SWOG Update
October 2009

Contents  
Welcome to the October 2009 SWOG Update.

For all members and friends of the Southwest Oncology Group, the SWOG Update will keep you informed of what's happening with the Group. News to report? Send it to communications@swog.org.

View a one-page version for printing.
 
Chair's Corner  
How should we spell success?
Laurence H. Baker photo Questions of how we define success in cancer research and how costs should factor into that definition have been much in the news. [more]

Study Updates  

S0702: Zoledronic acid and ONJ risk
Patients taking zoledronic acid seem to face an increased risk of osteonecrosis of the jaw, or ONJ. S0702 seeks answers. [more]

Dawn Hershman, M.D. S0715: Does ALC prevent neuropathy?
Pain and numbness in hands and feet is a common side effect of taxane-based chemotherapy. Can the dietary supplement acetyl-L-carnitine prevent it? [more]

 
Don't Miss It  
Visualization of MCF-7 genome depicting somatic breast tumor chromosomal rearrangements. (Hampton, et al. Genome Res. 2009 Feb; 19(2); 167-177.) The War on Cancer: Raise the bar, or move the goal line?

Plenary Session
SWOG Fall 2009 Group Meeting
Friday, October 23, 12:15 - 2:45 pm
Gold Level, Regency B - D
Hyatt Regency Chicago
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CRAs: The time to OPEN up is here!

As of October 1, 2009, all SWOG sites need to work with the Clinical Trials Support Unit's new Oncology Patient Enrollment Network, or OPEN, to register patients to new trials.

The initial set of trials relying on the OPEN system for all registrations includes SWOG 0777. All S0777 patient registrations must now be done via the OPEN system.

Oncology Patient Enrollment Network (OPEN)

To register patients via OPEN, go to open.ctsu.org or to the CTSU members Web site: members.ctsu.org.

You will need to have an active CTEP-IAM account (see the CTEP-IAM Fast Fact Sheet for details).

Five ways to learn more about OPEN:
  1. Attend SWOG's Fall Group Meeting
    CRA Plenary Session
    Thursday, October 22
    1-4 pm
    Green Level, Crystal B
  2. Also at the Fall Group Meeting, visit the CTSU's OPEN booth near the SWOG Registration desk on Thursday or Friday
  3. View a video demonstration of how to use the OPEN system
  4. Crack OPEN the user's guide
  5. Contact the CTSU Help Desk with questions at (888) 823-5923 or ctsucontact@westat.com.

Cancer Trials Support Unit (CTSU)


Got news to tell? Send it to communications@swog.org.