John J. Crowley

Design And Analysis Of Cancer Clinical Trials.

The Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) is a national consortium of institutions and investigators whose mission is to make progress in the prevention and cure of cancer through clinical research. The Statistical Center, located in the Division of Public Health Sciences of the FHCRC, contributes to this mission through study design, protocol development, data management and quality control, data analysis, and statistical research.

SWOG has over 100 trialsopen for patient accrual in all sites of cancer, plus a large prostate cancer prevention trial. Recent advances have been made in the treatment of ovarian, bladder, prostate, lung, colon, and head and neck cancers. The Statistical Center's efforts are carried out by a staff of over 65 people, including eight faculty biostatisticians and a behavioral scientist.

My own emphasis within SWOG is in lung cancer and multiple myeloma. In addition to the design and analysis of trials in these disease sites,including a randomized study of high dose therapy and autologous transplantation in myeloma, I have been involved in assessing the importance of various laboratory findings in predicting survival and forming prognostic groups. My longstanding interest in developing exploratory tools for survival data has found fruitful application in these areas. My other current interest is in the education of cancer clinicians in the principles and pitfalls of cancer clinical trials.