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Toledo Community Oncology Program

Contact Information

3232 Central Park West, Suite C Toledo, OH 43617
(419) 843-6147

The Toledo Community Hospital Oncology Program (TCOP) is one of the first of the 27 clinical research programs that the National Cancer Institute (NCI) sponsored. The TCOP is what is known as a Clinical Community Oncology Program (CCOP). CCOPs are a group of community hospitals and doctors that are funded through a cooperative agreement that allows them to take part in NCI sponsored research and clinical trials. These trials test new cancer treatments as well as provide information from studies on cancer prevention and how well certain treatments work.

The concept behind CCOPs like the Toledo Community Hospital Oncology Program is that cancer care can more quickly advance through the use of clinical trials. The combination of cancer facilities and physicians in one community can provide the required numbers of patients to respond to many of the questions required in clinical research.

The point of clinical trials is to be able to see how effective new ways to prevent, detect, and treat cancer are. New treatments for cancers like lung cancer and mesothelioma are being researched and tested constantly and cancer trials make it easy to get quick answers to questions regarding new diagnostic techniques, drugs, and other therapies. TCHOP normally conducts Phase II and Phase III trials. Phase II clinical trials are used to evaluate the benefits of a new drug for a specific cancer.; Phase III trials compare a new drug or treatment procedure with another more commonly used drug or procedure. The use of Phase II and III trials are a great help in determining which drug and procedure is the best for a specific type of cancer.

At TCHOP there is a regional review board that keeps track of all of the cancer research being conducted at all of the participating clinics and hospitals. This board is comprised of approximately 50 physicians from different specialties like general surgery, thoracic surgery, radiation and medical oncology, and pathology. There are also research assistants and oncology nurses who take part in the board’s activities. This board is responsible for bringing over 100 qualified patients a year into TCHOP’s clinical trial programs for cancer research.

The TCHOP is a member of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group, the North Center Cancer Treatment Group and the Easter Cooperative Oncology Group. Many of their physicians have authored peer-reviewed manuscripts. As well, TCHOP’s principal investigator, Dr. Paul Schaefer, and many other physicians with TCHOP have chaired some of these prestigious cancer groups.