Cancer Prevention

ABSTRACT – CANCER PREVENTION The broad goal of the Cancer Prevention (CP) program is to reduce the burden of malignant disease through risk-stratified prevention, targeted to those who will benefit from it, and population-based prevention designed to reach at risk populations. This goal is supported by three specific aims: 1) identify novel strategies for cancer risk stratification through the discovery and validation of causative links; 2) discover and develop new therapeutics to reduce cancer risk; and 3) develop and implement innovative behavioral, pharmacological, and eHealth interventions to promote risk-reducing, health promoting behaviors and adherence to screening, early detection, and cancer prevention approaches. The multi-disciplinary program is co-led by Seema Khan, MD, a surgeon and translational investigator whose research focuses on cancer risk biomarkers and novel pharmacologic approaches to cancer prevention; Bonnie Spring, PhD, a clinical health psychologist whose research focuses on behavioral risk factors and novel technology-supported behavioral interventions to prevent cancer; and Brian Hitsman, PhD, a health psychologist whose expertise is the treatment of tobacco dependence and other cancer risk behaviors in clinical and community settings. The Cancer Prevention Program’s 35 members from 14 departments and 3 schools conduct research on prevention of primary cancers in unaffected at-risk populations, and second primaries in cancer survivors. During the current funding cycle there were 736 cancer-relevant publications from CP members, of which 153 (21%) represent intra-programmatic collaborations, 174 (24%) represent inter-programmatic collaborations, and 586 (80%) represent external collaborative publications. Current annual cancer-relevant, peer-reviewed funding for CP is $14,607,724 (direct costs) with $3,272,440 from the NCI and $11,335,284 from other peer-reviewed sources. A total of 13,209 individuals were enrolled into CP studies, with 4873 enrolled into interventional trials. The importance of the work of the CP program is evidenced by: 1) the recognition that risk stratification is of foundational importance to the implementation of risk reduction interventions; 2) the demonstrated success of cancer prevention agents in reducing cancer risk; and 3) the large portion of the cancer burden that can be attributed to mutable behavioral and environmental factors. More effective screening tools for risk stratification, better adherence to preventive agents, and promotion of risk-reducing and health promoting behavior all promise to yield rich dividends in reducing the burden of cancer. The CP program actively expands the capabilities and efficacy of cancer prevention by developing and employing innovative technologies, measurement tools, and methods for pharmacological and behavioral cancer prevention interventions. The program's integrated interdisciplinary focus on prevention provides an environment that fosters intra- and inter-program collaboration and has spawned high impact advances in public health.