Consortium of Gynecologic Oncologists Participate in International Cooperative

For more than five years, a unique consortium of gynecologic oncologists in Georgia have been participating in the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG), an international cooperative group that receives funding from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes for Health. The GOG studies gynecologic cancers through a menu of clinical trials. Developed and administered by Georgia CORE – the Center for Oncology, Research and Education – the Georgia working group is a unique statewide consortium recognized by NCI as a member of the GOG.

“Georgia affiliates in the GOG studies have exceeded the required participation goals by 200 percent,” said Sharad Ghamande, M.D., of Georgia Regents University and Principal Investigator of the Georgia CORE GOG. “And perhaps more importantly, one quarter of the patients who participated in the Georgia trials in the past three years are of racial and ethnic minorities – historically the groups least likely to receive the benefits of clinical cancer research.”

The GOG is administratively headquartered in Philadelphia, Pa. Approximately 45 individual clinical trials are active at any one time within GOG for patients with a variety of gynecologic malignancies, including cancers that arise from the ovaries, uterus, cervix, vagina, and vulva.

In addition to conducting trials, Georgia CORE GOG Investigators serve on several national committees and have co-authored papers.

Georgia CORE GOG Consortium affiliates include Central Georgia Gynecologic Oncology/The Medical Center of Central Georgia, Macon
; Emory University, Atlanta; 
Georgia Regents University, Augusta
; Columbus Regional Healthcare System/John B. Amos Cancer Center, Columbus;
 Memorial Health Medical Center, Savannah;
 Northeast Georgia Medical Center, Gainesville
; Northside Hospital, Atlanta
; Piedmont Healthcare, Atlanta; and 
Lewis Cancer & Research Pavilion at St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System, Savannah.