The 1994 National Cancer Institute’s strategy to fund multi-institutional, multidisciplinary consortia to design and conduct early phase clinical trials in patients with high grade gliomas.
Authors: Stuart A. Grossman, Louis B. Nabors, Joy D. Fisher, Patrick Y. Wen, William C. Timmer, Frederick G. Barker, David M. Peereboom, Benjamin M. Ellingson, Jeffrey G. Supko, Michelle A. Rudek, Ingo K. Mellinghoff, Tom Mikkelsen, Timothy Francis Cloughesy, Michael Prados, Glenn Jay Lesser, E. Antonio Chiocca, Tracy Batchelor, Susan Marina Chang, Frank S. Lieberman, Xiaobu Ye
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2021)

2003 Background: : In the early 1990’s, the NCI suspended activities of the Brain Tumor Study Group seeking to shift clinical brain tumor research from phase III trials to innovative and correlative rich phase I/II studies. In 1994, NCI funded three early phase brain tumor consortia, later reduced to two consortia in 1999 and one in 2009. In 2020, the NCI announced it would discontinue funding the brain tumor consortium and emphasize pre-clinical glioblastoma drug development (RFA-CA-20-047). Methods: The activities of the New Approaches to Brain Tumor Therapy (NABTT: 1994-2009) and Adult Brain Tumor Consortium (ABTC: 2009-2021) were summarized using data from the Central Operations Office that served the consortia for 27 years. Results: From 1994-2020, 48 consortium meetings were held to discuss, develop, conduct, and evaluate early phase clinical trials. These involved multidisciplinary brain tumor experts (neuro-oncologists, neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists, neuropathologists, statisticians, pharmacologists, imaging experts, immunologists, etc) from 27 US academic centers and hospitals. 85 clinical trials were written, approved by NCI and the Brain Malignancy Steering Committee, and conducted. Most trials evaluated NCI-provided therapeutic agents. 34 trials were conducted in collaboration with 27 pharmaceutical companies eager to develop malignant brain tumor therapeutics; for 9 of these the consortia held the IND. 4870 patients were accrued: 3375 to therapeutic and 1495 to non-therapeutic studies. 49 grant proposals were submitted to fund consortium activities with a 46% approval rate. 91 peer reviewed manuscripts were published, with 174 presentations and abstracts. 18 pharmaceutical symposia were conducted to attract new agents toward early phase brain tumor research. Consortia sponsored 34 Guest Lectureships and multidisciplinary symposia to focus on relevant critical research areas. Additionally, the consortia provided unique opportunities for young faculty to lead multicenter NABTT/ABTC trials with appropriate support and mentorship. Conclusions: Therapeutic progress for high grade gliomas has been slow for many reasons (95% of systemically administered agents do not penetrate the blood-brain barrier, inherent treatment resistance, immunologically “cold” phenotype, etc). NABTT/ABTC focused multidisciplinary, multi-institutional experts on major challenges unique to brain tumor research. The consortia developed innovative early phase clinical studies rich in correlative endpoints, fostered research grants, hosted relevant topical symposia, and provided leadership roles for young investigators while bringing together the NCI, industry, and committed multidisciplinary academicians to explore novel therapeutic options for patients with primary brain tumors.