Process Overview

The NCI Developmental Therapeutics Clinic (DTC) receives referrals, including self-referrals, from patients, family members, physicians, clinical staff, and other researcher teams. A Clinical Referral Coordinator will be assigned to each patient to assist in collecting all records, scans, and/or pathology specimens needed to review the patient for preliminary eligibility. After all necessary materials are available onsite, each potential participant’s case is reviewed by one of our highly trained providers. The provider may be a physician or a nurse practitioner on the DTC team. Though we try to review each patient’s case as quickly as possible, this review may take up to two weeks depending on the number of pending cases. After reviewing the case, the provider will inform the referral coordinators of the potential participant’s eligibility status and the trials that may be available to the patient. The referral coordinator will then reach out to the patient or the referring physician’s office to discuss the findings and potentially start the scheduling process for a screening visit or screen/start visit, depending on availability and convenience.

Step-by-step instructions for prospective patients:

1. The patient, family member, or local provider (physician or nurse) contacts the DTC via email, phone, or referral form regarding evaluation for a clinical trial.
2. The referral coordinators or another member of the team will respond promptly to the inquiry.
3. Working with the referral coordinators, all necessary records for preliminary eligibility review are collected by the Clinical Research Referral Coordinator and sent to the referral office via fax or mail (See the Records Requested section for more information).
4. Once all necessary records are available on site, the provider (physician or nurse practitioner) will review the patient’s information for potential eligibility and share any results with the Clinical Research Coordinator. Additional records may be requested as needed.
5. The Clinical Research Coordinator will communicate with the patient to discuss any findings.
6. If potentially eligible for a research study, the Clinical Research Coordinator will work with the provider and the patient to schedule a screening visit at the NIH Clinical Center.