• 10/17/2005
  • Denver, CO
  • press release
  • PharmaLive (www.medadnews.com)

ImClone Systems Incorporated today announced the launch of a first-of-its-kind, independent national registry of patients with head and neck cancer known as LORHAN (Longitudinal Oncology Registry of Head And Neck carcinoma) at the 2005 American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting in Denver.

LORHAN will gather together detailed information, including treatment and supportive care choices as well as recurrence and survival outcomes, into a national database via a confidential Web-based system. The registry will then allow physicians participating in the registry to compare the treatment outcomes of their patients to a national database. LORHAN will also determine whether the results of treatment-changing clinical studies are being incorporated effectively into daily practice, and compare treatment practices in community and academic settings. An estimated 26,400 patients will be eligible to enter the system each year, of which approximately 1,000 are expected to be enrolled.

The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) has approved use of LORHAN for medical oncologists wishing to satisfy a part of their re-certification related to practice performance. ABIM Certification is designed to assure the public that a medical specialist possesses the knowledge, experience, and skills requisite to the provision of high quality patient care.

“This registry is unique in that it is the first time that the overall management of head and neck cancer will be tracked across academic centers and community settings,” said Eric K. Rowinsky, M.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of ImClone Systems. “Patient and physician confidentiality and the independence of this program are critical to the registry’s success. Therefore, all patients will be referenced by an identification number only, no physician-to-physician data comparisons will be made and LORHAN will not be tied to any specific product.”

“Advances in the treatment of head and neck carcinoma have come principally from randomized studies, but the degree to which these trials have changed clinical practice is largely unknown,” said K. Kian Ang, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Radiation Oncology, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and Chairman of the LORHAN Advisory Board. “Detailed registries such as LORHAN can provide data on how patients are being treated and on the outcome of this treatment, both in practice and in clinical trials. Ultimately, we expect that information like this will help improve consistency of patient treatment and outcomes.”

“Disease-directed registries have been of significant benefit to patients in the more common tumor types such as breast and lung cancer, so LORHAN is a welcome addition to those of us in the head and neck community,” said Dan Stack of Support for People with Oral and Head and Neck Cancer (SPOHNC), a patient-directed, self-help organization dedicated to raising awareness and meeting the needs of oral and head and neck cancer patients. “Treatment options in head and neck cancer are limited, but as new, more effective drugs and treatment methods are introduced, this registry will help ensure that physicians are educated about them.”

LORHAN is guided by a prestigious advisory board chaired by Dr. Ang 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, and Amy Chen, M.D., Emory University. The program is being supported by ImClone Systems and implemented by MedNet Solutions, Inc. of Minnetonka, Minnesota.

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.