DCCPS by the Numbers

The Research-Tested Intervention Program (RTIPs) is a searchable database of more than 205 evidence-based cancer control interventions and program materials spanning 13 topics of interest for program planners and public health practitioners.

The 2019 Training Institute in Dissemination and Implementation Research in Cancer (TIDIRC) provided 50 investigators with a thorough grounding in conducting dissemination and implementation (D&I) research with a specific focus on cancer across the cancer control continuum. In its second year, the institute was delivered both online and in person and was led by a faculty of leading experts in theory, methods, and evaluation approaches in implementation science.

In 2019, the First Implementation Science Consortium in Cancer (ISCC) meeting convened 247 participants, in person and online. The objectives of the ISCC are to foster communication among investigators engaged in implementation science projects across the cancer continuum; promote collaborative research projects to fill implementation science gaps that would extend beyond a single study; identify common theoretical, methodological, or empirical challenges in implementation science in cancer; and develop solutions.

Implementation Science at a Glance, a new print and digital publication designed specifically for cancer control researchers and practitioners, provides a succinct overview of the rapidly evolving field and has been downloaded 1,164 unique instances. A 30-page workbook, reviewed by nearly 100 public health practitioners and implementation science researchers, provides thorough summaries of key theories, methods, and models, and shows how a greater use of implementation science can support the effective adoption of evidence-based interventions. Case studies illustrate how practitioners are successfully applying implementation science in their cancer control programs.

DCCPS staff members are innovators in creating resources for the research community, such as methods and tools for population-based cancer statistics. In FY19, there were 4,626 downloads of Joinpoint, a statistical software for the analysis of trends using joinpoint models—that is, models in which several different lines are connected together at the “joinpoints.”

There were over 8,000 dataset downloads from the Surveillance Research Program’s (SRP) online pages. SRP provides regularly updated surveillance and research data, statistical reports, and analytical tools on cancer.

There were 232,480 analyses conducted using SEER*Stat software and 1,350 SEER custom data set requests fulfilled for the research community.

There were 25,417 adults randomly selected for participation in the 2018 National Health Interview Survey, which includes a five-minute Cancer Control Supplement. 2018 NHIS data were released in June and are publicly available for analysis.

The Cancer Epidemiology Descriptive Cohort Database (CEDCD) contains descriptive information from more than 60 cohorts in 17 different countries. The CEDCD includes brief descriptions of the cohorts, contact information, questionnaires, types of data collected, enrollment numbers, number of cancer cases, and number of biospecimens collected. Its purpose is to foster collaborations and encourage cohort-based research.

Twenty-three language translations are available for the Patient- reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (PRO-CTCAE), a patient-reported outcome measurement system developed by NCI to capture symptomatic adverse events in patients on cancer clinical trials.

There have been 1,030 publications using the HealthMeasures tool, which includes the PROMIS, NeuroQOL, ASCQ-Me, and NIH Toolbox patient-centered measurement tools that enable investigators to capture data on symptoms, functioning, and health-related quality of life.

As of 2019, there have been 40,000 total views of the November 2016 special series of the Journal of Oncology Practice , which focuses on the NCI-American Society of Clinical Oncology Teams in Cancer Care Delivery collaboration.

The NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) is a national network that brings cancer prevention clinical trials and cancer care delivery research to people in their communities. Seven Research Bases develop and coordinate clinical trials and cancer care delivery research for 46 community sites to bring NCI-approved trials to patients in 1,000+ locations in diverse, community-based hospitals, private practices, and other locations.

There were 174 requests in 2019 for new or updated SEER-linked data, including SEER-Medicare (162 requests), SEER-MHOS (seven requests), and SEER-CAHPS (five requests).

In 2019, code for the Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015) has been downloaded 1,740 times. Scientists in DCCPS and the USDA collaborated to create the HEI, a measure of diet quality that can be used to assess compliance with the US Dietary Guidelines for Americans and monitor changes in dietary patterns. The HEI also is a valuable tool for epidemiologic and economic research and can be used to evaluate nutrition interventions and consumer nutrition education programs.

In 2019, an average of 111 studies per month registered to use the Automated Self-Administered 24-hour (ASA24®) Dietary Assessment Tool, and 6,679 recall/record days per month were collected by researchers. The ASA24 is a web-based tool that enables multiple, automatically coded, self-administered 24-hour recalls. Beginning with the 2016 release, ASA24 also permits data collection using single or multi-day food records.

The NCI Cohort Consortium has more than 7 million participants in 58 international cohorts, and more than 50 projects that have made scientific discoveries about cancer risk factors and technical advances in cohort methodologies.

Since the establishment of the NCI Perception Laboratory at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting 3 years ago, 22 laboratories from the US, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom have tested 940 radiologists. Improving cancer detection and diagnosis through perceptual and cognitive research on cancer image perception is a priority for DCCPS, and studying trained professionals such as radiologists is key to the success of this scientific endeavor. The NCI Perception Laboratory, organized by DCCPS’ Behavioral Research Program, enables investigators to recruit and test radiologists at the RSNA annual meeting.

As of January 2019, DCCPS staff estimated that there are 16.9 million cancer survivors in the United States. The number of cancer survivors is projected to grow to 26.1 million by 2040, highlighting the increasing importance of understanding the survivorship experience and the many lasting effects a cancer diagnosis and treatment can have.

DCCPS hosts more than 50 fellows each year. The fellowship program has opportunities for people at most levels of educational training, from high school students up to post-docs. In a recent survey, 94% of DCCPS fellows replied that they are Satisfied or Very Satisfied with their experience as a fellow.

Smokefree.gov’s mobile and web-based cessation resources are accessed by millions of people each year. In FY19, 4,320,553 people visited the Smokefree.gov website, 29,039 people subscribed to the SmokefreeTXT program, and 66,601 people downloaded Smokefree.gov mobile cessation apps.