Driving progress through international collaboration
Cancer knows no geographic boundaries, and advancing cancer research requires collaboration across them. International partnerships allow researchers to share scientific expertise, reach broader patient populations, study rare cancers that may be difficult to investigate within a single country, and strengthen the evidence needed to improve cancer prevention, treatment, and care.
The Alliance supports international research through its International Collaborations program. For non-governmental, international clinical trials, the Alliance may also work with Alliance Foundation Trials (AFT).
Depending on the study, partnerships may involve individual institutions, regional research networks, or established cooperative oncology groups. International organizations may participate as Alliance member institutions or as collaborators on specific studies and research initiatives.
- International member institutions: Institutions that meet Alliance membership requirements and participate as members of the research network.
- International collaborators: Institutions, cooperative groups, and research networks that partner with the Alliance on specific studies or initiatives.
International clinical research requires coordination across different regulatory, ethical, and legal frameworks. The Alliance works with international partners to support study activation and address country-wide specific requirements while maintaining consistency with the study protocol. This may include:
- Supporting regulatory and ethical review required for study participation
- Coordinating study activation and other operational requirements
- Addressing country-specific regulatory and operational requirements
- Supporting consistent data collection, reporting, and patient-safety practices
Alliance statistical and data management infrastructure helps ensure that data collected across countries can be integrated and analyzed appropriately while maintaining research quality and integrity.
International partnerships strength cancer research by:
- Expanding research populations: Including patients from multiple countries can broaden study participation and help address questions that may be difficult to study within a single country.
- Sharing expertise: Researchers contribute diverse scientific, clinical, and regional perspectives that can generate new approaches and discoveries.
- Studying uncommon cancers and populations: Broader networks can make it possible to study rare diseases, uncommon tumor characteristics, and populations that might otherwise be underrepresented.
- Extending research impact: Multinational studies allow findings to be evaluated across different health care systems, settings, and patient populations.
Alliance studies that have included international collaborators include:
- A021502 — Randomized trial evaluating adjuvant chemotherapy with out without atezolizumab for patients with stage III colon cancer and deficient DNA mismatch repair.
- A031102 — Phase III study comparing conventional-dose versus high-dose chemotherapy as first salvage treatment for relapsed or refractory germ cell tumors.
- A211801 (BRCA-P) — International phase III study evaluating the preventive effect of denosumab in women with BRCA1 germline mutations.
- A221405 — Study evaluating pregnancy outcomes and the safety of interrupting endocrine therapy in young women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer who desire pregnancy
- N1048 — Phase II study evaluating neoadjuvant FOLFOX with selective use of chemoradiation for locally advanced rectal cancer.
- N0577 — Phase III intergroup study comparing radiation therapy with temozolomide versus radiation therapy with PCV chemotherapy for patients with 1p/19q co-deleted glioma.
Study status and participating institutions may change over time. Refer to the current ClinicalTrials.gov record for the most up-to-date information.
To learn more about international collaboration opportunities or discuss a potential partnership, contact the Alliance International Collaborations team at International@AllianceNCTN.org.
- NCI Investigator Resources: Investigators interested in participating in NCI-sponsored clinical research can visit the NCI Investigator Resources website.
- Federalwide Assurance (FWA): Information about obtaining a Federalwide Assurance is available through the Office of the Human Research Protections (OHRP).