| March 2012 | Colorectal Awareness |
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Saving Lives for Colorectal Cancer
Awareness Month
March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. This year the Connecticut Cancer Partnership, in collaboration with the American Cancer Society and the Department of Public Health Comprehensive Colorectal Cancer Program, launched the Save Lives campaign. The Save Lives campaign focuses on building awareness about colorectal cancer prevention, screening guidelines, and treatments through primary care physician education, population-based outreach, and the expansion of a colorectal cancer employer wellness initiative. Through our outreach efforts, we have worked with community-based organizations, pharmacies, employers, local health departments, and churches throughout the state to spread the word about lifesaving prevention and screening for colorectal cancer. In particular, we have partnered with the Witness Project of Connecticut's Body & Soul Initiative to increase awareness of colorectal cancer prevention and screening among congregants in predominantly African American churches.
African Americans experience a disproportionate rate of colorectal cancer related deaths as compared to Caucasian Americans. In 2011, an American Cancer Society (ACS) investigation reported that death in African Americans diagnosed with colorectal cancer was less likely than Whites in the 1980s, yet surpassed Whites by 2007. The ACS study also showed an unprecedented disparity in health outcomes between African Americans and Whites who had been diagnosed with late-stage colorectal cancer. According to experts, the widening gap is attributed to the lack of access for African Americans to information on new screening and the best treatments and in frequent and timely screening and follow-ups. At the conclusion of this article, researchers suggested that the age for initiation of CRC screening, currently set at age 50, be lowered for African Americans. For more information on this article, please click here.
Colorectal cancer is preventable and can affect anyone regardless of gender or race/ethnicity. As healthcare providers, advocates, and health educators it is our responsibility to take part in efforts around the state to prevent colorectal cancer. What can clinicians do to help save a life? The Connecticut Cancer Partnership recommends:
- Recommend screening during patient visits
- Implement reminder systems at practices and places of employment for timely screening
- Partner with the CT Cancer Partnership to participate in the annual Save Lives campaign and distribute colorectal cancer pamphlets to patients, communities and colleagues.
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National Experts to Address Patient Navigation Conference
On Tuesday, April 17, 2012, national experts in the field of patient navigation will touch down in Connecticut at the Cromwell Crowne Plaza to discuss navigation programs at the Partnership's Patient Navigation Conference.
Speakers will include:
- Rian Rodriguez, the Director of the ACS Patient Navigator Program and Cancer Resource Centers (formerly of the Harold P. Freeman Institute for Patient Navigation).
- Sharon Gentry, RN, MSN Derrick L. Davis Forsyth Regional Cancer Center, Winston-Salem, NC
- Pamela Vlahakis, RN, BSN, CBCN Hunterdon Regional Cancer Center, NJ
- Lauren Kelley, MSW, MPA Project Access, New Haven
- Angelina Esparza, RN, MPH, Director, Health Equity, American Cancer Society
- Joshua Hauser, MD, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago
- Kevin Fiscella, MD, MPH, University of Rochester School of Medicine
- Mandi Pratt-Chapman, Co-Director of the George Washington Cancer Institute Center for the Advancement of Cancer Survivorship, Navigation and Policy (caSNP)
These subject-matter experts will discuss the history of patient navigation, along with projections for its future; barrier recognition and assessment through an interdisciplinary case study; logic for building a navigation program; different models of navigation; how to integrate quality care using navigation; and finally to how measure the effectiveness of navigation programs.
If you have not registered for this conference, please do so today! Registration is free, but limited. 4.0 CEUs will be offered for licensed nurses and social workers, free of charge.
Register Now! |
Oncologists Torti and Marcus Appointed to Leadership Positions in State
Well-known physician and clinical investigator, Dr. Frank M. Torti, who has designed and executed clinical trials in urologic cancer that have been used throughout the world, and current director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center and chair of the Department of Cancer Biology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, will become the new vice president for health affairs at the UConn Health Center and the eighth dean of the UConn School of Medicine according to University of Connecticut President Susan Herbst.
He was recently elected to the board of directors of the Association of American Cancer Institutes and of the National Coalition for Cancer Research. He has served on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Council for the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and was recently appointed to the National Cancer Institute's Clinical Trial Advisory Committee and the Board of Scientific Advisors.
"I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the UConn Health Center and the School of Medicine," said Dr. Torti. "Governor Malloy's Bioscience Connecticut program and the state's partnership with Jackson Laboratory are nothing less than transformational. Working together, Connecticut and the University will change the bioscience landscape and grow the region's economy. I look forward to working with everyone to ensure that this outstanding academic medical center reaches its full potential."
He received his BA and MA degrees from Johns Hopkins University, his MD from Harvard Medical School and his MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health, where he trained in cancer epidemiology and nutrition.
It was also recently announced that Stuart G. Marcus, MD, FACS, has been named president of St. Vincent's Medical Center. Dr. Marcus most recently served as senior vice president, chief medical officer and chairman of oncology at St. Vincent's.
He succeeds Susan L. Davis, RN, EdD, who remains CEO of the Medical Center and president/CEO of St. Vincent's Health Services."This transition should be seamless as Dr. Marcus has played a vital role at the Medical Center, by leading the development of our new cancer center and oncology program, and helping to forge an exciting new relationship with the new Frank H. Netter School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University," said Ms. Davis.
He will also assume the role of chief academic officer and professor of surgery for the Frank H. Netter School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University. He was instrumental in establishing St. Vincent's as the principal clinical partner for the school.
A specialist in gastrointestinal cancer surgery, Dr. Marcus led the development of the Elizabeth M. Pfriem SWIM Center for Cancer Care at St. Vincent's, which opened in 2010 and brings together all the components of cancer care under one roof, including access to clinical research trials. He currently serves as Co-Chair of the Oncology Specialty Affinity Group for Ascension Health.
He holds a B.A. degree from Rutgers University, and in 1987 earned his medical degree from Duke University School of Medicine. He completed his internship and surgical residency at NYU School of Medicine. He also completed a three-year surgical oncology research fellowship at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.
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Routine Lynch Syndrome Screening Varies at U.S. Cancer Centers
Screening practices for a condition called Lynch syndrome, which increases the risk of colorectal, endometrial, and other cancers, appear to vary substantially among different clinical centers in the United States, according to a new study.
Clinical guidelines developed by several different groups recommend routinely screening tumor samples from patients newly diagnosed with colorectal cancer for genetic markers of Lynch syndrome, although they differ with respect to exactly which patients should be screened. In the study, published online February 20 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, and the first to attempt to assess current screening practices for the condition, only 42 percent of the responding centers reported that they conducted any routine screening for Lynch syndrome. Another 16 percent reported that they planned to do so.
NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers, most of which are large academic medical centers that provide clinical cancer care and perform basic and clinical research, were far more likely than smaller hospitals and community cancer programs to perform this testing, the study showed.
In conducting the NCI-supported study, researchers from the City of Hope Cancer Center and Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center surveyed all 39 NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers that provide adult oncology care, a random selection of hospital-based cancer centers accredited by the American College of Surgeons, and a randon selection of community-based cancer programs. Of the 24 NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers that responded to the survey, 71 percent reported that they routinely screened tumor samples from colorectal cancer patients, known as reflex testing. By comparison, only 15 percent of smaller community-based cancer programs reported doing so.
"Like any new practice, routine screening for Lynch syndrome will take time to be widely adopted," said the study's senior author, Dr. Deborah MacDonald of the Division of Clinical Cancer Genetics at City of Hope. "I think it's becoming more common, but it's clearly something that providers and institutions need to become more educated about."
To read more of this article, originally run in the NCI Cancer Bulletin
February 21, 2012 * Volume 9 / Number 4 - please click here.
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The Connecticut Cancer Partnership unites the members of our state's diverse cancer community--academic and clinical institutions, state and local government health agencies, industry and insurers, advocacy and community groups, and cancer survivors. Together, the coalition has developed and is now implementing a comprehensive plan to reduce the suffering and death due to cancer, and improve the quality of life of cancer survivors throughout Connecticut.
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Patient Navigation Conference
Please join us on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at the Cromwell Crowne Plaza. For more information, or to register, please click here. |
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Congratul ations to Partnership member Donna Boehm, who recently climbed to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro! To read more about Donna's accomplishment, please click here.
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CALLING ALL REGISTERED NURSES:
If you are a member of one of the Partnership's committees, please send a brief e-mail to Amanda Sadlon explaining why you joined the Partnership and how your participation affects your everyday work functions. |
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NEW TOOL:
A new web-based, interactive decision aid from the Effective Health Care Program of DHHS Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality empowers men recently diagnosed with clinically localized prostate cancer to explore their treatment options and talk to their doctors about which options are best for them.
About 17 percent of men in the United States will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. Men with clinically localized prostate cancer have many options for managing their cancer, including the option to not receive immediate treatment. Knowing Your Options: A Decision Aid for Men With Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer presents these patients with the benefits and risks of each available option and guides them through a self-directed, interactive experience to help them consider each possible choice.
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Events |
March 14: 3:00 p.m.
Prevention Committee Meeting
ACS Office, Rocky Hill
March 21: 9:00 a.m.
Early Detection Committee Meeting
ACS Office, Rocky Hill
March 27: ACS Lobby Day - Please contact Bryte Johnson if you are interested in participating.
April 17: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Patient Navigation Conference
Cromwell Crowne Plaza
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Submissions |
CA CONNections
is produced by theConnecticut Cancer PartnershipEditorial StaffRenee Gaudette Lucinda Hogarty Marion Morra Amanda Sadlon Betty Murray P 203-379-4767F 203-379-5052www.ctcancerpartnership.org
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