In 1955, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) formed a Clinical Studies Panel. During one of its early meetings, it was discussed that the study of leukemia would move forward more quickly if physicians worked together on clinical trials through a "cooperative group" mechanism, which would allow for broad collaboration among researchers from various medical institutions. This research method already had been proven successful in Veterans Administration hospitals when they studied tuberculosis. As a result, the Southwest Cancer Chemotherapy Study Group was funded in 1956 as a pediatric oncology (children's cancers) group. Its home base was in Houston, Texas.

In 1958, the NCI directed the Southwest Cancer Chemotherapy Study Group to study adult cancers, as well. This is important to note because it establishes when the Group began studying cancer in adults, which is the Group's current mission. The pediatric and adult divisions functioned separately with different administrative bodies. At that time, most institutions in the Group were located in the Southwestern part of the United States. Today, however, the Group has grown to more than 550 institutions located throughout the country, including 17 of the National Cancer Institute's 63 designated cancer centers.

Research in the Adult Division of the Southwest Cancer Chemotherapy Study Group began slowly, with early trials focusing on liquid cancers (leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma). In time, however, the Adult Division began to develop trials for all solid tumor cancers, with studies initiated when new agents became available.

The 1970s was a time of change for the Group. In 1971, the original constitution and bylaws were replaced by a constitution that more formally provided for two divisions of the Group—the Adult Division and Pediatric Division—each with its own executive committee. In early 1973, the Group established six Disease Study Committees in the Adult Division.

In June 1973, the Southwest Cancer Chemotherapy Study Group was formally renamed the Southwest Oncology Group. The constitution was changed to include strict performance standards to evaluate its institutions and members.

In 1976, the Group incorporated the National Cancer Institute's Affiliate Program, to enable individual physicians and small physician consortia the opportunity to become affiliated with a member institution in order to conduct cancer research.

Even more significant changes took place during this decade. Late in 1980, the Pediatric Division sought independent status and formed the Pediatric Oncology Group. This formally changed the mission of the Southwest Oncology Group to focus solely on cancer in adults.

In March, 1981, Charles A. Coltman, Jr., M.D., was elected chairman of the Southwest Oncology Group, a position he held for 24 years. The Group experienced significant growth and accomplishments under his leadership. The Operations Office was moved from Kansas City, where it had been since 1972, to the Cancer Therapy and Research Center (CTRC) in San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Coltman led CTRC's cancer treatment and research programs. In late 2007, CTRC was transferred to the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

Shortly after his election as chairman, Dr. Coltman restructured the Group. The executive committee was replaced by a board of governors made up of principal investigators and representatives of discipline committees. The Group's scientific efforts and administrative responsibilities shifted to the disease committees.

Until the early 1980s, the majority of cancer research was conducted in large university teaching hospitals. However, physicians trained at academic cancer centers were increasingly entering community practice. Meanwhile, many cancer patients often had to travel great distances to cancer centers to participate in cutting-edge clinical trials. To remedy this situation, in 1983 the Group began participating in the Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP), a new program launched by the NCI's Division of Cancer Prevention. The CCOP expanded the principles of the Affiliate Program, mentioned earlier, by providing community-based physicians a way to conduct cancer research, bringing the latest in investigational cancer treatments to patients in their communities and giving more patients the opportunity to participate in clinical trials. As a result, hospitals, community oncologists and other local healthcare providers were transformed into a national network to conduct clinical trials. Cooperative groups such as the Southwest Oncology Group and some cancer centers served as their research base. CCOP institutions focus on cancer control and prevention programs in addition to treatment trials.

The CCOP program grew steadily during the 1980s, and as a result of the increased efforts in cancer control activities, the Group developed a Cancer Control Research Committee to address the need for cancer prevention, symptom management and quality-of-life research. A formal Quality Control Program was developed in connection with the CCOP program to ensure the consistent submission of high-quality data.

Another significant change in the early 1980s was the relocation of the Statistical Center from Houston, Texas, to Seattle, Wash., under the direction of newly appointed Group Statistician, John J. Crowley, Ph.D. The new Statistical Center opened its doors on October 1, 1984, on the campus of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

In 1988, another program was established that had a significant impact on the Group. The Urologic Cancer Outreach Program (UCOP) was established to attract more urologists into the Group and to increase enrollment of patients to genitourinary trials.

In 1990, the Southwest Oncology Group participated in the NCI's expansion of the CCOP to form the Minority-Based CCOP (MBCCOP). This program was started in an effort to provide better cancer care to minority patients in their communities and to involve more minority patients in clinical trials. Some minority populations are more vulnerable to certain types of cancer, are less likely to participate in clinical trials and often are medically underserved. The MBCCOP specifically addressed those concerns by offering membership to institutions with a 50 percent or greater minority patient population. The Sept. 13, 2005, special edition of the NCI Cancer Bulletin acknowledged the program's success, noting that over the last decade more than 5,500 minority patients have enrolled in treatment and prevention trials through the MBCCOP network. And while MCCOP institutions accounted for less than 20 percent of the CCOP network, they brought half of the minority patients into clinical trials.

In 1991, the Southwest Oncology Group established a non-profit foundation, the Southwest Oncology Group Foundation, to enable the Group to accept contributions to support its work. In 1992, a separate 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization was formally established.

Also in 1991, the Committee on Women's Health was formed to focus on specific concerns of women in Group clinical trials. Over the years, the scope of the committee continued to evolve and today it also addresses issues concerning cancer in minorities, the aged and medically underserved populations. In 2002 the committee name was changed to the Committee on Special Populations to reflect its broader purpose.

Midway through 1991, Dr. Coltman met with a leading physician from Japan, Masanori Fukushima, M.D., Ph.D. The purpose of their meeting was to establish a program to encourage researchers from the United States and Japan to work together to enhance the quality of Japanese clinical trials. The first United States - Japan Cancer Clinical Trials Summit was held in 1992. Since that time, participation in the summits has grown to include premier cancer physicians from throughout the United States, Canada and Japan. The meetings focus on reviewing and exchanging information about clinical trials on a broad range of cancers including urological, gynecological, head and neck, esophageal, gastric, colorectal, and multiple myeloma, as well as bone and soft tissue sarcomas.

In October 1993, the Southwest Oncology Group launched the first large-scale prevention trial for prostate cancer. The Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) was a double-blind study designed to evaluate whether taking the drug finasteride would prevent prostate cancer. More than 18,000 men were enrolled at over 220 sites located throughout the United States.

The trial was closed early on June 24, 2003, because of a clear finding that finasteride reduced the incidence of prostate cancer. The analysis of the data revealed that men in the finasteride group who were evaluated by means of a prostate biopsy were 24.8 percent less likely to develop prostate cancer when compared to the men evaluated in the placebo group. However, those trial participants who developed prostate cancer while taking finasteride had a slightly higher incidence of high-grade tumors. The results of the study were published in the New England Journal of Medicine on July 17, 2003, and more than 35 additional peer-reviewed papers and abstracts have been published as a result of this study. . For more information see the PCPT Page.

In 1998 the Southwest Oncology Group Foundation was formally named The Hope Foundation, to represent the international impact and vision of the Group.

In March 1999, an innovative program was developed by the Southwest Oncology Group to foster the role of young clinical investigators beginning a career in cancer clinical trials. The first Southwest Oncology Group Young Investigators Training Course was conducted in 2000. The intensive program, conducted annually, focuses on statistical principles, data collection and analysis, critical decision making, protocol development and other Group procedures. Each year a competitive application process is employed to select the four young investigators who are invited to attend the course.

On July 25, 2001, the largest-ever prostate cancer prevention trial, the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT), was launched. SELECT, an ongoing study, is investigating whether selenium and vitamin E, alone or in combination, will prevent prostate cancer. More than 35,500 men were enrolled at 427 sites throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. They were divided randomly into four groups. Two of the groups take vitamin E or selenium with a placebo, one group takes both selenium and vitamin E, and the last group takes two placebos. Enrollment of 35,534 participants by June, 2004, led to an early closure for enrollment two years ahead of schedule, with 10 percent more participants than the goal. This is the first Southwest Oncology Group trial to be conducted using a totally Web-based system designed and developed by the Group's Statistical Center. Enrollment, randomization, study manuals, bulletins, study updates, drug distribution records and data communication are all conducted via a secure Internet site.

On May 27, 2003, Dr. Coltman informed the Board of Governors that he would not seek re-election as Group chair. This set in motion the selection of a chair-elect, who would assume the chairmanship when Dr. Coltman's term expired at the spring 2005 Board of Governor's meeting. Several candidates were nominated and on July 2, 2003, the Board of Governors elected Laurence H. Baker, D.O., the next chair. Dr. Baker, who served as associate chair during Dr. Coltman's tenure, is professor of Internal Medicine and Pharmacology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

At the fall 2003 Group meeting in Seattle, Dr. Baker announced that a new Group Chair's Office would be established at the University of Michigan. He also introduced three University of Michigan faculty members as the Group's new executive officers, who would oversee the development and conduct of Group protocols according to their specific assignment. The executive officers are Harry P. Erba, M.D., Ph.D.; Bruce G. Redman, D.O.; and Anne F. Schott, M.D.

In February 2005, the Southwest Oncology Group received funding through a P01 program project grant for five projects analyzing data from the PCPT. The overall goal of the program is to understand the biologic mechanisms underlying the results of the PCPT. Each project will analyze the prostate tissue, blood and white cell samples collected during PCPT from a different perspective.

The spring 2005 Group meeting brought a new milestone for the Group. On April 8, 2005, Dr. Coltman stepped down as Group chairman and Dr. Laurence H. Baker became the new Group chair. Dr. Coltman then served as Associate Chair for Cancer Control and Prevention for the Group until September 2007, at which time he was appointed Chair Emeritus.

One of Dr. Baker's first priorities as Group chair was to reorganize the Scientific Advisory Board, naming Richard I. Fisher, M.D., chair and expanding the board to include external advisors. Dr. Fisher has been a member of the Southwest Oncology Group since 1985 and chair of the Lymphoma Committee since 1988. At the fall 2005 Group meeting, Dr. Baker announced that Dr. Fisher had been appointed as Deputy Group Chair.

With Dr. Baker's election as Group Chairman, the Scientific Advisory Board made the decision to move The Hope Foundation office from the Operations Office to the Group Chair's Office. Dr. Baker serves as the Foundation's president, Dr. Coltman is Chair, and Jo Horn, M.S.W., is Director. In 2006 the Hope Foundation logo and Web site were redesigned to reflect a new vision for the organization.

In July 2006, the Group submitted the CCOP Research Base grant renewal with a five-year budget of $100,677,452. While Dr. Coltman is the principal investigator on the grant, a plan is in place to identify his successor, who will replace him as associate chair of cancer control and prevention within a year of submitting the grant renewal.

The Group celebrated its 50th anniversary during the Fall 2006 Group Meeting in Seattle, Washington. The plenary session featured four prominent cancer researchers who brought the Group up to date on the NCI's plans for its cancer treatment and prevention programs, as well as future directions of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Former Group leaders and administrators were guests during the plenary session and at the 50th anniversary celebration that evening.

In November 2006, Carolyn Hoban, D.Sc., joined the Group's executive officer team. Dr. Hoban oversees the development of the Group's Cancer Control Committee and Translational Medicine Committee. She also supervises the Group's tumor and tissue banks.

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For the more detailed history of the Southwest Oncology Group, see the Official Group History.