients, regardless of where they are treated, by helping community oncology programs access the tools, knowledge sharing, effective practices, and peer mentorships that can increase their ability to offer clinical trials.
We advocate for equal representation within clinical trials to trial sponsors and regulatory agencies. ACORI will develop education and resources that promote strategies and solutions to facilitate clinical trial accessibility, as we investigate persistent areas of disparities in cancer clinical trial participation.
ACORI utilizes ACCC know-how to build capacity and competency among community research programs to make them research-ready by democratizing knowledge, skills, and infrastructure for clinical research. We will also facilitate mentorship opportunities between established and developing research programs and convene community oncology stakeholders for peer-to-peer learning and networking.
ACORI is a primary resource for academic and industry sponsors that fosters relationships with trial sponsors and other research groups. The Institute vets research and trial opportunities and disseminates pertinent opportunities to interested community oncology research programs.
Discover how UNC Chapel Hill’s hybrid model for decentralized clinical trials is expanding cancer research. Learn about Stanford’s Investigator & Oncology Research Nurse Professional (ORNP) skills workshop and how it has served as an invaluable resource. Learn how collaborations with community cancer centers can help to improve representation in clinical trials and how this has generated change for patients with multiple myeloma. Learn about Rising Tide Foundation for Clinical Cancer Research (RTFCCR)—a nonprofit supporting patient-centered clinical cancer research—and some of the ACCC member institutions that it has awarded. Gain insights into how the Seena Magowitz Foundation is impacting pancreatic cancer support through its patient-centric approach. Learn more about this year’s AMCCBS Clinical Research Award and David King Community Clinical Scientist Award winners.
A forum dedicated to making oncology clinical trials a standard of care. ACCC members can join the ACORI Research Community to:
ACORI hosts live summits that convene key stakeholders to discuss challenges in ensuring equitable access to clinical trials and addressing issues that impact community cancer centers' ability to conduct effective clinical research.
Held in October 2024, the Community Oncology Inclusive Clinical Trial Design Summit outlined a comprehensive strategy to improve inclusion in oncology trials. Key stakeholders in cancer care generated ideas for action items to make cancer care research more inclusive, efficient, and patient-centered. These discussions included aligning eligibility criteria with real-world populations, integrating AI into clinical trial design and operations, utilizing advanced practice providers (APPs) in clinical research, and innovative/decentralized trial designs to improve access and participation.
Held September 13-14, 2021, in collaboration with Stand Up to Cancer, the ACORI Call to Action Summit: Activating Equity in Community Oncology Research identified concrete strategies for engaging patients, caregivers, and their communities to strengthen oncology research. More than 120 people from 60 organizations generated 200+ ideas for action items to make cancer care research more diverse, equitable, and accessible.
To help standardize understanding of baseline knowledge across cancer care teams, we’ve created this digital glossary of clinical research terms. We hope it will serve as a tool to improve patient education and encourage shared decision-making conversations.
In 2022, adapted from a Duke University program pioneered by ACCC President Nadine Barrett, PhD, a course was developed for all members of the cancer care team to better understand the universal nature of implicit and conscious bias in cancer research and clinical trials. This online implicit bias training program that presents the broader context of structural and systemic racism, the role of implicit bias in clinical trial selection, vignettes with real-world examples of implicit bias, and guidance for mitigating disparities in cancer research settings.
The Just ASK™ Training Program and Training Facilitation Guide are available free-of-charge and provide a comprehensive, complementary set of tools to help research sites overcome barriers that have historically limited participation in cancer clinical trials among underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.
These resources build on the ASCO-ACCC Research Statement "Increasing Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Cancer Clinical Trials," published in May 2022, which outlines actionable steps for individual stakeholders in the cancer clinical trial ecosystem to increase diversity in research participation.
On October 29-30, 2024, 70+ industry leaders reviewed the landscape of clinical trial diversity and developed actionable strategies based on several key themes.
A 2022–2023 ACCC survey and 2024 interviews assessed research capacity at member sites. Selected programs received training, tools, and mentorship to strengthen clinical trial readiness and expand research activity.
The characteristics of 1,310 clinical trials conducted across 64 community oncology practices were reviewed to discern what factors may contribute to a trial being well-suited for the community setting. Additionally, the characteristics of trials run at community cancer centers were compared to factors that may favor an academic setting.
Oncology programs encounter many challenges when engaging in clinical trials. The Association of Cancer Care Centers’ (ACCC) Community Oncology Research Institute (ACORI) conducted a survey to gather insights about barriers to clinical trial implementation, patient recruitment, and identifying resources to support community cancer programs.
Oncology programs encounter many challenges when engaging in clinical trials. The Association of Cancer Care Centers’ (ACCC) Community Oncology Research Institute (ACORI) conducted a survey to gather insights about barriers to clinical trial implementation, patient recruitment, and identifying resources to support community cancer programs.
This project is supported by AstraZeneca, Genentech, Gilead, Lilly, Merck, Regeneron, and Sanofi.
