NRG Oncology, a National Cancer Institute (NCI) National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) group conducting practice-changing clinical and translational research, has been awarded funding for the next six years by the NCI to continue its work as a lead protocol organization (LPO) in the NCTN program. NRG Oncology receive a modest increase in funding from the previous grant cycle which started in 2019 and ended this past February. During the peer review grant renewal process, NRG Oncology received an “exceptional” score of 10, which is the highest possible score that can be received in the grant review process.
“This is the third grant cycle in a row that NRG Oncology has received an exceptional score during the grant application review process. We are honored by the recognition of the tremendous efforts our organization is putting forward to help improve outcomes for those impacted by cancer,” stated Quynh Thu Le, MD, an NRG Oncology Group Chair, Chair of the NRG Oncology Board of Directors, Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Stanford University and Co-Director of the Radiation Biology Program at the Stanford Cancer Institute.
“None of this would have been possible without the efforts of the many NRG member sites, researchers, patient advocates, staff, and most importantly the patients that make our trials successful. Our research requires many voices from concept through publication in order to successfully advance our understanding and treatment of this disease,” added Robert Mannel, MD, an NRG Oncology Group Chair and Director of the Stephenson Cancer Center at the University of Oklahoma.
NRG Oncology’s mission is to improve the lives of adult patients with sex-specific malignancies (breast, gynecologic, prostate) and/or localized or locally advanced cancer through the development and conduct of practice changing clinical trials. The Group uniquely focuses on this large and relatively under-investigated group of cancer patients and reported extraordinary scientific accomplishments by using biomarkers and clinical algorithm identified risk-stratification to optimize treatment regimen and duration in clinical trial design, applying emerging knowledge in novel therapeutics to the development of early and late phase clinical trials, and by testing the application of novel technologies in radiation oncology, surgery, and imaging in multi-institutional clinical trials.
According to the grant application reviewers, “The overall impact of the NRG Oncology is high with the potential to markedly enhance the quality of the clinical trials based on the outstanding progress during the current funding period with its continued focus on science-driven, molecularly guided therapeutic trials in sex-driven, rare and local/locoregionally advanced cancers.” “Given our exceptional score and the detailed strengths noted in our review, it is clear that NRG Oncology is well poised to build on our success to drive even greater progress and innovation over the next six years,” noted Norman Wolmark, MD, an NRG Oncology Group Chair, Contact PI for the NRG Oncology Grant, and Professor of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh.
The six-year grant cycle started March 1, 2026.
About NRG Oncology
NRG Oncology conducts practice-changing, multi-institutional clinical and translational research to improve the lives of patients with cancer. Founded in 2012, NRG Oncology is a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit corporation that integrates the research of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP), the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG), and the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG). The research network seeks to carry out clinical trials with emphases on sex-specific malignancies, including gynecologic, breast, and prostate cancers, and on localized or locally advanced cancers of all types. NRG Oncology’s extensive research organization comprises multidisciplinary investigators, including medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, surgeons, physicists, pathologists, and statisticians, and encompasses more than 1,300 research sites located world-wide with predominance in the United States and Canada. NRG Oncology is supported primarily through grants from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and is one of five research groups in the NCI’s National Clinical Trials Network.