The USCACA Ph1 delegation visited China

November, 2009, the USCACA Ph1 delegation paid their first visit to China. Delegates included representatives of 3 top Ph1 oncology drug research centers in the US, Dr. George Wilding, Director of Carbone Cancer Center at the University of Wisconsin (UWCCC), Dr. Anthony Tolcher, Chief Medical Officer of South Texas Accelerated Research Therapy (START), and Dr. Igor Puzanov, Deputy Director of Ph1 center at Vanderbilt University. Gina Mangold, Chief Operation Officer of START and Dona Alberti, Associate Director of UWCCC joined the delegation.
During the 5 day visit, the delegation went to 7 cancer centers in 4 cities. These are Tianjin Cancer Hospital, Beijing Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medicine, Cancer Hospital, Guangdong General Hospital, Cancer Center of Sun Yat-sen University, Renji Hospital, and Shanghai Cancer Hospital, Fudan University.
At each hospital, delegates and hospital physicians and nurses discussed wide range of topics of Ph1 cancer drug studies. US Ph1 experts were greatly impressed by the state-of-art infrastructure, the vast patient catchments, and the enthusiasm of their Chinese colleagues in conducting early stage cancer drug clinical studies. Each US center also shared their experiences in Ph1 studies. Dr. Wilding discussed the successful setting of patient referral and recruitment, the Ph1 training program, and the use of imaging techniques in cancer drug Ph1 development. Dr. Puzanov discussed the comprehensive clinical trial training program and its translational Ph1 research capacity at Vanderbilt. Dr. Tolcher presented the global non-academic approaches to streamline cancer drug Ph1 research at START. Mangold and Alberti provided their valuable expertise advice on Ph1 operations.
These ten hospitals agreed to further explore collaboration opportunities in early stage oncology drug clinical research. A visiting program is being set up by USCACA to facilitate Chinese physicians and clinical research staff to visit multiple cancer centers in the US. The program will compose of both short and mid-term visits. Short visits are designed provide opportunities to observe best practices in multiple centers, and to establish collaborative relationship. While, mid-term programs will enable Chinese visiting fellows to systematically learn and master various aspects of clinical trials, from overall trial design, statistical analysis, to pharmacokinetics and translational components of trials. These visits will be conducted at participating USCACA network hospitals in US.
The Ph1 delegation visit is organized and sponsored by USCACA. Dr. Li Yan, Managing Director of USCACA and Director of Clinical Oncology at Merck, led the delegation. Other participating USCACA executives included Dr Xiaoxiang Chen, Chairman of USCACA China and Vice President of Clinical Sciences, Medical Affairs of Asian Pacific at Boehringer Ingelheim, and Dr. Li Xu, Global Head of Clinical Oncology Operations, and Pascal Qian, Senior Director of Oncology Business from Pfizer. USCACA received various forms of supports from Merck, Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Merck KGa during this visit.