Cancer Center Supplements
DCCPS awards Administrative Supplements to NCI-Designated Cancer Centers to enhance and expand efforts that address specific focus areas of challenge. Below are some examples of current cancer center supplements intended to address implementation science challenges.
Cancer Centers Cessation Initiative (C3I)
C3I was created in 2017 as part of the Cancer MoonshotSM. It has provided resources to 52 NCI-Designated Cancer Centers to develop and implement sustainable programs to systematically address tobacco cessation with cancer patients. The coordinating center at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center supports funded sites by ensuring that science-based cessation services are integrated into clinical care, providing technical assistance, and serving as the hub of knowledge integration. Two-year supplements were awarded to 22 centers in 2017 and to 20 centers in 2018. In 2020, DCCPS awarded supplemental funding to 10 centers that were not previous C3I recipients and 11 centers that were previously funded. The purpose of the supplemental funding is to provide resources for centers to plan, implement, evaluate, and sustain the capacity and infrastructure of comprehensive tobacco cessation programs. In 2020, the awards for previously funded centers also support pilot research to enhance the reach and effectiveness of cessation programs. Awardees are expected to integrate these treatments into existing cancer center clinical services and workflows and to continue to support dedicated resources/staff for the program (e.g., cessation counselors). C3I fosters a unique consortium to examine and disseminate strategies that facilitate effective implementation and sustainability.
D’Angelo H et al. Pragmatic Application of the RE-AIM Framework to Evaluate the Implementation of Tobacco Cessation Programs within NCI-Designated Cancer Centers. Front Public Health. 2020;8:221.
Croyle RT, Morgan GD, Fiore MC. Addressing a Core Gap in Cancer Care – The NCI Moonshot Program to Help Oncology Patients Stop Smoking. N Engl J Med. 2019; 380(6):512-515.
Accelerated Control of Cervical Cancer
Control of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers and cancer health disparities were specifically identified as high-priority areas in the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Panel. This proposal is focused on accelerating research in cervical cancer prevention and screening, with implications for the US—where cervical cancer remains a significant problem for African American, American Indian, Hispanic, and Appalachian women as well as for women with limited access to care generally—and globally. The goal is to prevent cervical cancer by combining new screening tools and increased vaccination across settings with varying resource levels. Therefore, the initiative promotes extramural research focused on both underserved, low-resource settings in the US, as well as understanding and improving implementation of new screening tools, risk-based management of screening test results, and prevention strategies in all settings.
Catchment Area Supplements
The Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch in DCCPS is leading a supplemental funding opportunity to conduct research to better characterize the populations and communities within the NCI-Designated Cancer Center catchment areas. The supplemental funding enhances cancer centers’ capacity to acquire, aggregate, and integrate data from multiple sources as well as to plan, coordinate, and enhance catchment area analysis activities. The surveys conducted at each of the cancer centers include common demographic and behavioral measures in order to facilitate cross-site and local versus national comparisons on constructs relevant to cancer control. The short-term goal is to conduct local research to better define and describe the cancer center catchment areas using a multilevel population health framework. The long-term goal is to facilitate collaborations in which local area providers, public health practitioners, policymakers, and nonprofit organizations can utilize data to develop or expand applied cancer control research, planning, intervention, and implementation efforts, with particular attention to local-level health disparities and communication inequalities.
Blake KD, Ciolino HP, Croyle RT. Population Health Assessment in NCI-Designated Cancer Center Catchment Areas. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2019;28(3):428-430.
Community Outreach and Engagement Activities across the Translational Research Continuum
NCI-Designated Cancer Centers are expected to work with communities to disseminate and implement evidence-based interventions and guidelines, public education, and public health policy recommendations. Through community outreach and engagement (COE) activities, centers now have an enhanced opportunity to translate research into practice with an implementation science lens. The purpose of this supplement opportunity is to understand how COE programs at NCI cancer centers work with community partners to identify, adapt, and implement existing evidence-based interventions to meet the needs of the communities that they serve. This supplement initiative is part of a larger NCI research effort to engage cancer centers and communities in collaborative, translational research focused on decreasing the cancer burden across the US, including among minority and underrepresented populations. The long-term goal of this supplement opportunity is to build capacity for cancer centers’ COE programs to adapt and implement evidence-based programs in partnership with community members. The projects proposed will serve as a model for subsequent COE initiatives conducted within individual cancer centers as well as across the NCI cancer centers community.