Under the leadership of preeminent U.S. cancer center directors, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) recently announced the formation of an innovative initiative, the AACR Cancer Centers Alliance. The Alliance will bring together the nation’s cancer centers, with the goal of markedly expanding the scope and impact of these institutions for the benefit of all patients.
An Increasingly Interconnected World
Advances in cancer research have led to an increased understanding of the biology and development of cancer and to remarkable improvements in prevention, screening, early detection, diagnosis, and treatment. These breakthroughs have largely originated within National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer centers. Supported by the NCI and by institutional, state, and philanthropic funds, NCI-designated cancer centers and other academic and community-based cancer centers are crucial to achieving the nation’s cancer mission.
However, these institutions all too often operate independently of one another, limiting their impact. Recognizing the need for and promise of greater collaboration in an increasingly interconnected world, the AACR convened cancer center directors from across the country in a series of meetings over the past year to discuss how their individual institutions could work together to accelerate the pace of discovery for the benefit of patients. These discussions provided the foundation and momentum for the formation of the AACR Cancer Centers Alliance.
Areas of Collaboration
The Alliance will initially focus on four main areas of collaboration:
Basic and translational research: The Alliance aims to develop innovative funding models and expand the sharing of best practices, specialized skills, and sophisticated core facilities among cancer centers. This collective approach will mitigate the risk of the most challenging research projects being undertaken by cancer scientists, such as furthering the understanding of the biology of cancer and exploring opportunities in drug discovery and development, computational science, bioengineering, and other areas of data science.
Clinical research, clinical trials, and regulatory science and policy: As one part of a multipronged, collaborative effort to improve clinical trials and reach diverse, understudied, and underserved patient populations, the Alliance will provide cancer centers with additional opportunities to explore state-of-the-art technologies, including artificial intelligence–driven approaches to harness real-world data as well as digital platform approaches to develop and deliver decentralized and pragmatic trials.
Education, training, professional advancement, and diversity, equity, and inclusion: By working together, the Alliance aims to increase optimism about careers in the cancer field and create new and inclusive opportunities for the next generation of cancer researchers and clinicians, with the goal of creating a workforce that is reflective of the diverse communities the nation’s cancer centers serve.
Speaking with a unified voice: Through the Alliance, the nation’s cancer centers will speak with a unified voice to address priorities in cancer science, clinical trials, and patient care; issues related to science and health policy and cancer health equity; and the urgent need to develop innovative, robust, and sustainable funding research models. As the convener of this initiative, the AACR will apply its expertise and resources to help amplify these messages to policy makers, the cancer community at large, and the public.
