The Children's Oncology Group (COG), a clinical trials group supported by the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. T ...

(NCI), is the world's largest organization devoted exclusively to pediatric cancer research. The COG conducts a spectrum of

clinical research Clinical research is a branch of healthcare science that determines the safety and effectiveness ( efficacy) of medications, devices, diagnostic products and treatment regimens intended for human use. These may be used for prevention, treat ...

and

translational research Translational research (also called translation research, translational science, or, when the context is clear, simply translation) is research aimed at translating (converting) results in basic research into results that directly benefit humans ...

trials for infants, children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer. Almost all centers that treat children with cancer in the US and Canada are part of the COG, with more than 200 centers in the United States, Canada, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand. The member institutions have multidisciplinary teams consisting of physicians, research scientists, nurses, psychologists, pharmacists and other specialists. The group, with more than 7,500 experts worldwide, has nearly 100 active clinical-translational trials open at any given time. These trials include treatment for many types of childhood cancers, studies aimed at determining the underlying biology of these diseases, and trials involving new and emerging treatments, supportive care, and survivorship. More than 90% of 13,500 children and adolescents diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States are cared for at COG member institutions.

History

The cooperative group system for clinical research began in 1955 with a consortium focused on childhood cancer research. By the mid-1990s, there were nine groups funded by the NCI to conduct research in adults with cancer, and four focused on childhood cancer research. Two groups, the Children's Cancer Study Group (CCG) and the Pediatric Oncology Group (POG) studied a diverse array of childhood cancers, while two others, the Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study Group (IRSG) and the National Wilms Tumor Study Group (NWTS) were specific for particular cancers. In 2000, the four pediatric groups merged to create the Children's Oncology Group. Since then, its researchers have published well over one thousand research manuscripts in peer-reviewed scientific journals. COG has enrolled more children with cancer on clinical trials than any other organization in the world.

Research studies

The group's research studies encompass hematologic malignancies, solid tumors, central nervous system tumors, and rare cancers.

Hematologic malignancies Tumors of the hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues (American English) or tumours of the haematopoietic and lymphoid tissues (British English) are tumors that affect the blood, bone marrow, lymph, and lymphatic system. Because these tissues are all ...

include the most common childhood cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, as well as

acute myeloid leukemia Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal cells that build up in the bone marrow and blood and interfere with haematopoiesis, normal blood cell production. Sympto ...

non-Hodgkin lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tire ...

, and

Hodgkin lymphoma Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma, in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the patient's lymph nodes. The condition ...

. Pediatric

solid tumors A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

studied include

neuroblastoma Neuroblastoma (NB) is a type of cancer that forms in certain types of nerve tissue. It most frequently starts from one of the adrenal glands but can also develop in the neck, chest, abdomen, or spine. Symptoms may include bone pain, a lump i ...

, tumors of bone (

Ewing sarcoma Ewing sarcoma is a type of cancer that forms in bone or soft tissue. Symptoms may include swelling and pain at the site of the tumor, fever, and a bone fracture. The most common areas where it begins are the legs, pelvis, and chest wall. In abou ...

osteosarcoma An osteosarcoma (OS) or osteogenic sarcoma (OGS) (or simply bone cancer) is a cancerous tumor in a bone. Specifically, it is an aggressive malignant neoplasm that arises from primitive transformed cells of mesenchymal origin (and thus a sarcoma) ...

), tumors of the kidney (

Wilms' tumor Wilms' tumor or Wilms tumor, also known as nephroblastoma, is a cancer of the kidneys that typically occurs in children, rarely in adults.; and occurs most commonly as a renal tumor in child patients. It is named after Max Wilms, the German sur ...

rhabdomyosarcoma Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is a highly aggressive form of cancer that develops from mesenchymal cells that have failed to fully differentiate into myocytes of skeletal muscle. Cells of the tumor are identified as rhabdomyoblasts. There are four subty ...

and other soft tissue sarcomas. Central nervous system (brain) tumors are the second most common form of childhood cancer. COG conducts research in children with

medulloblastoma Medulloblastoma is a common type of primary brain cancer in children. It originates in the part of the brain that is towards the back and the bottom, on the floor of the skull, in the cerebellum, or posterior fossa. The brain is divided into two ...

ependymoma An ependymoma is a tumor that arises from the ependyma, a tissue of the central nervous system. Usually, in pediatric cases the location is intracranial, while in adults it is spinal. The common location of intracranial ependymomas is the fourth ...

brainstem gliomas A brainstem glioma is a cancerous glioma tumor in the brainstem. Around 75% are diagnosed in children and young adults under the age of twenty, but have been known to affect older adults as well. Brainstem gliomas start in the brain or spinal c ...

, low and high-grade

gliomas A glioma is a type of tumor that starts in the glial cells of the brain or the spine. Gliomas comprise about 30 percent of all brain tumors and central nervous system tumours, and 80 percent of all malignant brain tumours. Signs and symptoms ...

, and

germ cell tumors Germ cell tumor (GCT) is a neoplasm derived from germ cells. Germ-cell tumors can be cancerous or benign. Germ cells normally occur inside the gonads (ovary and testis). GCTs that originate outside the gonads may be birth defects resulting ...

. The large multi-site structure of COG also allows it to conduct research into very rare childhood cancer including

retinoblastoma Retinoblastoma (Rb) is a rare form of cancer that rapidly develops from the immature cells of a retina, the light-detecting tissue of the eye. It is the most common primary malignant intraocular cancer in children, and it is almost exclusively fo ...

hepatoblastoma Hepatoblastoma is a malignant liver cancer occurring in infants and children and composed of tissue resembling fetal liver cells, mature liver cells, or bile duct cells. They usually present with an abdominal mass. The disease is most commonly di ...

, and other tumors. In addition to disease specific research, COG conducts studies in developmental therapeutics (new cancer

drug development Drug development is the process of bringing a new pharmaceutical drug to the market once a lead compound has been identified through the process of drug discovery. It includes preclinical research on microorganisms and animals, filing for r ...

), supportive care,

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evide ...

stem cell transplantation Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood in order to replicate inside of a patient and to produ ...

behavioral sciences Behavioral sciences explore the cognitive processes within organisms and the behavioral interactions between organisms in the natural world. It involves the systematic analysis and investigation of human and animal behavior through naturalist ...

and survivorship.

Funding

The COG is primarily funded by the NCI, the primary or Chair's grant supports research operations and funds personnel at member institutions conducting research, and the statistics and data center grant supports these essential research functions. Other key grants include the COG Phase 1 Consortium grant, supporting 21 COG institutions charged with early phase clinical trials, and the Community Cancer Oncology Program (CCOP) grant. There is additional funding from other granting agencies and from philanthropic sources.

References

External links

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COG Foundation
{{Authority control Cancer organizations based in the United States Clinical trial organizations

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...