POEP receives CPRIT funds
In September 2009, the Cancer Prevention and Research Insti- tute of Texas (CPRIT) awarded the Physician Oncology Education Program (POEP) $467,425 for its prevention initiatives through August of this year. POEP has applied for $399,633 from CPRIT this year to cover September 2011 through August 2012. Proposed POEP core projects for fiscal year 2012 include:
• Live educational activities that provide statewide clinical sym- posia in cancer prevention, early detection, screening, and con- trol, in collaboration with relevant organizations;
• Speakers’ Bureau lectures that feature volunteer experts who speak to physicians and other health care professionals on can- cer prevention, screening, early detection, and control;
• A continuing education video to improve cancer clinical trials knowledge among Texas nurses and physicians, in collaboration with the Nurse Oncology Education Program;
• Medical Student Section human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervi- cal cancer education activity that consists of one-hour lectures on cervical cancer at five Texas medical schools;
• Electronic materials such as podcasts and online modules; • iPhone and iPad applications for skin and childhood cancers based on the current POEP pocket guides; and
• A seminar on HPV, tobacco cessation, and obesity that health care professionals can use to counsel college students.
In addition, POEP applied to CPRIT for a separate, two-year
$205,191 grant to increase HPV vaccination rates. According to the August 2009 Cancer Epidemiology, Biomark-
ers & Prevention, fewer than half of respondents to POEP’s 2008 survey indicated they always recommend the HPV vaccine to 11- and 12-year-old girls. The Centers for Disease Control and Preven- tion Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) rec- ommends routine vaccination of girls in this age group with three doses of HPV vaccine. According to ACIP, the vaccination series can begin in girls as young as 9 years. Should POEP receive funding, the performance improvement
project would consist of a chart review of patients who are at an appropriate age to receive the vaccine, an interactive webinar, and more emphasis on recommending vaccination to increase HPV vaccination rates. At the end of the project, physicians would complete another chart review to determine any increase in the number of patients to whom the vaccine was recommended.
36 TEXAS MEDICINE July 2011
whelmingly skewed in favor of T1 trans- lational research.
The Institute of Medicine’s Clinical
Research Roundtable describes T1 re- search as “the transfer of new under- standings of disease mechanisms gained in the laboratory into the development of new methods for diagnosis, therapy, and prevention and their first testing in humans.” It defines T2 research as “the translation of results from clinical stud- ies into everyday clinical practice and health decision making.” T1 research takes place in a labora-
tory, while T2 occurs in community and ambulatory care settings and brings T1 research results to the public, ensuring proper implementation of new treat- ments and research within the intended populations. CPRIT Executive Director Bill Gimson
says the institute wants to enhance the safety and therapeutic benefit of prom- ising treatments essential in translating new knowledge into tangible benefits for patients with cancer. “Cancer patients generally do better
if enrolled in a clinical trial. However, it is estimated that only 3 percent take advantage of these opportunities,” Mr. Gimson said. He adds CPRIT selects and funds “the
very best of the best projects submitted — without quotas. We do have guidance in our mandate to focus on scientific breakthroughs, those that provide hope and better treatments for Texans where there has not been hope previously.” He points to CPRIT funding that falls into the T2 category, including Compara- tive Effectiveness Research on Cancer in Texas, a multidisciplinary consortium of investigators at the University of Texas Medical Branch, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, The University of Texas School of Public Health, Rice University, Baylor College of Medicine, and the Texas Can- cer Registry. He says the consortium’s four projects will focus on:
• Screening tests for breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer;
• Quality of cancer treatment; • Post-treatment surveillance testing; and
• Quality of supportive care.
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