START Launches Hope Hub to Connect Patients, Physicians, and Advocacy Groups to Community-Based Cancer Trials

The new platform is designed to break down barriers to early-phase trial access, bringing "Hope Through Access" to communities and patients who need it most.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, June 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The START Center for Cancer Research ("START"), the world's largest early-phase community-based cancer trial site network, today announced the launch of the START Hope Hub, a powerful new digital patient and physician-focused platform that connects patients, caregivers, advocacy groups, and referring oncologists with quick access to START's 720+ oncology clinical trials and informational resources.

With more than 80% of cancer patients treated in community settings, and most early-phase trials still concentrated in major academic centers, access to emerging therapies remains out of reach for most patients. The START Hope Hub was built to change that.

"The START Hope Hub is a major leap forward in how we bring cancer clinical trials, oncology trial resources, and empathetic navigators to patients and their treating oncologists," said Nick Slack, MBE, Chairman and CEO of START. "For nearly 20 years, START has been focused on delivering our mission of "hope through access" by bringing cutting-edge clinical trial options to patients and their physicians where care is delivered. Since day one, we have believed that comprehensive cancer care, which includes trials, should be available to all patients and physicians – not just those in Academic Medical Centers. 'Access' to trials transcends the trial itself. It requires critical information about trial options, helpful and easy-to-navigate resources, and patient-focused professionals who can help patients, or their physicians, identify an appropriate path to gain access to a trial when needed. Underpinning this important initiative is a focus on human-to-human interaction. The Hope Hub is the next step in START's evolution, ensuring that access to trials is not limited by geography."

Built with both technology and compassion at its core, the START Hope Hub combines intelligent trial-matching tools with personalized human support—helping patients and referring oncologists navigate clinical trial options faster and with greater confidence. Users can search by location, distance from home, disease type, medical condition, study identifiers, and more. With over 720 active trials spanning every major tumor type and biomarker, the START Hope Hub offers a single, unified gateway to START's global research network.

"As a physician, I know how daunting it can be for families to explore clinical trials," said Dr. Chris Takimoto, Global Chief Medical Officer at START. "What the START Hope Hub provides is clarity, connection, and most importantly—possibility. It empowers oncologists and caregivers alike to explore the right options at the right time for the patients who need them most."

The START Hope Hub also serves as a critical resource for patient advocacy organizations seeking to share real-time trial information with their communities. By helping the right patients reach the right trials earlier, the START Hope Hub has the potential to improve lives—and outcomes—faster. With START's dedicated Hope Team available to support every referral and inquiry, patients and physicians never navigate the process alone.

The START Hope Hub also delivers strategic value to biopharmaceutical sponsors by strengthening START's unmatched ability to enroll trials successfully so that promising new therapies reach patients who need these valuable options – and that the drug development process moves forward so that promising therapies can reach more patients faster. As the platform continues to grow alongside START's expanding site network, the START Hope Hub will be a critical feature enabling drug developers to reach more patients for their trials. This means early-phase trials can open, accrue, and complete more quickly, thereby reducing cycle times, de-risking development plans, and helping drug developers advance their most promising assets.

The START Hope Hub is now live. To learn more, refer a patient, or explore trial opportunities, visit: https://hopehub.startresearch.com.

About START

Deeply rooted in community oncology centers globally, The START Center for Cancer Research provides access to specialized preclinical and early-phase clinical trials of novel anti-cancer agents. START clinical trial sites have conducted more than 1,000 early-phase clinical trials, including 45 therapies that were approved by the FDA or EMA. START represents the world's largest roster of early-phase Principal Investigators (PIs) across its 10 clinical trial sites. Committed to accelerating passage from trials to treatments, START delivers hope to patients, families, and physicians around the world. To learn more about START, visit: https://startresearch.com/.

START Media Contacts:
Lauren Panco / Vice President, Marketing / 609-216-4920 / [email protected]
Lisa Osborne / PR Strategist / [email protected]

SOURCE The START Center for Cancer Research