The Atlantic Health Cancer Consortium Community Oncology Research Program (AHCC CORP)

Atlantic Health System, Inc., Morristown NJ

Investigators

Abstract

Project Summary Atlantic Health Cancer Consortium Community Oncology Research Program (AHCC-CORP) is the first NCORP Community Site within the state of New Jersey and combines the collective strengths of world-class healthcare systems with community oncology care delivery. AHCC-CORP covers a geographically and demographically diverse area representing 73% of New Jersey’s population. AHCC-CORP expands the NCORP network by 6.5M people; with a higher cancer incidence rate than the US as a whole (477.5 vs 441.2 cases per 100,000). Regions of AHCC-CORP are even further elevated. Specific Aims include: ​1) Increase adult and pediatric accruals to NCI cancer prevention, control, screening, and care delivery research studies, as well as treatment and imaging studies conducted by the National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) and biospecimen collection​. ​This will be accomplished by creating a unique and unprecedented cancer care consortium in New Jersey​. ​The Consortium has experienced cancer investigators in adult and pediatric cancers across multiple sites, including three children's hospitals. Separately, Consortium sites annually accrue an average of 130 ​participants to NCORP Research Bases, but with the leadership and infrastructure support of AHCC-CORP, affiliates are now poised to even further increase accruals. ​2) Enhance community engagement in ​cancer control and prevention clinical trials and Cancer Care Delivery Research (CCDR) conducted by NCORP ​in the AHCC-CORP ​catchment area. Engagement will be enhanced through innovative approaches that effectively engage physicians, patients, and the community. Developments ​notably include video vignettes for social media dissemination and interactive chatbot capabilities powered by natural language processing, allowing recruitment/retention strategies in multiple languages in support of cancer disparities integration. Additionally, AHCC-CORP ​has a clearly-defined process for prioritizing NCORP and NCTN trials for activation, and procedures in support of successful study accrual and data collection across sites.​ AHCC-CORP will also support and mentor community oncologists and other medical specialists in central and northern New Jersey​, furthering capabilities in cancer care delivery research. ​3) Contribute to the development and implementation of clinically significant studies that incorporate the unique research needs of the diverse population within the AHCC NCORP catchment area, leveraging the expertise of established oncology specialty physicians and other providers within our affiliate network. ​The established clinical and research expertise, across multiple tumor types and research modalities, of AHCC-CORP physicians and other providers will be leveraged to support NCORP overarching programmatic goals through ​active involvement in Research Bases and other NCORP-wide research leadership committees.