Lance Armstrong Foundation Partners with ENACCT to Promote Community Engagement in Cancer Clinical Trials

Lance Armstrong Foundation Partners with ENACCT to Promote Community Engagement in Cancer Clinical Trials

SILVER SPRING, MD - October 8, 2007 - Building on nationwide efforts to increase public awareness of and participation in cancer clinical trials, the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) announced today its support for a new initiative that is working to improve cancer clinical research through meaningful community engagement.

The initiative, Communities as Partners in Cancer Clinical Trials: Changing Research, Practice and Policy, is a bold new effort to develop a national strategic plan to address the nation's continuing low rates of cancer clinical trial participation, especially among racial and ethnic minorities and low income groups.

Led by LAF-national partner ENACCT (The Education Network to Advance Cancer Clinical Trials) and CCPH (Community-Campus Partnerships for Health), the planning process is an unprecedented collaboration that is bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders to explore ways to improve the cancer clinical research process utilizing the principles of community based participatory research (CBPR). CBPR is a well-established approach to health research that equitably involves communities and investigators in all aspects of the research process - from development through implementation, dissemination and translation into clinical practice.

Through working conferences in 2007 and 2008, leaders from community-based organizations, cancer centers, schools of public health, the pharmaceutical industry, Federal health agencies and local oncology practices across the country are meeting to develop a national strategic plan that will feature recommendations for research, practice and policy in the field. More than 70 people participated in the first conference in September 2007. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the National Cancer Institute provide core funding for the project. GlaxoSmithKline and Genentech have also provided financial support.

"Clinical trial participation is critical in the fight against cancer," said Lance Armstrong, founder and chairman of LAF. "The sooner we can encourage more community participation and individual enrollment in the clinical trial process, the sooner we will have better treatment options for all cancers."

"This project is unique in that we are looking at the problem of low clinical trial participation rates from a community perspective, not an institutional one," said Margo Michaels, ENACCT's Executive Director. "The recommendations developed through this planning process have enormous potential impact to change the way in which cancer clinical research is conducted at the local level and how it is funded."

Sarena D. Seifer, CCPH executive director, noted that "although CBPR has been mainly employed in public health research, we believe it's possible to incorporate its principles into every aspect of clinical research design and implementation."

ABOUT THE LANCE ARMSTRONG FOUNDATION
The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) unites people to fight cancer, believing that unity is strength, knowledge is power and attitude is everything. We provide the practical information and tools people battling cancer need to live life on their own terms. We take aim at the gap between what is known and what is done to prevent death and suffering due to cancer. We engage the public at large to pursue an agenda focused on preventing cancer, ensuring access to screening and care, improving the quality of life for people affected by cancer, and investing in needed research. Founded in 1997 by cancer survivor and champion cyclist Lance Armstrong, the LAF is located in Austin, Texas. UNITE at www.livestrong.org

ABOUT ENACCT
The Education Network to Advance Cancer Clinical Trials' (ENACCT) is the only national organization devoted solely to implementing and evaluating clinical trial educational efforts. ENACCT's mission is to identify, implement and validate innovative community centered approaches to cancer clinical trials education. In its work, ENACCT
• Develops and delivers the highest quality, evidence based, community-focused clinical trials education programs for health care providers, patients, and the public.
• Offers high quality, fee-based services that enhance the capacity of organizations conducting cancer clinical trials outreach, education and recruitment; and
• Advocates for the inclusion of appropriate cancer clinical trials education as a top national priority.

For more information, visit www.enacct.org

ABOUT CCPH
Community-Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH) is a nonprofit organization that promotes health (broadly defined) through partnerships between communities and higher educational institutions. Founded in 1996, CCPH is a growing network of over 1,600 communities and campuses across North America and increasingly the world that are collaborating to promote health through service-learning, community-based participatory research, broad-based coalitions and other partnership strategies. These partnerships are powerful tools for improving higher education, civic engagement and the overall health of communities. CCPH advance its mission by disseminating information, providing training and technical assistance, conducting research and evaluations, developing and influencing policies, and building coalitions. For more information, visit www.ccph.info.