Clinical Trials

We are partners and collaborators with...

Who we are

Clinical research plays a vital role in lessening the growing burden of cancer in Ontario and is part of the overall mission of the Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre and Cancer Care Ontario. The Clinical Research Unit (CRU) coordinates and supports protocol management and clinical/translational research projects identified by the academic staff of the Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre as carrying high impact for advancing cancer knowledge and improving care for our patients. In doing so, the CRU employs best practices to prioritize and conduct research projects in a transparent, safe, efficient, and sustainable fashion.

Clinical Research at the Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre is carried out through nine disease-specific multidisciplinary teams: breast, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, gynecological, head and neck, central nervous system, skin, thoracic, sarcoma, neuroendochrine, and through the Supportive Care Program.

The services we offer

The CRU has extensive experience across a spectrum of clinical trials activities, and offers the following services:

access to a large patient population across multiple disease sites
study design, protocol development and methodological advice
data base development and support and form design
statistical support including sample size, analysis, and interpretation of results
management of ethics documentation, including initial submissions, amendments and safety reports
completion of regulatory documentation
patient recruitment
case report form completion
long term follow-up for adjuvant trials
design and maintenance of tumour bank and data base projects
sample collection for pharmacokinetic studies
quality assurance
liaison with granting agencies, the pharmaceutical industry, and governments
National and International Central Databases

Some of our achievements:

Operational since 1982 as part of a University-based comprehensive cancer centre
Regularly recruit 250-400 patients each year to 50 to 70 active trials
Unit has developed close collaborations with Cooperative Groups and Pharmaceutical Industry
Implemented quality control procedures which have been validated by multiple external audits (Cooperative Group, Industry, FDA)
Staff have developed and published an innovative patient assessment record (PAR) of treatment toxicities, widely adopted by other clinical research programs
Major participation in studies which resulted in changes in standards of care

The CRU Team

Clinical Research Coordinators are responsible for the organization, implementation, coordination and documentation of clinical research projects.
Clinical Research Associates and Clinical Trial Research Assistants coordinate the follow-up phase for clinical trials subjects, complete case documentation and assist Clinical Research Coordinators with the coordination of active research projects.
Clinical Trial Activation Coordinators are responsible for ensuring the regulatory requirements are complete.
Data Management Coordinators maintain central databases for provincial, national and international multi-centre studies.
A Biostatistician works with the Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre professional/academic staff on the methodological and statistical aspects of their research.
A Statistical Database Coordinator creates data management systems to facilitate data collection and analyses of retrospective and prospective Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre-based research projects.
An Ethics Regulatory Coordinator is responsible for initial and ongoing ethics approval submissions.
An Administrative Assistant is responsible for ongoing administrative/secretarial support for all CRU activities.