CCSG Pilot: Partnering to Impact Testing in the Commonwealth for Hereditary Cancers - PITCH

Grants and Contracts Details

Description

A significant portion of ovarian cancers are associated with hereditary cancer syndromes which can often be targeted with specific therapies known to improve survival rates and outcomes. Although all patients with ovarian cancer are recommended by national guidelines to have genetic testing (GT), fewer than 60% of these patients at Markey complete GT. This is due to barriers including a shortage of genetic counselors (GCs), long wait times for GC appointments, and a lack of referrals for GC. These barriers present the greatest challenges to patients living in rural populations and to those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Alternative models for GC and GT have been proposed to reduce barriers and improve uptake of genetic testing. These models have not yet been implemented or tested at Markey and the acceptance and impact of an alternative model to supplement GC services in our patient population is not known. Our project aims to develop a patient-education video in partnership with key stakeholders, evaluate treating providers’ perceptions of using a video to supplement GC services, and to pilot and assess use of the educational video with ovarian cancer patients at Markey. To achieve our goals for this project, our research team includes experienced researchers from the Translational Oncology and Molecular and Cellular Oncology research programs and co- investigators from the Oncogenomics and Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Shared Resource Facilities to assist with the execution of our proposal. We will work closely with the CIO to create a Patient Advocate Committee (PAC), specific to this project, which will be key in creating and providing feedback about the patient education video. Focus groups with providers will allow us to evaluate their perceptions about using a pre-test educational video as well as identify any perceived barriers and ways to overcome those barriers when we pilot the video. During the pilot use of the video in clinic with ovarian cancer patients, we will use a validated tool to assess patients’ knowledge and attitudes about GT before and after viewing the video. Additionally, the tool will help determine whether patients made an informed choice about GT. Our primary objective is to improve patients’ knowledge about GT and a secondary objective is to improve overall uptake of GT to >80%. At the completion of the project, we will meet with the PAC to share the results from the pilot within the clinic where the video was utilized. Our findings from this project will allow us to determine whether a pre-test educational video is an effective and feasible tool to supplement GC services with our patient population. If successful, we can expand the use of the video to other cancer patients at Markey. Additionally, because the majority of MCCAN sites do not have GCs at their institutions, we anticipate that if this video is found to be effective, we could expand its use to MCCAN sites and impact GT across the Commonwealth. Expanding GT throughout the state has the potential to identify at-risk family members of these patients and help reduce the overall cancer burden in Kentucky.
StatusActive
Effective start/end date8/1/247/30/25

Funding

  • National Cancer Institute

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