National Cancer Institute: Pediatric Preclinical Testing Consortium Coordinating Center (U01)

The PPTC is designed to address key challenges associated with the development of new therapies for children with cancer by developing reliable preclinical testing data for pediatric drug candidates that can be used to inform new agent prioritization decisions. Effective prioritization is critical because of the large universe of drugs being developed for adult cancers, a number so large that no more than a small number can be studied in pediatric clinical trials. Identifying through preclinical testing those investigational agents most likely to have clinical activity for selected childhood cancers accelerates the pace at which treatments that are more effective than the current ones can be identified and incorporated into standard practice for children with cancer.

The PPTC Research Programs, responsible for conducting the in vivo and in vitro testing of selected agents, will be focused on specific tumor types that are particularly relevant to pediatric oncology.

The PPTC Coordinating Center, which is subject of this FOA, will be responsible for integrating the activities of the individual PPTC Research Programs to create a functional consortium for pediatric preclinical testing. Specifically, the PPTP-Coordinating Center will provide administrative coordination and infrastructure, data management and statistical support, as well as Consortium scientific coordination.