February 18, 2021
Children’s Mercy has been designated a non-core member of the Pediatric Early Phase Clinical Trials Network (PEP-CTN), enhancing their ability to bring the latest leading-edge pediatric cancer clinical trials to our region. Children’s Mercy is recognized by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as a consortium partner of The University of Kansas Cancer Center.
According to the National Institutes of Health Division of Cancer Treatment & Diagnosis, the PEP-CTN strives to enhance the NCI’s program for conducting early phase clinical trials in children with cancer. Its primary goal is to develop effective new therapies for children and adolescents with cancer through clinical and laboratory research. The PEP-CTN is comprised of a core group of 21 Children’s Oncology Group (COG) pediatric oncology programs in the country, providing the infrastructure to conduct such trials as well as pharmacokinetic and biomarker studies. Children’s Mercy is one of 20 non-core sites selected for their research expertise, deep bench of specialists and infrastructure to support early phase clinical trials.
“Having Children’s Mercy as a non-core member PEP-CTN site will offer regional pediatric oncology patients access to novel agents that will ideally lead the future of cancer care therapies,” said Joy Bartholomew, APRN, CPON, Director, Oncology Clinical Research, Children’s Mercy.