Cancer center receives nearly $80 million NCI grant to lead SWOG operations

UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center has received a nearly $80 million National Cancer Institute (NCI) award to lead operations for SWOG Cancer Research Network, one of the nation’s largest cancer clinical trials organizations.

Cancer center director Primo “Lucky” Lara Jr. is the principal investigator on the SWOG National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) grant. The funding follows his election as one of two SWOG chairs, a national role he will hold for the next six years. He’s sharing the job with Dawn L. Hershman, deputy director of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at Columbia University.

The NCI funding goes to large, multi-site clinical trials and UC Davis will manage and oversee SWOG network operations and the dissemination of the funds.

“This is a momentous achievement for UC Davis and our comprehensive cancer center,” Lara said. “Since 1956, SWOG’s has sought to improve the lives of people with cancer, or at risk of developing cancer, through the design and conduct of transformative and highly impactful clinical trials and translational research. This grant ensures that SWOG continues with this meaningful work.”

Cancer remains a major public health challenge. There’s no better treatment option for many patients than participation in a clinical trial. These studies help us discover new treatments and new approaches that ultimately save and improve lives.”—Primo “Lucky” Lara Jr., director, UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center

SWOG: Decades of critical advances in cancer care

Funded by the NCI for decades, SWOG is one of four adult cancer cooperative groups that make up the National Clinical Trails Network. It spans more than 1,300 participating sites, including 35 NCI-designated cancer centers and thousands of researchers and clinicians. Between 2013 and 2025, SWOG enrolled nearly 65,000 patients in clinical trials.

The organization, which traces its roots to 1956, conducts large-scale clinical trials that evaluate new cancer treatments and approaches to care. These federally funded trials have been instrumental in establishing standards of care throughout the country. According to SWOG, its studies have contributed to more than 3 million years of life saved for patients with cancer, while also helping identify more effective and less toxic treatments.

The new grant will support the network’s central operations and the infrastructure to continue to conduct federally funded clinical trials nationwide.

“Cancer remains a major public health challenge,” Lara said. “There’s no better treatment option for many patients than participation in a clinical trial. These studies help us discover new treatments and new approaches that ultimately save and improve lives.”

An impactful role

Lara’s leadership role continues a long relationship with SWOG. A member of the organization for three decades, he’s served in a variety of leadership positions and led major clinical trials. Most recently, he served as deputy group chair before being elected to his current role as chair.

“It’s a way of giving back to a group that helped establish and support a good portion of my career in clinical research,” he explained. “It’s very rewarding to have the opportunity to help lead SWOG’s efforts to change how cancer is treated at a national scale.”

The grant will support SWOG operations through 2032.