• 11/2/2007
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • press release
  • PharmaLive (www.medadnews.com)

ImClone Systems Incorporated, a leader in the development and commercialization of novel cancer therapeutics, today announced that the 1000th patient has been enrolled in the independent national registry of patients with head and neck cancer known as LORHAN (Longitudinal Oncology Registry of Head And Neck carcinoma). The announcement was made in conjunction with the Company’s sponsorship of and participation in the American Society for Therapeutic Radiation and Oncology (ASTRO) 49th Annual Meeting, which is being held this week in Los Angeles. Radiation therapy is a core treatment option for patients with head and neck cancer.

The LORHAN Registry was established in October 2005 to better understand treatment practices for Head and Neck Cancer patients by providing insight into national treatment trends and outcomes. LORHAN is the only longitudinal registry of its kind in the U.S. and since its launch less than two years ago, 95 sites have joined the Registry, including many major U.S. cancer treatment centers.

LORHAN is guided by a prestigious advisory board chaired by Dr. K. Kian Ang, of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, that includes: Walter Curran, M.D., Thomas Jefferson University Hospital; Paul Harari, M.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison; Barbara Murphy, M.D., Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center; Stuart Wong, M.D., Medical College of Wisconsin; Amy Chen, M.D., Emory University; and Adam Garden, M.D., M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. The program is being supported by ImClone Systems Incorporated and implemented by MedNet Solutions, Inc. of Minnetonka, Minnesota.

LORHAN is non-drug specific and collects detailed longitudinal treatment data for head and neck cancer patients managed in all practice settings. The Registry gathers the information, including treatment and supportive care choices as well as recurrence and survival outcomes, into a national database via a confidential, simple and secure Web-based system. The Registry allows physicians in all practice settings to compare the treatment outcomes of their patients as well as to compare treatment practices and outcomes in community and academic settings.

“LORHAN complements the existing general cancer registries (SEER and NCDB) in that it collects the details of non-surgical treatments and supportive care rendered along with disease and functional outcome data in all practice settings,” said K. Kian Ang, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Radiation Oncology, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Chairman of the LORHAN Advisory Board. “Findings from LORHAN are expected to contribute to developing strategies to optimize patient care and generating hypotheses for future trials. From a practical standpoint, LORHAN allows active participants to confidentially compare the findings from their individual practices to those of the aggregate dataset on an ongoing basis. This unique feature can help individual oncologists in designing plans and compiling documentation for complying with the emerging national mandates to continuously improve practice quality and patient safety.”

“As a leader in the development of biologic therapies for head and neck cancer, ImClone is proud to support LORHAN and the generation of this type of data designed to improve the consistency and quality of treatment and outcomes for patients with head and neck cancer,” said John H. Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of ImClone. “The enrollment of the 1000th patient in LORHAN is an important milestone for the Head and Neck Cancer Community and is a testament to the dedication of our prestigious faculty, the participating sites, and ImClone in better understanding and treating this devastating disease.”

Learn More

Physicians interested in participating or learning more about LORHAN should visit https://www.mednetregistry.com/mednet/imclone/ (Login ID and password: LORHAN) or contact Jen Ohme at [email protected]. Other interested parties can visit www.imclone.com for more information about LORHAN.