NCAB Ad Hoc Global Cancer Research Subcommittee Meeting – June 24, 2012
Dr. Edwards gave a short presentation, Tumor Registries – NCI’s Role in International Activities, to the NCAB subcommittee, June 24, 2012. It covered the SEER Program and its impact on cancer surveillance, research, and control nationally and globally. With the increase in cancer worldwide, registries are essential to having the capacity to measure its impact on all populations, but the coverage is low, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Numerous reports have identified the need to expand coverage and utilize registries in cancer control, evaluation of interventions, and research. A report on the NCI Center for Global Health’s Inaugural Meeting (March 13-14,2012), Setting Priorities for Global Cancer Research, is expected in the fall 2012.
August 2012
Volume 2, Issue 2
In This Issue
Contact
Damali Martin, Ph.D., M.P.H.
DCCPS International Research Coordinator
Global Diet and Physical Activity Methods Conference: ICDAM Advances Methods in Diet and Physical Activity Assessment
DCCPS staff of the Applied Research Program (ARP) and Behavioral Research Program (BRP) attended the 8th International Conference on Diet and Activity Methods (ICDAM 8) 
on May 14-17, 2012, in Rome, Italy. Amy Subar served on the planning committee, and others in ARP and BRP gave presentations, chaired sessions, and led workgroups on topics including assessment of food environments, new technologies for dietary assessment, dietary patterns and colorectal cancer incidence, cruciferous and green leafy vegetable intake and risk for premenopausal breast cancer, development and evaluation of the Healthy Eating Index - 2010, and several aspects of physical activity measurement. ICDAM is a leading conference that addresses methodological challenges for measuring diet and physical activity. This year, the conference theme focused on the methodological challenges for measuring the achievements of international policies. The conference was held at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which brought together many international scientists interested in monitoring changes in food consumption and physical activity patterns and in enhancing our understanding of the relationships between behaviors and health.
DCCPS Partners with China CDC on Folate Exposure Study
A follow-up study of a cohort that began in the 1990s involves collaboration among NCI’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences ( Nancy Potischman, David Berrigan, and Joseph Su), Division of Cancer Epidemiology & Genomics ( Martha Linet and Cari Kitahara), the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC). The cohort includes women who were or were not exposed to folate during pregnancy, and their children. The original study found significantly fewer birth defects for the folate group. The follow-up study’s objectives are to examine the childhood cancer incidence and biological and other risk factors for adult cancers.
Nancy Potischman conducted two trainings of 70 interviewers for the study. Investigators from the Nutrition Institute of the Chinese CDC participated in the trainings. They also trained lab personnel to process and store blood samples. Investigators from the newly formed National Center for Chronic Noncommunicable Disease Control and Prevention at the China CDC coordinated and participated in the trainings and helped produce the training and procedures manuals. Through these trainings, China CDC staff and the interviewers learned new skills related to diet and physical activity assessment, which will be useful for their future efforts to monitor the health-related activities of the population. In addition, the Nutrition Institute will learn the analytic techniques for Vitamin D and folic acid at the US CDC in Atlanta. Currently, diet, physical activity and ultraviolet radiation data on 120 mother-child pairs are being collected in two different sites in China.
DCCPS Staff Participate in Beijing Meeting and Collaborates with Chinese Colleagues
National Cancer Institute-Cancer Institute/Hospital of the "Cancer Prevention, Biomarkers and Screening Research in China and the United States: Opportunities for Collaboration" from May 9-11, 2012, in Beijing, China; Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CICAMS) meeting.
At the Cancer Prevention, Biomarkers and Screening Research in China and the United States workshop, US and Chinese experts in cancer prevention, biomarkers, and screening discussed the state of research on breast, cervical, lung, and esophageal cancers in their countries. Pamela Marcus and Paul Doria-Rose participated heavily in the screening portion of the meeting. Each presented information on community-based screening in the US. Dr. Marcus reported on primary care physicians’ beliefs, practices, and recommendations about lung cancer screening and Dr. Doria-Rose reported on the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC) and the Population-Based Research Optimizing Screening through Personalized Regimens (PROSPR) Initiative. As part of the meeting, Drs. Marcus and Doria-Rose participated in roundtable discussions that covered the most promising topics on which the two countries could collaborate.
Brenda Edwards presented a talk on The Role of Cancer Surveillance and Registration in Cancer Screening Research and, with the Director of the Chinese Cancer Registry at CICAMS, co-moderated a "roundtable" session on cancer surveillance (quality of cancer registration and use for cancer prevention and control) as part of the workshop’s focus on funding opportunities of China-US collaborations (in the context of cancer prevention, screening research, and biomarker studies). Dr. Edwards joined other members of the NCI Center for Global Health and senior members of CICAMS in meeting with Chinese leaders of their national, regional, and local cancer registry programs to learn about the infrastructure, expansion of the system, reporting and use of data in public health, policy, and research: CICAMS Cancer Registry (for China); Beijing Cancer Hospital registry (a large cancer hospital that hosts the facility cancer registry and regional program for cancer control); and preliminary discussion with the director of the Shanghai Municipal Center for Cancer Control & Prevention regarding operations, registry- centered research, statistical reporting and use of data, and opportunities/needs for knowledge transfer. In addition, Dr. Edwards joined the NCI delegation from the Center for Global Health on their visit to the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (accompanied by the US CDC Director for China Non-communicable Disease [NCD] Activities) to be briefed on their emerging NCI program, which includes tobacco control. The group traveled to Chengdu (Sichuan Province), made presentations on cancer control and on cancer surveillance data systems at an in-service conference on esophageal cancer organized by the Sichuan Cancer Center and had discussions regarding the Chinese cancer care delivery system in the western region. Accompanied by the CICAMS directors of epidemiology and of the Chinese cancer registry, they participated in a site visit to the Peng-Xian county cancer registry in Le-Shan, with discussions on data flow and reporting. A lunch visit was arranged for Drs. Trimble and Chao (NCI’s Global Center for Health) with the DHHS Health Attache in Beijing for preliminary discussions on implementation of the recent agreements for bilateral funded collaborative research.
In preparation for the workshop, materials were provided on the US cancer surveillance federal programs (NCI SEER, CDC NPCR) and partners (ACS, NAACCR, CoC, NCRA) and made available through a US Chinese cancer web links. A list of opportunities for collaboration, information exchange, and future educational workshop was developed as a means for continuing the scientific exchange launched at this workshop.
Dietary Assessment Tools Developed by NCI Featured at Dietitians of Canada Conference
Sharon Kirkpatrick organized a session that highlighted two innovative instruments developed by the NCI for the Dietitians of Canada 2012 National Conference on June 14-16, 2012, in Toronto. The two tools, the Automated Self-Administered 24-hour Dietary Recall (ASA24) and the Diet History Questionnaire II (DHQ II), are currently undergoing modification for use in Canada. Dr. Kirkpatrick opened the session with a refresher on dietary assessment and an overview of strategies to reduce measurement error in dietary intake data, which include using instruments appropriate for the population of interest, and introduced the tools. Our Canadian collaborators, Isabelle Massarelli (Health Canada) and Ilona Csizmadi (Alberta Health Services – Cancer Care), then described the modifications being made to tailor the tools for Canada. The session was well attended and a number of dietitians expressed interest in using the modified tools in their research. The NCI lead on both ASA24 and the DHQ II is Amy Subar.
Workshop on Health information National Trend Survey (HINTS) in China
The Health Communication and Cancer Information Survey International Workshop, hosted by Renmin University and supported by China’s Ministry of Health, was held in Beijing, China, on July 9-13. Wen-ying Sylvia Chou from the Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch in the BRP participated in the workshop and gave lectures on NCI’s cancer communication research and practice as well as the development and implementation of the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). During the workshop, the collaboration team -- made up of members from China’s Renmin University School of Journalism and Communication; Health Education and Promotion Center; Ministry of Health; and NCI and George Mason University -- reviewed the translated and revised HINTS China instrument, sampling and survey methods, and implementation plans. Key themes to be highlighted in HINTS China were identified, including health information seeking, Internet use, health care, and cancer-related attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Following the workshop, pilot surveys will be conducted in two cities, Beijing and Hefei, later this summer, and the results are scheduled to be presented at the HINTS Data Users Conference in March 2013 in San Francisco. NCI will continue to work closely with Chinese colleagues in the development and implementation of HINTS China to enable international health communication surveillance and research collaboration and publications on a cross-regional comparison of specific topics included in the survey.
Cancer and Primary Care Research International Network (Ca-PRI)
The Cancer and Primary Care Research International Network (Ca-PRI) is an open multidisciplinary network for researchers in primary care, cancer, and related areas. Over the last 5 years it has brought together researchers in areas including early detection, screening, prevention and awareness, follow up, survivorship, and end-of-life care. It has a particular focus on developing new, international research partnerships. The fifth annual meeting of the Ca-PRI Network took place in Cleveland, Ohio, June 5–7, 2012. Erica Breslau of the BRP presented research on colorectal cancer screening among older adults.
Patterns of Smokeless Tobacco Use among Low-income Women of Reproductive Age in Mumbai
In May 2012, the Tobacco Control Research Branch (TCRB) in the Behavioral Research Program (BRP) organized a seminar on the patterns of smokeless tobacco (SLT) use among low-income women of reproductive age in Mumbai, India. Guest speakers included Jean J. Schensul, PhD, Saritha Nair, PhD, and Sameena M. Bilgi, MA. The speakers presented results from their NCI/Fogarty-funded supplemental grant (2010 – 2013). They considered contextual factors contributing to SLT use during pregnancy, vulnerability to tobacco use, perceptions of SLT use and cessation during pregnancy and reproductive years, and implications for intervention. They also described some of the methodological and logistical challenges of conducting research in a low-income population in India. This study is one of a few studies that examines patterns of smokeless tobacco use among Indian women during pregnancy and implications for tobacco use prevention and control.
NIH Steering Committee Meeting for Cookstoves and Child Survival
The NIH Steering Committee Meeting for Cookstoves and Child Survival met in May to develop short- and long-term plans. Britt Reid represented NCI on this committee. For FY12, an NIH Guide notice was issued, PA-12-202, titled Administrative Supplements for Health Impacts of Household Air Pollution on Women’s Health and Child Survival.
Trans-NIH Working Group on Climate Change and Health
The Trans-NIH Working Group on Climate Change and Health met in June. Britt Reid represented NCI on this Working Group. A grantee meeting is being planned titled Forming a Community of Research and Practice for those funded under PAR-10-235, Climate Change and Health: Assessing and Modeling Population Vulnerability to Climate Change (R21).
Tenth Annual Cancer Survivorship Series: Living With, Through and Beyond Cancer
The Cancer Survivorship Teleconference Series: Living With, Through and Beyond Cancer is a collaborative effort among CancerCare, NCI, LIVESTRONG, the American Cancer Society, the Intercultural Cancer Council, Living Beyond Breast Cancer, and the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship. This year marked the free telephone education workshop series’ tenth year (2012), offering cancer survivors and their loved ones practical information to help them deal with concerns and issues that arise after treatment ends. Typically around 3,000 callers participate in each teleconference, with 3,473 participants on the April 2012 call. In 2011, participants called from almost three dozen countries and territories around the world, and callers on the April 2012 call represented 14 countries and territories. The last call in this year’s four-part series took place in July. More information about this year’s teleconference series is available at https://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/ocs/resources/2010-cancer-survivorship-telephone-workshop-series.
International Cancer Survivorship Conference
Catherine Alfano was a keynote speaker for the ESO-OECI Sponsored International Study Day on Cancer Survivorship, State of the Art of Cancer Survivorship Research: Symptom Management, Psychosocial Care and Rehabilitation, in Bari, Italy, April 2012.
European Breast Cancer Conference
Julia Rowland was an invited speaker to the 8th European Breast Cancer Conference in Vienna, Austria, March 2012.
Meeting with Visiting International Scientists
Office of Cancer Survivorship staff met in 2011 with visiting scientists from Japan, Australia, France, and Sweden to talk about international trends in survivorship research and follow-up care programs needs.
Implementation Research Proposal Development Workshop
Michael Sanchez, of the Implementation Science Team, in collaboration with WHO, joined other facilitators in delivering the Implementation Research Proposal Development Workshop in Durban, South Africa, March 5-10. The workshop supported the development of research proposals focusing on implementation research in low- and middle-income countries.
Knowledge Translation Summer Institute and Annual Meeting
Michael Sanchez attended the Knowledge Translation Summer Institute and Annual Meeting, June 4-8, in Ottawa, Canada. At this meeting, he was able to engage in dialog, exchange ideas, and explore opportunities with Canadian researchers and program evaluators to advance dissemination and implementation science. During the Annual Meeting, he delivered a workshop, Dissemination and Implementation Science: NIH Research Opportunities, to Canadian investigators interested in implementation science.
11th International Congress on Nursing Informatics
Russ Glasgow gave the keynote presentation at the 11th International Congress on Nursing Informatics held in Montreal as part of the AMIA meetings in late June. Participants from 20 countries doing informatics work on patient self-management issues were represented.
International Society for Environmental Epidemiology Annual Meeting
Denise Lewis and Li Zhu will be attending the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology annual meeting in August in Columbia, SC. They will be co-chairing a symposium with Li Zhu titled Spatial Uncertainty in Epidemiology Research and NIH Funding Opportunity. Dr. Lewis also will be presenting a poster, United States Lung Cancer Trends by Histologic Type.
Cancer in Africa: Building Transnational Research Collaborations
Damali Martin is working with Makeda Williams and Ted Trimble from the Center for Global Health to plan the conference Cancer in Africa: Building Transnational Research Collaborations, scheduled for September 15–16, 2012, in London, England. The conference will explore the latest developments in cancer research in Africa and opportunities for collaboration and establishing a trans-national research network. The goals of the conference are to assess current status of cancer research in Africa; assess the current status of cancer training programs in Africa; and begin to develop initiatives to strengthen existing and build new infrastructure for the sustainability of cancer research and training programs in Africa. The conference is organized in collaboration with African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC), Africa Oxford Cancer Foundation (AfrOx), the Instituto Nacional de Câncer (INCA, Brazilian Cancer Institute), and the Institut National du Cancer (INCa, French National Cancer Institute). It will bring together approximately 100 of the world’s leading oncologists and scientists from Europe, the United States, and Africa who are working on collaborative cancer research programs to help reduce suffering and death from cancer in Africa.
The International Association of Cancer Registries (IACR) Annual Meeting
The International Association of Cancer Registries (IACR) will hold its 2012 annual meeting in Cork, Ireland, September 16-20. The Executive Board meeting and three workshops are scheduled for September 16. The 2012 IACR theme is "Better cancer control through better information," with special plenary and contributed sessions on data quality, quality assurance, timeliness; registration methods; etiology and burden of disease; cancer risk factors; outcomes research and cancer registries; cancer control; population-based quality-of-life research using the cancer registry; survivorship; determinants and patient outcome; survival methods; and linkage to other data sources. Joe Selby, Executive Director of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), will give one of the keynote presentations.
The September 16 workshops are Geographical Methods in Cancer Epidemiology (Faculty: Eero Pukkala, Finnish Cancer Registry, and Anthony Staines, Dublin City University); Trends and Projections: Age-Period-Cohort Modeling Using Splines (Freddie Bray, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Mark Rutherford and Paul Lambert, University of Leicester); and ICD-O-3 and TNM Coding (April Fritz, April Fritz and Associates). The post conference activities include the Concord II meeting (September 20-21, 2012) and the scientific program of the European Network of Cancer Registries (Sept 19-20, 2012) and presentations on the outcomes of EUROCOURSE.
As the IACR President, Brenda Edwards participated in all aspects of the planning and development of the scientific program, including review of abstracts for selection of oral presentations. She will continue to serve on the IACR Executive Board meeting, working with the newly elected President Roberto Zanetti and Regional Representatives.
Keynote Address at 10th Acta Oncologica Symposium on European Cancer Rehabilitation and Survivorship
Catherine Alfano will give the keynote address at the 10th Acta Oncologica Symposium on European Cancer Rehabilitation and Survivorship, which will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark, September 17-18, 2012.
Scientific Planning Committee for the 2012 Breast Health Global Initiative (BHGI) Global Summit on International Breast Health, Supportive Care and Quality of Life
Julia Rowland currently serves on the Scientific Planning Committee for the 2012 Breast Health Global Initiative (BHGI) Global Summit on International Breast Health, Supportive Care and Quality of Life, which will be held October 3-5, 2012, in Vienna, Austria.
Annual Meeting of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO 2012)
NCI is participating in a session titled Research to Prevent Tobacco Use and Secondhand Smoke Exposure in Pregnancy at the 2012 meeting of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetricians (FIGO) to be held in Rome, Italy, from October 7-12. Tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure are widely viewed as serious threats to the health of pregnant women, infants, and children. Importantly, pregnancy is an opportunity to intervene with the mother to encourage tobacco use cessation, which provides strong cancer control benefits for the entire family. The session will discuss research needs focused on the development of culturally appropriate and effective tobacco control interventions for use by OB/GYNs, midwives, and other health professionals.
WHO TobLabNet Science-Based Tobacco Regulators Meeting
Mirjana Djordjevic will attend the WHO TobLabNet Science-Based Tobacco Regulators Meeting on October 11–12, 2012, in Geneva, Switzerland.
5th Annual Ca-PRI Network Meeting
As the United States considers its health care system under new organizational frameworks such as the Medical Home and the Affordable Care Act, approaches to health care in other countries offer potential insights. Researchers from Europe and North America meet annually to consider international research collaborations in the primary care setting that would take advantage of cross-country comparisons. DCCPS representatives participating in this year’s Ca-PRI meeting, held in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 5-7, included Erica Breslau, Carrie Klabunde, and Stephen Taplin. Ca-PRI investigators are planning a joint session with the NCI-sponsored International Cancer Screening Network (ICSN) on October 23, 2012, at the ICSN biennial meeting in Sydney, Australia to explore the role of primary care in cancer screening uptake and follow-up internationally. The Ca-PRI Network will meet again in Cambridge, England in April 2013. More information about the researchers, their areas of interest, and collaborative projects can be found at http://ca-pri.org.
ICSN Fosters Efficient and Effective Cancer Screening in Partner Countries
The International Cancer Screening Network (ICSN) is a voluntary consortium of countries that have active population-based cancer screening programs. Administered by ARP, the consortium was established in 1988 as the International Breast Cancer Screening Database Project during an international workshop with representatives from 11 countries. The ICSN will hold its next biennial meeting in Sydney, Australia on October 23-25, 2012. The meeting is being co-sponsored by NCI and the Sydney International Breast Cancer Congress (SIBCC). Topics will include cancer burden in developed and developing countries; evaluating new technologies and their readiness for incorporation into organized screening programs; benefits, harms, and costs of cancer screening programs; factors influencing policy and decision making; roles of allied health professionals and lay health workers in cancer screening; and incorporating cancer prevention strategies into organized screening programs. The early-bird registration deadline is August 23, 2012.
GICR: Advisory Committee (CanReg & SEER*Stat; Communications)
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is working in partnership with several international, regional and national organizations to establish the Global Initiative for Cancer Registry (GICR) Development in Low- and Middle- Income Countries. The GICR is implemented through "hubs" or IARC regional resource centers that provide technical and scientific support for population-based cancer registries and coordination of international research projects. NCI, notably DCCPS and the Center for Global Health, are active participants in the GICR advisory committee and continue to explore opportunities for collaborations. Surveillance Research Program communications interns (Hillary Hoffman and Heather Lasseter) are contributing to development of some materials. Recent discussions have focused on the feasibility of adapting the user interface between the powerful and widely used analytical tool SEER*Stat and the IARC open-source, population-based, cancer registration software CanReg. Angela Mariotto, Hyunsoon Cho, Brenda Edwards, and Steve Scoppa from the DCCPS biomedical support contractor (Information Management Services, Inc.) are assessing the feasibility of streamlining the process of moving data from CanReg into SEER* Stat, defining a core set of international cancer registry data items, characterizing essential statistics for cancer registries, and clarifying the international community’s user needs.
SEER-Medicare Data Informing Screening and End-of-Life Care Questions
Joan Warren is leading an ongoing collaboration with investigators in Ontario to examine end-of-life care, a clinical care arena that is documented to have wide variability in practice, quality, and associated costs. They are conducting studies on end-of-life care for lung cancer patients, comparing SEER-Medicare with Ontario’s claims data systems to examine patterns and the cost of end-of-life care. The Toronto investigators are from the University of Toronto, Toronto General Research Institute, Institute of Clinical Evaluative Sciences, and Toronto Regional Cancer Center. One paper has been published, and a second analysis, comparing cost of treatment, is in the final stages. Another collaboration with researchers at the University of Toronto is a case-control study of the effectiveness of colonoscopy in preventing colorectal cancer death, using SEER-Medicare data. This work was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology on July 11, 2012.
Stigma Special Interest Group
DCCPS is actively involved in the Stigma Special Interest Group (SIG), a trans-NIH interest group whose purpose is to stimulate interdisciplinary research on stigma and health, including international research. The Stigma SIG was formed by the Center for Global Health in order to extend the efforts of the former Fogarty Stigma and Global Health Research Program. This program encouraged research to elucidate the etiology of stigma in relation to public health, as well as to develop and test interventions to mitigate the negative effects of stigma on health outcomes, and emphasized studies relevant to global health issues. The new Stigma SIG strives to extend the goals of this initiative.
China Smoking Cessation Program Using Text Messages
The goal of this project is to engage a combination of public and private partners to perform a an mhealth/text-based smoking cessation intervention demonstration project based on a country-specific modification of the QuitNowTXT library in China. This project will assist in determining the potential effectiveness and acceptability of a health-based SMS messaging program within China’s large population of smokers. If effective, text-based programs would provide a low-cost means to increase public education and knowledge on the harmful effects of smoking, and also to deliver a smoking cessation intervention. Mobile phone texting has the potential to be a powerful tool to help smokers quit smoking because it is widely available globally, inexpensive, and allows for immediate delivery of smoking cessation information. In addition, this resource can be integrated into existing tobacco control strategies, thereby enhancing China’s ability to address the burden of tobacco use. Dr. Augustson recently traveled to China (July 2012) to facilitate this project moving forward. While there he met with representatives of US CDC, US DHHS Health Liaison, China CDC, Chinese Center for Health Education, Nokia, and WHO. Based on this meeting, the first phase of this project will begin in August and it is anticipated the main randomized controlled trial will launch by December 2012.
WHO Guidelines on Identification and Management of Psychoactive Substance Use (Alcohol, Illicit Drugs, and Tobacco) in Pregnancy
WHO is preparing to develop, publish, and disseminate a guideline on identification and management of tobacco, alcohol, and other substance use disorders in pregnant women, and other people living in the household. WHO has a formal process for producing guidelines, and has received approval for moving forward with this project, which has been initiated by WHO in response to requests from organizations, institutions, and individuals for technical guidance on these subjects. The planned guideline will be applicable to all WHO member states, including high-, middle-, and low-income countries, and provide an opportunity to focus the attention of governmental and non-governmental agencies on reduction of tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure by pregnant women and their families. WHO has requested both technical assistance and funding from NCI to assist in preparation of the tobacco portion of the guideline. Funds may be used for project management; consultants and technical experts to retrieve and review literature, produce summaries, and evidence tables; working group meetings; and production and dissemination of the final document. NCI will provide funding and technical assistance, be involved in helping to select the Guideline Development Group, and assist with other tasks to be determined.
NCI Representative to NCI-Ireland-Northern Ireland Collaboration
Julia Rowland was designated the NCI representative to the Northern Ireland-Ireland-NCI Cancer Consortium Survivorship workstream group in April 2012.
DCCPS Collaborates in a Study to Compare Initial Treatment for Newly Diagnosed Elderly Colorectal Cancer Patients in Different Health Systems
NCI staff are involved in a collaboration with investigators in Italy to examine patterns of colorectal cancer treatment during the first year following diagnosis in two cohorts of elderly patients from Italy and the US, using SEER-Medicare and data from two cancer registries in Italy linked to administrative data. The Italian investigators are from the Institute of Research on Population and Social Policies, National Research Council, National Centre for Epidemiology, National Institute of Health, and the Veneto and Tuscany Cancer Registries in Italy. A paper is under review.
DCCPS Collaborates to Improve Methods for Estimation of Cancer Prevalence and Survival
DCCPS staff are involved in an ongoing collaboration with researchers from Istituto Superiore di Sanita in Italy on methods and applications of cancer survival and prevalence from cancer registry data. Several methods and software to improve the estimation of cancer prevalence have been developed under this collaboration. Current projects include an ecological regression analysis of prevalence at small areas to understand geographical variability of cancer prevalence and methods to estimate recurrence prevalence. As part of this collaboration, DCCPS co-sponsored in September 2010 an international workshop on Combining Epidemiology and Economics for Management of Oncology Costs, and another on Methods and Applications for Population-based Survival.
DCCPS Contributing to Understanding the Efficacy of PSA Testing
The Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network (CISNET) cooperative agreement awards investigate the impact of interventions (screening, treatment, primary prevention) on population-based cancer trends in the United States. Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands, participates in modeling for all four cancer sites included in the consortium activities (breast, prostate, lung, and colorectal cancers). The CISNET prostate group has a collaboration with the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) and the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial to obtain individual data from the trials and to reconcile results from the two screening trials for prostate cancer.
US-India Working Group
Staff in the NCI Center for Global Health coordinated a conference call on June 13, 2012, with several NCI scientists and key participants of India’s NCI Task Force, including senior members of the US Embassy in New Delhi. A new campus is being built in Haryana for patient care and clinical research: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS-2). DCCPS contributions to the one-hour briefing included an overview by Brenda Edwards of the NCI SEER Program and surveillance systems for measuring the cancer burden, monitoring care and treatment patterns, and use of the registry system as a research resource. Russ Glasgow discussed the implementation science research program and with collaborations with WHO on implementation science related training. Specific areas of collaboration and need for input from the US NCI are being identified.
Center for Global Health – Regional Interest Groups
The Center for Global Health (CGH) has formed several regional interest groups (RIGs). Damali Martin co-chairs the Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean RIGs. Mark Parascandola co-chairs the Latin America RIG. Other DCCPS staff involved in CGH RIGs are Somdat Mahabir, Mark Parascandola, and Mark Alexander – Caribbean; Naoko Takebe and Daniela Seminara – Europe; Steve Taplin – Latin America; Stephanie Nelson and Brenda Edwards – Middle East and North Africa; Gary Ellison and Naoko Takebe – Asia; Damali Martin – South Asia; and Vidya Vedham – Sub-Saharan Africa. The CGH RIGs are compiling information on NCI programs and staff interests in respective geographic areas.
Center for Global Health – CONCORD-2
Dr. Edwards joined Ted Trimble on March 21 in his meeting with Marcus Plescia (Director, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, CDC) and Michel Coleman (Principal Investigator and head of the Cancer Research UK Cancer Survival Group at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) to discuss the CONCORD-2 Study, a project that provides global surveillance on cancer survival. Dr. Edwards drafted a letter on behalf of NCI (Center for Global Health and surveillance research) for Dr. Trimble’s signature endorsing the importance of their proposed collaborative research project.
