UH Cancer Center receives $3.5 million NCORP grant for cancer care, research in Hawaii
The National Cancer Institute awarded the University of Hawai`i Cancer Center and The Queen's Medical Center (Queen's) a grant of more than $3.8 million over five years to conduct cancer clinical trials in the state for minority and underserved populations. Queen's was chosen to lead and perform the cancer care delivery research component of the grant.
The NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) grant is part of a national effort to increase access to NCI research for minority, rural, and underserved patient populations. It will continue providing both adults and children living in Hawaii with access to NCI clinical trials, which have been funded by a Minority-Based Community Clinical Oncology Program grant to the UH Cancer Center since 1994.
The program in Hawaii encompasses clinical oncology research with all UH Cancer Center-affiliated community hospitals and private practice oncology physicians. The Hawaii Cancer Consortium members include Queen's, the hospitals of Hawai`i Pacific Health (Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women and Children, Straub Clinic & Hospital, Pali Momi Medical Center, and Wilcox Health), Kuakini Medical Center and UH's John A. Burns School of Medicine. It conducts clinical research through its Consortium hospitals, other community hospitals, Tripler Army Medical Center and community oncologists in private practice.
"This grant allows us to look at recent advances in cancer research and bring the new knowledge into clinical trials conducted in the community, where most patients receive their care," said UH Cancer Center faculty member Dr. Jeff Berenberg, an oncologist at Tripler Army Medical Center and the co-principal investigator on the grant. "It also allows us to identify those things that reduce cancer risk, enhance patient quality of life, and increase access to clinical trials for minority and other underserved populations."
The cancer care delivery research component of the grant received by Queen's is to specifically study factors affecting access to quality cancer care in the community for minority and underserved populations. "NCORP will be a continuation of the excellence in quality multidisciplinary oncology care established through the National Cancer Institute Community Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP) at Queen's, now with the addition of clinical cancer delivery care research," said Dr. Paul T. Morris, Queen's Chief of Surgery and co-principal investigator on the grant. "This will help provide the minority and underserved populations of Hawaii with the highest quality of oncology care and access to the most current research." The Hawaii site is part of a national network of investigators, cancer care providers, academic institutions, and other organizations that provide care to diverse populations in community-based healthcare practices across the United States. Researchers will design and conduct trials to improve cancer prevention, cancer control, screening, and post-treatment management. Additionally, a new focus for NCI community-based research will be factors to improve patient outcomes along with a reduction in cancer disparities in the community. This grant is supported by the NCI, part of the National Institutes of Health, under award number UG1CA189804.
Provided by University of Hawaii Cancer Center