The Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology was formed around a unifying belief: that meaningful progress against cancer requires large-scale, multidisciplinary collaboration that connects scientific discovery to clinical practice.
Our vision
The Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology was formed around a unifying belief: that meaningful progress against cancer requires large-scale, multidisciplinary collaboration that connects scientific discovery to clinical practice.
Our mission
The mission of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology is to reduce the impact of cancer by:
- Conducting high-quality, multidisciplinary cancer prevention, control, and treatment clinical trials through a comprehensive national research network
- Advancing understanding of the biological basis of cancer and its treatment, from discovery through validation to clinical application
- Providing the scientific, operational, and data infrastructure needed to support innovative clinical and translational research across academic and community settings
Foundations that shaped the Alliance
The Alliance was created in 2011 through the merger of three former National Cancer Institute-funded cooperative groups: the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB), the North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG), and the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group (ACOSOG). While each Group had achieved significant success independently, their strengths were highly complementary. Together, their 70 year collective experience represents a continuum of cancer research spanning prevention, treatment, and survivorship.
The decision to merge these groups reflected a strategic recognition that the future of oncology research required greater integration across disciplines and a more unified national infrastructure for clinical trials. By combining complementary scientific portfolios, operational systems, and investigator networks, the Alliance created a single, integrated organization capable of supporting complex, practice-changing clinical trials at a scale to benefit as many people as possible.
This integration preserved the intellectual leadership and scientific identity of each legacy Group while enabling a more coordinated approach to prioritizing research, developing trials, and translating findings into clinical practice.
The Alliance continues as one of the largest clinical research networks in North America. Our structure preserves the scientific strengths of our legacy organizations while supporting a coordinated approach to clinical trial development and execution. What remains constant is the principle that shaped its formation: that collaboration across scientific domains produces more rigorous research and broader impact for patients.