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The GI CANCER Institute is the fundraising body of the Australasian GastroIntestinal Trials Group (AGITG). The AGITG is Australia’s largest independent non-profit organisation conducting clinical trials into gastrointestinal cancers. It is a multi-discipline collaborative group of over 700 medical and research professionals that aim to improve the medical treatment of people suffering from GI cancers. These cancers include the oesophagus, stomach, liver, gall bladder, pancreas and bowel.
The AGITG’s members are volunteers that substantially provide their input in both professional and fund-raising capacities. Through the AGITGs network of hospital and research centres large cancer trials on a national and international multicentre participation can be co-ordinated.
The AGITG clinical trials are coordinated at the University of Sydney NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre in Camperdown, New South Wales
www.ctc.usyd.edu.au
Since 1991 the AGITG has successfully conducted national and participated internationally in over 23 trials involving 2,700 patient. These trials have been internationally published and have lead to improvements in standard patient treatment.
All the studies conducted are investigator-initiated which means trials are proposed by an AGITG member but then must undergo intense scrutiny by all the group members before acceptance. The trials are not commercially driven and aim to use evidence-based medicine to test the benefits of surgery, radiotherapy and currently available drugs to improve patient care.
The reputation built by AGITG through past clinical trials and its high quality of research has resulted in successfully obtaining numerous peer-reviewed research grant. Despite the significant benefits of clinical trials to improve patient care significantly more trials are required. Currently only around 3% of new adult cases each year enter a clinical trial despite the benefits of early access to new therapies; improved outcomes (on average) for patients on trials; improved quality of care from a patients’ perspective and improved therapies in future.
Cooperative groups like that AGITG across the world directly improve cancer treatment outcomes and are a key element of the overall cancer research effort.