New procedure site selection

The new procedure 'Site selection HOVON studies' has recently been implemented. This replaces the previous procedure (from 2013) and aims to have clearer, objective criteria for the distribution of HOVON studies across the sites.

Despite efforts by HOVON and the PI, only a limited number of hospitals can participate in most HOVON studies. This is based on the limited available finances and the increase in phase II trials with small patient numbers.

Practice shows that often more hospitals want to participate in a HOVON study than possible. There are signals from peripheral hospitals in particular that too few HOVON studies are assigned to them or that there is sometimes a skewed distribution of studies within regions. They would like to see a substantiation of the choices made.

The new procedure contains clear criteria that are important for site selection. In addition to the PI, delegation from the study working group and the HOVON Data Center, there is now also a role for the Trials & Support working group. They contribute ideas from local practice and are also informed about the upcoming and ongoing studies of the other working groups. The aim is to arrive at well-arguable, objective choices together. The fact remains, however, that site selections will remain complex and will unfortunately not be satisfactory for everyone.

A sound that sometimes comes up is that a group of hospitals would like to participate in a HOVON study together as one party. From a legal point of view, especially with regard to liability, this is not possible. This is also complex in terms of implementation and finances. In every hospital, logistics will have to be set up for the study, while the budget for this is precisely the bottleneck.

Click HERE for the new site selection procedure.