The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cooperative Group Program has been reviewed by three published studies in the last 7 years evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of this national oncology clinical trials system. The recommendations for improvement from these reports have prompted NCI to transform the Cooperative Group Program into a new NCI National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) to improve the efficiency of large clinical trials and increase the speed of cancer translational research. The new NCTN offers community-based clinical investigators new opportunities to advance cancer research in their community setting but also presents challenges in promoting community-based research.