History of the Southeast Cancer Control Consortium

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) started a “Conquest of Cancer Program” in 1971. Its focus was clinical trials which had been an active part of NCI’s program since the 1950s. Dr. Charles L. Spurr came to Bowman Gray School of Medicine in 1957 and developed the specialty of Medical Oncology. He then began laying the foundations for development of a comprehensive cancer center. Over the years, the name has changed with successive changes in leadership. It was initially called the Oncology Research Center (ORC) and is now known as the Comprehensive Cancer Center of Wake Forest University (CCCWFU). In the 1960s, Dr. Spurr recognized that information on current cancer treatments needed to be transferred to physicians and patients in small communities and rural areas. To meet this need, he developed an “outreach program” for community oncologists to foster continued interest in participating in clinical research trials and to provide them continuing education on state of the art treatment. This program was called the Piedmont Oncology Association (POA) and the first meeting was held in January 1976. In the 1980s the NCI recognized the contributions and productivity of the POA and four other similar “regional” groups (i.e., Mid-Atlantic Oncology Program, etc.). In 1981, the NCI funded several “Regional Cooperative Groups”, including the POA. These groups were very successful in making major contributions to improving cancer survival. NCI’s focus began to change in 1983 on community level participation to enable patients to receive state of the art treatment in their own communities. As a result of this new focus, NCI developed and funded the Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP) - I in 1983, establishing 62 CCOP programs across the U.S. The CCOP program was so successful that NCI decided to stop funding the “Regional Cooperative Groups”, including the POA, in 1985. In July 1986, the NCI issued the second Request for Application (RFA) for the CCOP- II program. There were two major differences between the CCOP-I and CCOP-II programs. Phase II carried the obligation to conduct “cancer control” (i.e., prevention) activities. In addition, it prohibited participation by medical schools, major teaching hospitals, and cancer centers, due to the emphasis on community participation. During the summer of 1986, Dr. Spurr developed the concept for the Southeast Cancer Control Consortium (SCCC). He envisioned a “consortium” arrangement in which a group of POA members would apply as one entity. On September 10, 1986 he organized a meeting at Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte. Eleven POA communities committed to submit a consortium application for the NCI CCOP-II RFA and the SCCC By-Laws were drafted. The application was submitted to NCI in October 1986; reviewed by NCI in February 1987; approved by NCI in March 1987; and the SCCC was incorporated as a non-profit, tax exempt organization in March 1987. Dr. Spurr conducted an organizational meeting in April 1987 to finalize the details of operation. Seed money was provided by a grant from the Kate B. Reynolds Foundation and the 11 charter communities. In May 1987, the NCI assigned the SCCC application a priority score of 1.62 and gave Dr. Spurr notice of the award in July 1987. Staff for the SCCC Operations Office, located in Winston-Salem, was leased from Wake Forest University School of Medicine (formerly Bowman Gray School of Medicine). The SCCC opened for business in September 1987.

Since 1993 the SCCC has been under the leadership of James N. Atkins, M.D., medical oncologist, of Goldsboro, NC. The SCCC Operations Office is located in Winston-Salem, NC. A staff of 5 employees oversee the day to day operation of the program. They provide educational programs for members, manage the fiscal responsibilities of the NCI grant, and monitor a hot line for community access to information. The SCCC Operations Office staff conducts site visits for Quality Assurance, resolution of problems, training new site personnel, and assisting sites in preparation for research base audits, etc. The SCCC provides a semi-monthly mailing to the Study Coordinators, which contains the Protocol Index by Disease Category (PIDC) booklet, new protocols, updates, and procedure changes.

The SCCC currently has 24 institutions in 18 communities in a 5 state area. Each community has a designated Community Leader and Study Coordinator responsible for SCCC activities at the community level. There are currently over 100 physician members, 23 Study Coordinators, and approximately 75 oncology nurses and Clinic Research Associates.

The SCCC is very successful, consistently ranking in the top 5 for national CCOP accruals.