NCCN Qualifies Lehigh Valley Health Network for Affiliate Research Project

The NCCN Oncology Research Program has qualified Lehigh Valley Health Network, Lehigh Valley, PA, as the latest addition to its Affiliate Research Project. Lehigh Valley Health Network is a community-based affiliate of Moffitt Cancer Center—one of the 23 NCCN Member Institutions.

FORT WASHINGTON, PA — The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) Affiliate Research Project (ARP), developed by the NCCN Oncology Research Program (ORP), has qualified Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN), a member of the Moffitt Oncology Network (MON) of Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, as a community-based research affiliate for the project. Moffitt Cancer Center is one of the 23 NCCN Member Institutions.

Located in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, LVHN is operating as an ARP site under the leadership of Suresh G. Nair, MD, Medical Director for Research and Principal Investigator, LVHN, and is the ninth community-based NCCN Member Institution affiliate to qualify for the NCCN ARP, increasing the scope of potential patients for the actively accruing ORP clinical trials. LVHN joins another Moffitt Cancer Center MON member, Norton Cancer Institute in Louisville, Kentucky, as an approved research site for NCCN ORP-supported trials.

Lehigh Valley Health Network will have access to new and innovative cancer drugs for patients in collaboration with NCCN Member Institutions, and Principal Investigators of NCCN-funded studies will have access to LVHN as an NCCN-qualified community site.

“NCCN is excited to collaborate with Lehigh Valley Health Network as the newest research affiliate to be approved for the NCCN ARP,” said Diane Paul, MS, RN, Vice President, Oncology Research Program, NCCN. “Patients and investigators alike will benefit as we continue to add highly qualified, community-based research sites to the project.”

The mission of the NCCN ARP is to improve patient outcomes and advance medical science through clinical research conducted collaboratively among the 23 NCCN Member Institutions and their community-based affiliate members.

In addition to LVHN and Norton Cancer Institute, affiliates within the project include AtlantiCare Cancer Care Institute, South Jersey Healthcare, and Virtua, affiliates of Fox Chase Cancer Center; Bozeman Deaconess Hospital, MultiCare Health System, and Wenatchee Valley Medical Center, affiliates of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance; and Medical Center of Central Georgia, affiliate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The NCCN ORP is organized to obtain funding to support scientifically meritorious research projects at NCCN Member Institutions. Policies and standards for the program were set by the NCCN Investigator Steering Committee, a group comprised of senior research physicians appointed by each NCCN Member Institution. To date, the NCCN ORP has received more than $44 million in research grants from pharmaceutical and biotech companies to support investigator-initiated trials including, but not limited to, evaluation of innovative regimens, mechanism of action, and exploration of extended uses for specific agents.

About the National Comprehensive Cancer Network

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®), a not-for-profit alliance of 23 of the world’s leading cancer centers, is dedicated to improving the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of care provided to patients with cancer. Through the leadership and expertise of clinical professionals at NCCN Member Institutions, NCCN develops resources that present valuable information to the numerous stakeholders in the health care delivery system. As the arbiter of high-quality cancer care, NCCN promotes the importance of continuous quality improvement and recognizes the significance of creating clinical practice guidelines appropriate for use by patients, clinicians, and other health care decision-makers. The primary goal of all NCCN initiatives is to improve the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of oncology practice so patients can live better lives.

The NCCN Member Institutions are: City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA; Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center | Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA; Duke Cancer Institute, Durham, NC; Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA; Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Seattle, WA; The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD; Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL; Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY; Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL; The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, Columbus, OH; Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY; Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO; St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital/The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN; Stanford Cancer Institute, Stanford, CA; University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center, Birmingham, AL; UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, La Jolla, CA; UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA; University of Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora, CO; University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI; UNMC Eppley Cancer Center at The Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE; The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX; and Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN.

Clinicians, visit NCCN.org. Patients and caregivers, visit NCCN.org/patients.

About Lehigh Valley Health Network

Lehigh Valley Health Network includes three hospital facilities - two in Allentown and one in Bethlehem, Pa.; nine health centers caring for communities in four counties; numerous primary and specialty care physician practices throughout the region; pharmacy, imaging, home health services and lab services; and preferred provider services through Valley Preferred.   Specialty care includes: trauma care at the region’s busiest, most-experienced trauma center treating adults and children, burn care at the regional Burn Center, kidney and pancreas transplants; perinatal/neonatal, cardiac, cancer care, and neurology and complex neurosurgery capabilities including national certification as a Comprehensive Stroke Center. Children’s Hospital at Lehigh Valley Hospital, the only children’s hospital in the region, provides care in 28 specialties and general pediatrics. Lehigh Valley Health Network has been recognized by US News & World Report for 18 consecutive years as one of America’s Best Hospitals and is a national Magnet hospital for excellence in nursing. Lehigh Valley Health Network’s Cancer Center is one of only 21 sites nationwide that partners with the national Cancer Institute’s Community Cancer Centers Program. Additional information is available at lvhn.org and by following us on facebook.com/LVHealthNetwork and twitter.com/LVHN_MediaTeam.

About Moffitt Cancer Center

Located in Tampa, FL Moffitt is one of only 41 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, a distinction that recognizes Moffitt’s excellence in research, its contributions to clinical trials, prevention and cancer control. Since 1999, Moffitt has been listed in U.S. News & World Report as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” for cancer. With more than 4,200 employees, Moffitt has an economic impact on the state of nearly $2 billion. For more information, visit MOFFITT.org, and follow the Moffitt momentum on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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