From the Director's Desk - 2023 A Year in Review

Looking back at 2023…

As we begin a new year, I would like to acknowledge the tremendous year of activity and highlight some achievements. These reflect the commitment and efforts of CCTG members, investigators and trial staff who develop, conduct, and report on the results from our collective research.

In the summer we had some fantastic news, our founding director Dr. Joseph Pater was recognized for a lifetime of work in cancer research with his appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada. The honor acknowledges the impact of his dedication to clinical research which has improved the lives of Canadians with cancer.

Trial activations were very successful this year with a "record" 18 new trials opening. Given our outstanding performance with trial activations I would like to acknowledge the group effort and expertise that came together to make these trials available.

A warm welcome to the 53 new investigators joining their first CCTG trial and the 12 new centre representatives who will be principal investigator of the CCTG trial portfolio and related activities at their centres. Our current portfolio is also a record with 183 trials currently open. These trials are testing new cancer treatments and are designed for patients across ages, cancer types and stages and treatment types.

Two practice changing CCTG led trials were presented at ASCO 2023. The CX5 (SHAPE) trial results demonstrated that reduced radicality of surgical intervention can improve quality of life for cervical cancer patients. The IND227 trail evaluated the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab combined with platinum-pemetrexed chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for pleural mesothelioma, showing significantly improved overall survival.

We added 129 journal articles and abstracts to the group bibliography. Among the high impact publications are IND227 published in the Lancet, and stage 1 of BR36 published in Nature Medicine. The initial BR36 results suggest that ctDNA analyses could be used as an early marker of immunotherapy response and may help guide therapy and the BR36 stage 2 was centrally activated at the end of 2023.

Another very busy and successful year for grant applications, of the 22 submission 6 were successful for a total of $14M in funding. Congratulations to the GA4 study lead Dr. Elena Elimova at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre who was granted more than $3.7 million through the CIHR Clinical Trials Fund and was the top ranked proposal in the competition.

The Group’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Indigenization and Accessibility strategic initiative and action plan have been progressing. There are three EDIIA Working Groups: Design, Methodology and Data Management, Operations, and Network Participation. There are over 50 EDIIA members from across the network who will make recommendations to improve equity, diversity, inclusivity, indigenization, and accessibility in our clinical trials and network.

The Patient Representative Committee seen many changes this year as we welcomed new members, Catherine Wreford, Emi Bossio, Jasmine Heuring, Suzanne Wood, and Haydn Bechthold. I would like to extend our collective congratulations to David McMullen who was the recipient of the CCRA Exceptional Leadership in Patient Involvement in Cancer Research award for his long-term involvement in promoting and participating in patient engagement in cancer clinical trials.

Looking forward to in 2024…

The coming year will see continued work on our 2022-2027 Strategic Plan, and I am looking forward to what we can achieve #SolvingCancerTogether. In addition to maintaining our scientific and clinical trial operations excellence, we are going to reach out to understand, and aim to address challenges our network members at CCTG member sites are having.

We encourage everyone to join us on January 12, 2024 for a virtual round table on the need for EDIIA in cancer care and clinical trials.

I look forward to seeing many of you at our Annual Spring Meeting in 2024 which will be a bit later this year May 3-5, 2024. Individual member Invitations will be sent out shortly as will the agendas for the meeting and special workshops.

We will also be sending the 2024 request for applications for the New Investigator Cancer Trial Practicum later this month. Information will be sent out in the CCTG bulletin and posted on the CCTG website.

Thank you all for your continued commitment and dedication to our shared goals. I look forward to the journey ahead and the successes as we are #SolvingCancerTogether.

Janet

Dr. Janet Dancey, MD, FRCPC Director, Canadian Cancer Trials Group