GCCTI supports the national cancer Cooperative Trials Groups (CTGs) to develop cancer clinical trial protocols (grant applications) for studies involving cancers from more than one primary site and more than one CTG, as part of the Cancer Australia Support for Clinical Trials program.

Through consultation with a variety of stakeholders including cancer researchers and clinicians, Cancer Australia identified the need to support the development of mutation-specific cancer clinical trials that cross multiple cancer types and cooperative groups.

Trials of molecularly-targeted therapies extending beyond a single tumour site require a shift from disease-focussed and discipline-focused models of clinical care to molecularly-focused alliances of scientists and clinicians, reflecting evolving basic research and future clinical care models. Methods for generating ideas, and developing concepts, protocols and grants are broadly similar, but the networks required to support these activities will be different and will need to be more fluid, dynamic, and responsive.

The GCCTI is designed to provide the specialist technical support to facilitate these interactions, generate concepts and support grant applications that would not otherwise be developed through existing processes or a single CTG.

The GCCTI is delivered as a partnership between the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre (CTC) and Zest, a health communications, programs and consultancy, and funded by the Australian Government through Cancer Australia.