NCI National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) Program Guidelines

PART 2: Submission of New/Competing Application Section III.B.2.5 – Review Criteria
Network RT & Imaging Core Services Centers
Do the proposed Network Radiotherapy and Imaging Core Services Centers have a
track record for collaborations with other clinical trial organizations and/or other NCIsponsored
programs and investigators (e.g., SPOREs, NCI Cancer Centers, R01/P01
investigators), especially with respect to development of standards and
harmonization of processes and data collection that indicates the Centers have the
potential to be provide additional benefits to the NCTN Program? Do the proposed
Network Radiotherapy and Imaging Core Services Centers demonstrate the potential
to enhance services and provide best practices and/or standards for selected
assessments of radiotherapy and advanced imaging techniques?
Do the proposed Network Radiotherapy and Imaging Core Services Centers have a
track record that demonstrates that the members of its senior leadership team and
staff can actively participate in and contribute productively to NCI and NCTN clinical
trial activities (e.g., disease-specific and modality-specific Scientific Steering
Committees and related task forces or working Groups, Clinical Trials Planning
Committees for meetings supported by the NCI disease-specific Steering Committees,
participation in other NCI programs and initiatives related to clinical research)? Does
the applicant demonstrate the capacity to implement new initiatives and standards in
a timely fashion?
Do the proposed Network Radiotherapy and Imaging Core Services Centers provide
adequate real-time user support in the form of a “Help Desk” which can also collect
feedback for continual improvement of functionality of the core services?
Additional Scored Review Criteria
In addition to the above review criteria, the following additional criteria A-B will be
applied to applications in the determination of scientific merit and the impact/priority
score. Reviewers will consider each of the additional review criteria below in the
determination of scientific merit, and give a separate score for each.
A. Radiotherapy Core Services Center Program
B. Imaging Core Services Center Program
2.5.3 Scored Review Criteria – Criterion A. Radiotherapy Core Services Center Program
(Note: The entire Criterion A will receive one individual score; the subcategories and
aspects listed will be assessed but not scored separately).
Does the plan for providing support services for radiotherapy in clinical trials
adequately address the key functional needs for a Radiotherapy Core Services Center,
including collection, distribution, analysis, and storage/archiving of all primary and
adjunct radiotherapy treatment delivery data for applicable NCTN trials?
Does the plan for providing support services for radiotherapy in clinical trials include
an adequate approach, with appropriate policies and procedures, for how information
and services will be coordinated with the Imaging Core Services Center?
Does the proposed Radiotherapy Core Services Center provide continued
maintenance of robust physical hardware and information technology (IT) networks
which ensure the operational integrity and security of the core services? How well
does it appear the proposed Radiotherapy Core Services Center could incorporate
data from legacy trials of potential Network Group Operations Centers and their
associated Network Group Statistics and Data Management Centers (SDMCs)?
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