Christiana Care's Cancer Research Program is part of a select group of 51 research centers in the United States and Puerto Rico that are funded by theNational Cancer Institute to participate in the Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP). Thousands of patients throughout the Delaware region have benefited from studies conducted under the auspices of the CCOP, as well as from a variety of other federally funded and industry-supported cancer treatment, prevention and control trials. Many of these trials take place on a national or international level at approved research centers around the country and throughout the world.

Clinical trials test new drugs and combinations of treatments, as well as new techniques using surgery, radiation therapy, gene therapy, immunotherapy and biologics. Research studies encompass a wide range of cancer-related disciplines including hematology/oncology, radiation oncology and gynecologic oncology.

Clinical trials offered by Christiana Care attract participants from Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Our annual accrual rate—which measures the percentage of patients enrolled in clinical trials—among newly diagnosed cancer patients is among the highest in the nation. At any given time, we have at least 700 patients enrolled in as many as 130 different clinical trials.

All studies are first approved by Christiana Care's Institutional Review Board, a special committee that reviews and oversees all research projects to ensure that participants' rights and welfare are protected.