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Masonic Cancer Clinical Trials Network says state funding expanded research access across Minnesota
Summary
The Masonic Cancer Clinical Trials Network (MNC CTN) told the committee that $4 million a year in state funding helped build research capacity across Greater Minnesota, enabling trials at community sites, increasing enrollments, and improving access to innovative therapies.
Doug Yee, medical director of the Minnesota Cancer Clinical Trials Network and former director of the Masonic Cancer Center, told the committee state funding has enabled a partnership model that brings clinical trials to community hospitals and clinics across Minnesota.
Yee said the network’s $4,000,000 annual state appropriation helped create infrastructure and staffing so sites that previously lacked research capacity can enroll patients. He described the state as having two NCI‑designated comprehensive cancer centers (University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center and Mayo Clinic) and additional community research programs; the Network’s role is to partner with those centers and extend trial access to sites that do not otherwise run research.
Yee gave examples of ongoing and completed trials that benefited community participants: a port‑flush study testing monthly versus quarterly port maintenance (created to reduce travel burdens for rural patients during the COVID era); a colorectal cancer screening outreach trial in an urban Native American clinic that increased 6‑month screening completion from 3 percent (usual care) to 20 percent (targeted outreach with stool testing kits and reminders); and a multisite trial of a restorative microbiome therapy (an AstraZeneca‑commercialized approach derived from university research). He said the network supported 85 unique clinical trials and enrolled about 214 participants in fiscal year 2024, with more than 4,200 total enrollees since inception.
Yee said those community trials can improve outcomes by enabling patients to remain in their local health systems and to tolerate therapies that might otherwise be discontinued because of side effects. He said the state support model is uncommon and positions Minnesota as a national leader in equitable, community‑based oncology research.
