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SWOG Update
August 5, 2009
Contents  
Welcome to edition #1 of the 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.

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Chair's Corner  
Why we do what we do
Laurence H. Baker photo Our mission is straightforward: to make progress in the prevention and cure of cancer through clinical research. Our research objectives define how we work to accomplish our mission. [more]

Study Updates  

S0500: Counting CTCs to evaluate breast cancer treatment
How effective of a barometer is CTC level in measuring the efficacy of treatment in a clinical setting, and can that measurement be used to extend lives? [more]

cetuximab molecule S0819 adds a new drug to a standard lung cancer therapy
SWOG's newest study will compare outcomes for lung cancer patients given an accepted standard treatment to outcomes for patients given the same treatment plus cetuximab. [more]

 
In the News  
You, your colleagues, and your cooperative group in the media ...
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SWOG Spotlight: Fall Meeting Plenary
The War on Cancer: Raise the bar, or move the goal line?

Are we settling for the costly, incremental victories of trench warfare in battling cancer? Or are we obsessed with curing the disease when we should be focused on helping patients live with it?

Both positions have been staked out in recent essays in JCO and Nature. Hear the authors at the plenary session of SWOG's Fall Group Meeting in Chicago, October 23. [more]
  tumor genome visualization
Visualization of MCF-7 genome depicting somatic breast tumor chromosomal rearrangements. (Hampton, et al. Genome Res. 2009 Feb; 19(2); 167-177. Used with permission.)

SWOG's SWAT team: Fast-track approval for high priority trials
No sniper rifles or Kevlar vests, but the SWOG SWAT team has been in action, moving high priority studies from concept to activation in record time. [more]

Open for business: SWOG Clinical Trials Initiative
SWOG-CTI logoEven though numbers in the trillions might lead you to believe that Uncle Sam funds everything, it's not true. That's where SWOG-CTI comes in. [more]

Spring Group Meeting round-up
San FranDr. Baker previewed the treatment grant site visit presentation. More collaboration in Latin America was discussed. Walkers and runners alike crushed the crab. All this and much more happened in San Francisco. [more]

New Committee chairs: Thompson for GU, Kurzrock for Early Therapeutics
One face is well known to SWOG; the other is new. Both now head committees. [more]

N. Eriksen Eriksen is new chief of administration for SWOG
It's been a year since he arrived, but it's been longer since we saw a newletter. [more]

SWOG welcomes four new institutions to its ranks
Baylor University Medical Center, BC Cancer Agency (Vancouver), Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles), and FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital (Pinehurst, NC) come onboard. [more]

The Hope Foundation logo Hope Foundation invites fellowship program applications
End of August is the application deadline for several fellowships sponsored by The Hope Foundation. [more]

RFAs for funding
Funding oppts from the NCI Early Detection Research Network:


Reminder: NIH peer review scoring guidelines updated
NIH now uses a 1 - 9 scale when scoring research funding applications. Don't get caught short. [more]

News to me: An editor's request
Send me your poor, your tired, ... actually, just your news. [more]


 
Clock's ticking: Deadlines

Did You Know ...?
Annual accrual to SWOG-sponsored treatment trials increased by 36% from 2006 to 2008, climbing from 3,920 to 5,337. Current projections for 2009 show accrual surpassing the 6,000 mark.
 

 

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