Make It Your Own Clinical Trials Posters: A Regional Collaboration with the National Cancer Institute

University of Kansas Medical Center - Midwest Cancer Institute Poster SessionIntroduction: National health organizations usually offer a limited variety of publication resources to the regional organizations that they serve. These resources may not always reflect the needs of the populations served in those diverse areas. Private industry has addressed the varied needs of their customers by offering products that can be customized by the consumer. The Cancer Prevention & Control Research Network (CPCRN) site at Washington University in St. Louis, in collaboration with Midwest Cancer Alliance and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) developed and tested a web-based tool for customizing clinical trial recruitment posters in Midwest Cancer Alliance member cancer centers, NCI's Community Cancer Center Program in Nebraska, and select NCI-designated cancer centers in the heartland region. Methods: CPCRN, Midwest Cancer Alliance, and NCI worked closely with the cancer centers to select, edit and audience test the images and messages that would populate the Make It Your Own (MIYO) system. CPCRN built a secure website and cancer center staff members were trained on the MIYO Clinical Trials Poster website by the Midwest Cancer Alliance, CPCRN and the Heartland Region Cancer Information Service. Each cancer center created a unique user name and password to access the site. Organizations were able to select images, clinical trial messages, and add their own organization's logo in order to build a poster that best reflects the population served. Once created, the poster was provided in a print ready file that could be produced on a local printer, at a hospital print shop, or through a commercial print shop. To determine if this new system of offering cancer publications is a feasible method to create and distribute publications, a program evaluation was conducted using the on-line survey tool Survey Monkey. Project outcomes measured satisfaction, ease of use, number of unique poster element combinations, and number of posters generated and printed. Results: Fifteen cancer centers were trained on the MIYO website; ten completed the post-use survey. Participants indicated that the ease to create a poster, with an average rating of 8.8 (10=very easy, 1=very difficult). Eighty percent indicated that the system offered images that represented the population served. All agreed or strongly agreed that the system was user friendly and that they would recommend the system to others, and 90 % would use MIYO again. A total of ten unique poster element combinations were selected by eleven organizations. Five organizations indicated they printed the posters within 4-8 weeks of introduction to the MIYO system, all on local printers. Discussion: MIYO is a demonstration of the varied needs of local organizations and the opportunity to meet their needs through use of a web-based customizable resource and distribution system. National and academic institutions have the opportunity to test health education resources through collaboration with local and regional health care providers. This collaboration between academia and private organizations gives rise to unique solutions for creation and dissemination of evidence-based resources

Midwest Cancer Alliance: Partnership to Support Quality Cancer Care

Comparative Medicine - OneHealth and Comparative Medicine Poster SessionOver 85% of cancer patients nationwide receive care in the community setting (NCI, 2007). In 2008, the Midwest Cancer Alliance (MCA) launched with a vision of marshaling the exceptional cancer resources of the region to support the system of care provided to patients while keeping them “close to home”. With an emphasis on education and research, the MCA was developed to connect hospitals and physician groups across Kansas and western Missouri with the purpose of: Providing strong support to community cancer care professionals; Enhancing cancer care for patients across the region; Advancing access to innovative, investigator-initiated and cooperative group clinical trials; Advancing access to newly developed therapies and prevention strategies; Providing continuing professional and community education opportunities; Facilitating second opinion and consultation services; and Providing patient navigator technical assistance across the network. A membership-based organization, the MCA currently has 14 partners spanning the region including: Children's Mercy Hospital and Clinics; Goodland Regional Medical Center; Hays Medical Center; Kansas Bioscience Authority; Kansas State University; Mt. Carmel Regional Medical Center; Promise Regional Medical Center; Saint Luke's Health; Salina Regional Health Center; St. Francis Health Center; Stormont-Vail HealthCare; Stowers Institute for Medical Research; Truman Medical Center; The University of Kansas Hospital. Methods: In collaboration with members, the MCA facilitates a wide-array of cancer related services. Activities range from developing clinical trial infrastructure including, a centralized Institutional Review Board (IRB), online Velos clinical trials management software to facilitate enrollment and trial data management, and access to Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG), Clinical Trials Support Unit (CTSU) sponsored trials, and research initiated by The University of Kansas Cancer Center's Investigators. MCA provides professional and community education specific to the needs of the community. Members have access to The University of Kansas Cancer Center Tumor Boards as well as continuing education such as chemotherapy and oncology nurse certification curricula. Results: Numerous cancer-related activities have occurred since the inception of the MCA. Over 11,450 individuals attended MCA community education and screening events. 6,200 cancer screenings resulted in 470+ referrals back to local physicians for follow-up on abnormal results. Over 3,096 Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) credits and 296 Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits. Five members have capacity to enroll patients through MCA sponsored trials with access to SWOG and CTSU. 7 cases have been presented at tumor boards. 9 second opinion consultations occurred through the use of telemedicine technology. Discussion: Less than three percent of adult cancer patients participate in clinical trials (Christian & Trimble, 2003). The MCA was established, in part, to address disparities such as this, in an effort to enhance the excellent cancer care provided across the region. The MCA appears to hold great promise of achieving this vision, by leveraging region's collective cancer resources and cancer expertise

Searching for cures: Inner-city and rural patients' awareness and perceptions of cancer clinical trials

Fewer than 5% of cancer patients participate in clinical trials, making it challenging to test new therapies or interventions for cancer. Even within that small number, patients living in inner-city and rural areas are underrepresented in clinical trials. This study explores cancer patients' awareness and perceptions of cancer clinical trials, as well as their perceptions of patient-provider interactions related to discussing cancer clinical trials in order to improve accrual in cancer clinical trials. Interviews with 66 former and current in inner-city and rural cancer patients revealed a lack of awareness and understanding about clinical trials, as well as misconceptions about what clinical trials entail. Findings also revealed that commercials and television shows play a prominent role in forming inner-city and rural patients' attitudes and/or misconceptions about clinical trials. However, rural patients were more likely to hold unfavorable views about clinical trials than inner-city patients. Patient-provider discussions emerged as being crucial for increasing awareness of clinical trials among patients and recruiting them to trials. Findings from this study will inform communication strategies to enhance recruitment to cancer clinical trials by increasing awareness and countering misconceptions about clinical trials

Session #2: Engaging Community Cancer Centers To Accelerate Research and Improve Health Equity

There are many potential barriers that impact enrollment on clinical trials. An important barrier is the geographical isolation of rural communities from larger academic research centers located in larger metro areas. Focused on overcoming this barrier, the Masonic Cancer Alliance (MCA) was created in 2008 as the outreach network of The University of Kansas Cancer Center. The MCA members are a network of cancer centers and hospitals from across Kansas and western Missouri. The goal of the network is to enhance the health of the region through community engagement, outreach, continuing education, and to extend the reach of clinical research into under-represented communities. MCA engages health care providers through 1) extending clinical trials and research, 2) telemedicine second opinions and genetic counseling for oncology patients, 3) discipline specific education and networking tele-conference and televideo meetings, and 4) program technical assistance in survivorship care. This presentation will focus on organizing and operating The University of Kansas Cancer Center’s outreach network to improve research participation and survivorship care

The Short-Term Impact of a Health Promotion Program For Low-Income African American Women

Abstract available at publisher's web site

Barriers to Clinical Trial Participation: Comparative Study Between Rural and Urban Participants

BackgroundThe National Clinical Trials Network program conducts phase 2 or phase 3 treatment trials across all National Cancer Institute’s designated cancer centers. Participant accrual across these clinical trials is a critical factor in deciding their success. Cancer centers that cater to rural populations, such as The University of Kansas Cancer Center, have an additional responsibility to ensure rural residents have access and are well represented across these studies. ObjectiveThere are scant data available regarding the factors that act as barriers to the accrual of rural residents in these clinical trials. This study aims to use electronic screening logs that were used to gather patient data at several participating sites in The Kansas University of Cancer Center’s Catchment area. MethodsScreening log data were used to assess what clinical trial participation barriers are faced by these patients. Additionally, the differences in clinical trial participation barriers were compared between rural and urban participating sites. ResultsAnalysis revealed that the hospital location rural urban category, defined as whether the hospital was in an urban or rural setting, had a medium effect on enrolment of patients in breast cancer and lung cancer trials (Cohen d=0.7). Additionally, the hospital location category had a medium effect on the proportion of recurrent lung cancer cases at the time of screening (d=0.6). ConclusionsIn consideration of the financially hostile nature of cancer treatment as well as geographical and transportation barriers, clinical trials extended to rural communities are uniquely positioned to alleviate the burden of nonmedical costs in trial participation. However, these options can be far less feasible for patients in rural settings. Since the number of patients with cancer who are eligible for a clinical trial is already limited by the stringent eligibility criteria required of such a complex disease, improving accessibility for rural patients should be a greater focus in health policy