American College of Surgeons Oncology Group
The American College of Surgeons Oncology Group (ACOSOG) is a clinical trial cooperative group supported publicly by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Established during the 1990s, ACOSOG has a different mission when compared to other cooperative groups. For the most part, ACOSOG focuses on the effects of surgery on patients with malignant tumors. Other cooperative groups like COG, ECOG, and SWOG, tend to emphasize the role of radiotherapy in patients with metastatic cancers. Nearly all age groups are considered in ACOSOG studies; however, middle-aged to senior adults tend to comprise the basis for most of the research conducted with ACOSOG protocols. Children who necessitate surgery for resection of malignant tumors typically fall under the auspices of COG. Currently, ACOSOG offices are located at the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina.
Quality Assurance
The American College of Surgeons Oncology Group has all of its protocol-driven cases reviewed at the Quality Assurance Review Center (QARC). As mandated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), every radiotherapy (RT) department participating in an ACOSOG study submits their data to QARC for review. QARC is located in Lincoln, Rhode Island and reviews thousands of RT cases per year. The center was founded in 1977 as a not-for-profit health care organization designed to provide quality assurance for CALGB studies. Radiotherapy data from around one-thousand hospitals in both the United States and abroad is reviewed and archived at QARC.
Another center for quality assurance is the Radiological Physics Center (RPC) in Houston, Texas. The primary responsibility of the RPC is to assure the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and its cooperative groups like ACOSOG that all participating institutions are following the basic guidelines regarding the physics-related aspects of radiotherapy. Established in 1968, the RPC has consistently received funding from the NCI in order to perform the aforementioned mission.