NCI Patterns of Care Study: Diagnosis Year 2021 (Prostate Cancer and Ovarian Cancer)

University of Kentucky Patterns of Care Proposal Eric Durbin, PI Narrative National Cancer Institute (NCI) Patterns of Care (POC) studies are undertaken to examine and characterize the cancer treatment and practice patterns in different geographic areas of the United States. Kentucky represents a unique population of interest for NCI POC studies as its catchment area includes cancer cases occurring in a state with a large rural population characterized by poverty, low educational attainment, and a high cancer burden. Approximately 1.2 million Kentucky residents (27% of the state’s population) live in the geographic area defined as Appalachia. The 54-county region of the state classified as Appalachia has cancer incidence and mortality rates that are substantially higher than either the U.S. or the non- Appalachian regions of the state. This is an important sector of the U.S. population that is only represented in the SEER dataset through cases contributed by KCR. We firmly believe it will be important for these cases and their treatment patterns to be represented in this POC.