NCI Awards $25 Million for Patient Navigator Research Program for Minority and Underserved Cancer Patients
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) today announced a total of $25 million in
grants to eight research institutions to develop an innovative Patient
Navigator Research Program (PNRP). Navigators help patients and their families
manage cancer diagnoses and overcome common barriers to obtaining timely and
appropriate cancer care and treatment. The five-year grants will be
administered by NCI's Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities (CRCHD).
"Studying various forms of patient navigation is extremely important," said
Mark Clanton, M.D., NCI deputy director for cancer care delivery systems. "This
area of research can help us take a huge step toward narrowing cancer health
disparities and ensuring that knowledge, advancements and technology are shared
with patients in all communities."
Patient navigators help coordinate services among medical personnel; schedule
appointments with caregivers; arrange translation or interpretation services
and various forms of financial support; facilitate transportation to and from
medical visits; and arrange childcare services during diagnosis and treatment
appointments. Navigators from primary care or community health settings provide
support and guidance, linking patients to existing health care services.
The PNRP will test and evaluate interventions designed to improve access to
timely and appropriate cancer care and treatment following a cancer diagnosis.
The new program will focus on four cancers for which screening tests are
available: breast, cervical, prostate and colorectal.
These grants will focus on cancer patients from racial/ethnic minority groups,
patients with low socioeconomic status, and patients from medically underserved
areas. There will be significant community input through Community Advisory
Panels (CAP). Composed of community leaders, community-based participatory
researchers and clinicians, CAPS will help plan partnerships to ensure support
from diverse underserved communities.
The following eight institutions were awarded PNRP grants:
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Boston University Medical Center, Boston, Mass.
Principal Investigator: Karen M. Freund, M.D.
The Patient Navigation in the SafetyNet: CONNECTeDDTM Project will partner with
community health centers to provide either breast or cervical cancer navigation
services to women in socially and economically challenged urban neighborhoods.
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Denver Health and Hospital Authority, Denver, Colo.
Principal Investigator: Peter C. Raich, M.D.
The Improving Patient Outcomes through System Navigation Project will work with
community partners in the Rocky Mountain region, AMC Cancer Research Center,
and the University of Colorado Comprehensive Cancer Center to provide breast,
colorectal and prostate cancer navigation services for minority and underserved
patients, many of whom do not have health insurance.
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George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
Principal Investigator: Steven Patierno, Ph.D.
The D.C. City-wide Patient Navigation Research Project will develop a
consortium comprised of major medical institutions, community partners, and the
local health department to create a city-wide initiative to test and evaluate
breast cancer navigation services among African American and Hispanic/Latina
women.
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H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, Tampa, Fla.
Principal Investigator: Richard G. Roetzheim, M.D.
The Moffitt Cancer Center Patient Navigator Project will collaborate with the
Health Choice Network and its member community health centers, and the American
Cancer Society to conduct culturally appropriate patient navigation focused on
breast and colorectal cancers in culturally diverse populations.
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Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board, Portland, Ore.
Principal Investigator: Joshua D. Jones, M.D.
The Northwest Tribal Cancer Navigator Project, in conjunction with tribal
health centers, will expand an existing navigation project into five diverse
tribal communities and provide breast, cervical, prostate and colorectal cancer
navigation services.
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Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill.
Principal Investigator: Charles L. Bennett, M.D.
The Chicago Cancer Navigation Project will develop and conduct a patient
navigation intervention to provide follow-up care to low-income patients with
positive cancer screening tests of the prostate, colorectum, breast or cervix,
in collaboration with the Veterans Affairs and federally qualified health
center clinics.
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University of Rochester, Rochester, N.Y.
Principal Investigator: Kevin Fiscella, M.D.
The Randomized Controlled Trial of Primary Care-Based Patient
Navigation-Activation Project, focusing on breast and colorectal cancers, will
recruit patients from large, inner-city practices, serving primarily minority
and low-income populations, to assess whether underserved populations benefit
from navigation services.
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University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio, Texas
Principal Investigator: Donald J. Dudley, M.D.
The Texas Health Science Center's Patient Navigation Research Project, focusing
on breast and cervical cancers, will develop and conduct a navigator program
primarily for Hispanic/Latina and African American women, in collaboration with
district health and university health clinics, community-based agencies, and
the university hospital.
"In order to meet our challenge goal to eliminate suffering and death due to
cancer, we must ensure that any patient with a suspicious finding is provided
timely diagnosis and that patients who are diagnosed with cancer experience no
delay in receiving high-quality cancer care, regardless of their race,
ethnicity, socioeconomic status or geography," stated Harold Freeman, M.D.,
senior advisor to the NCI director on minority and underserved communities.
"These projects will help improve access to quality, standard cancer care and
could contribute to substantial progress in reducing cancer health
disparities."
In addition to the newly announced grants, NCI continues to fund patient
navigator pilot projects that reach American Indian, Hispanic/Latino, African
American and rural underserved populations.
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For additional information about the Patient Navigator Research Program and
grantees, go to: http://crchd.nci.nih.gov.
For more information about cancer, visit the NCI Web site at
http://www.cancer.gov, or call NCI's Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4
CANCER (1-800-422-6237).
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