Megan Sanders, Chief Executive Officer at Thoracic Oncology Group of Australasia, shared on LinkedIn:
“Beyond counting participants: recognising the true value of Australia’s cancer clinical trials infrastructure.
At COSA 2026, Australia’s 14 cancer Cooperative Trials Groups (CTGs) presented a collaborative project examining how we measure the contribution of our national cancer clinical trials infrastructure.
The findings revealed an important gap: historically, we’ve been better at measuring what the cancer CTGs do than what they have created, changed and contribute to the cancer sector.
Trial recruitment and research outputs are important, but they don’t capture the full contribution of cancer CTGs to Australia’s cancer care.
At TOGA, that contribution includes:
- Attracting investment from industry, competitive research grants and philanthropy, extending research funding beyond government support.
- Bringing together clinicians, researchers and people with lived experience to develop and deliver research that addresses important gaps in care.
- Conducting clinical trials that generate evidence for promising treatments and other interventions, while providing patients with opportunities to access new advances before PBS/MBS reimbursement.
- Raising funds to support small, thoracic cancer-specific research grants, helping develop new ideas, collaborations and research capability across the sector.
Other cancer CTGs would have similar or unique impacts relevant to their own domain of cancer healthcare.
Critically, the expertise, networks, processes and partnerships developed through one trial can support the next, creating necessary for the investigator-initiated clinical trial landscape.
This is a substantial contribution to the efficiency, sustainability and quality of Australian cancer research.
Our collaborative evaluation that examined five dimensions: investment, capability, delivery, leverage and translation into policy and care; is an important step towards recognising the cumulative contribution of cancer CTGs, including the benefits that are difficult to quantify.
Australia’s Cancer CTGs are an essential part of our cancer research and healthcare system. Understanding their full contribution is critical to sustaining and strengthening this national capability.
Zoom in on the bottom of the poster to see who we are – many COSA delegates were surprised to learn we existed and worked together.
Acknowledging a sustained leadership effort over 15 years Delaine Smith, Elizabeth Paton, Gabrielle Byars, Soozy Smith, Susan Goode, Joanne Cory, Linda Brown, Rayan Saleh Moussa, Caitlin Francis, Alison Evans, Margaret McJannett, Vino Pillay, Kristi Milley, Haryana Dhillon, Samantha Oakes, Denise Caruso, Robyn Strong, Janelle Jones, Jenny, Russell, Joan, CTG chairs, committees and staff past and present.
Martha Gerges JP for pulling data and story together.”
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