An evaluation of a cancer control outreach program in radiation therapy

Using the methodology of retrospective chart review, this study in radiation therapy compared workup and treatment scores for two groups of community hospitals. The group that participated in clinical trials with a radiation therapy cooperative consortium was superior in several respects to a matched comparison set of hospitals. However, the superiority appears to have been in evidence before the program began. There are presumed to be selection mechanisms that operate to bring certain facilities into the clinical research effort, while excluding others.