Development of Strategies to Increase Enrollment in Clinical Trials for Children With Cancer

RATIONALE: Taking part in a clinical trial may help children with cancer receive more effective treatment.

PURPOSE: Determine why patients who are eligible for protocols made available through the Pediatric Oncology Group do not enroll in them, and develop strategies to increase enrollment on these clinical trials.

OBJECTIVES: I. Identify prospectively physician and patient factors associated with reasons why patients who are eligible for Pediatric Oncology Group therapeutic protocols are not enrolled onto such studies. II. Provide information that may be used to develop intervention strategies to decrease barriers to patient enrollment, thus increasing enrollment in therapeutic protocols.

OUTLINE: This is a case-control, multicenter study. Case patients are stratified. Stratum 1 comprises patients for whom there is an appropriate Pediatric Oncology Group (POG) frontline therapeutic protocol that has not yet been submitted to, disapproved by, or approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Stratum 2 comprises patients for whom there is an appropriate POG frontline therapeutic protocol that has been approved by the IRB. Physicians complete an IRB submission form for their patients on stratum 1. Patients/parents on stratum 2 who refused enrollment and their primary physicians complete questionnaires that address reasons for nonenrollment. Control patients/parents who consented to enrollment complete questionnaires that address reasons for enrollment. Demographic information, including the size of the treating institution and the annual number of patients enrolled onto its protocols, is collected. Additional demographic information regarding the patient and his or her family is collected.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 595 case patients (12 with soft tissue sarcoma, 34 with osteosarcoma, 19 with brain tumors, 32 with Hodgkin's disease, 60 with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, 278 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 65 with acute non-lymphoblastic leukemia, 56 with neuroblastoma, 14 with hepatoblastoma, and 25 with germ cell tumors) will be accrued for this study within 7 years. Corresponding control patients will be accrued for this study.

Eligibility Criteria:
DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS: Case or control patient clinically eligible for a Pediatric Oncology Group (POG) frontline therapeutic protocol, whether or not the protocol was submitted to or approved by the physician's Institutional Review Board Case patients must not have enrolled on the POG frontline protocol due to decision by the physician or patient/parent Control patients must have been enrolled on the POG frontline protocol Ineligible if offered treatment on an in-house therapeutic protocol (institutional review board-approved) rather than the POG protocol

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS: Age: 21 and under Performance status: Not specified Life expectancy: Not specified Hematopoietic: Not specified Hepatic: Not specified Renal: Not specified

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY: Biologic therapy: Not specified Chemotherapy: Not specified Endocrine therapy: Not specified Radiotherapy: Not specified Surgery: Not specified