The Challenge
The Canadian Cancer Clinical Trials Network (3CTN) was established in 2014 to strengthen Canada’s academic cancer clinical trials system. At the time, member centres used different local processes, spreadsheets, and reporting templates to track trial activity, milestones, recruitment, staffing, and performance.
Information had to be repeatedly collected, transferred, cleaned, and consolidated before it could be used for national reporting. This made it difficult to generate timely insights into trial activation, portfolio trends, and recruitment across the country.
3CTN needed more than a database. It needed a shared national approach that could reduce duplication of data collection, improve reporting consistency, and meet privacy requirements without collecting unnecessary sensitive information.
User Profile
Name: Rebecca Xu
Job Title: Portfolio and Informatics Manager
Organisation: Canadian Cancer Clinical Trial Network (3CTN)
EDGE user since: 2011
The Solution
EDGE was well suited to 3CTN because it combines local trial management with national reporting capabilities. Member sites can maintain trial information directly in the platform, while 3CTN uses aggregate data for portfolio monitoring, reporting, and planning.
Sites can enter data manually or use import tools, accommodating different local workflows and levels of readiness. EDGE also allows 3CTN to collect the trial and recruitment information needed for national reporting without requiring unnecessary patient-level data. Its reporting and API capabilities have become increasingly valuable, allowing EDGE data to connect with dashboards and other tools. This helped transform EDGE from a place to store information into a practical infrastructure for understanding clinical trial activity across Canada. It gave 3CTN and its member sites a common platform that could support both operational use and strategic decision-making.
The Process
The rollout was gradual and collaborative. Between 2014 and 2018, several sites adopted EDGE as their local CTMS, while others continued submitting reports for import into EDGE. By April 2022, all 3CTN member sites were using EDGE for quarterly network reporting.
Establishing a common reporting platform revealed a larger opportunity: to move beyond passive data collection and create a more collaborative national learning environment. By working from a shared platform, sites were better able to reduce silos, streamline processes, standardize practices, and learn from one another.
Under 3CTN’s coordinating role, this collaboration expanded through several national working groups:
Data Harmonization Committee: with representation from more than 25 licensed sites, working to align data entry practices, support standardization, and sharing best practice.
Validation Working Group: established to support site local validation by developing a unified National Validation Package.
Finance and Costing Working Group: launched to support more consistent budgeting and negotiation approaches.
Workload Management Working Group: exploring opportunities to integrate workload tool data elements into EDGE to improve usability and support workload planning.
Together, these efforts have transformed routine reporting into an active national community of practice.
The Results
EDGE has strengthened 3CTN’s ability to understand and report on cancer clinical trial activity across Canada. Moving quarterly reporting into a shared platform has reduced reliance on separate spreadsheets, manual consolidation, and repeated follow-up. It has also helped member sites maintain a more complete view of their trial portfolios.
3CTN uses EDGE data to monitor trial activation, recruitment, portfolio composition, and other performance indicators. This supports planning and more timely reporting to leadership, funders, and partners.
EDGE also supports operational improvement through national collaboration. Sites are harmonizing data definitions and entry practices, developing a shared National Validation Package and User Acceptance Testing environment, sharing finance and costing approaches, and exploring the use of trial complexity scores for workload planning.
These initiatives have moved EDGE beyond a reporting repository toward a practical toolkit for improving clinical trial operations across Canada.
What’s Next
3CTN’s future plans focus on strengthening EDGE as a national source of cancer clinical trial information. A key priority is to expand the database’s coverage of both academic and commercial cancer trials, providing a more complete picture of trial activity across Canada. This will support analysis of portfolio trends, gaps, and access to clinical trials.
3CTN also plans to expand the use of EDGE APIs to automate dashboards and reporting for member sites, network leadership, funders, and other stakeholders. National working groups will continue to support data quality, shared practices, and the practical use of EDGE data for planning and impact assessment.
As EDGE becomes more embedded in routine workflows, it can help reduce administrative burden and provide clearer evidence of the value of Canada’s cancer clinical trials infrastructure.
“EDGE has strengthened 3CTN’s ability to understand and report on cancer clinical trial activity across Canada. Moving quarterly reporting into a shared platform has reduced reliance on separate spreadsheets, manual consolidation, and repeated follow-up. It has also helped member sites maintain a more complete view of their trial portfolios.”