Rapid Case Ascertainment

Room: Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center / NC Central Cancer Registry
Director(s): Andrew Olshan, DrPH and Tara Smith Strigo, MPH

Hours: 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Phone: (919) 966-0032
Fax: (919) 966-1787
Email: tara_strigo@unc.edu

Objectives:
Rapid Case Ascertainment (RCA) Core

* Collaboration between N.C. Central Cancer Registry (NCCCR) & UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center since 1992

* Supports population-based epidemiology research

* Facilitates research to advance knowledge of causes, treatment and prevention of cancer

* Addresses important need making continued research possible in N.C.

Services:
RCA is an acceleration of the North Carolina Central Cancer Registry's (NCCCR) reporting process - from 6 months to 1 month. The NCCCR and its ability to provide a RCA system has made N.C. a national leader in population-based cancer research. Without RCA, such research is not possible because peer reviewers and agencies will not fund the research.

Rapid Case Ascertainment Purpose:

* Provide support to the CCR and local hospitals for rapid case ascertainment

* Facilitate cancer prevention and control research that requires early contact with patients

* Identify potential cases prior to death or significant morbidity

* Allow timely interviewing and biologic specimen collection

* Allow researchers to contact patients who live across the state


Rapid Case Ascertainment Core Expands Services

The Rapid-Case Ascertainment Core now offers our services to obtain medical records from hospitals, free-standing cancer centers, clinics, physician’s offices, and other treatment facilities for consenting patients participating in approved research projects. Our certified tumor registrar will review and abstract medical record data demographics, history and extent of disease, diagnostic procedures, initial and follow-up treatment, and outcome) and enter it into your study-specific database according to study protocol and timeline. We will also offer our services to retrieve diagnostic tumor blocks or slides from hospitals, free-standing cancer centers, clinics, physician’s offices, pathologists, and other treatment facilities for enrolled subjects, track receipt and processing of blocks in your study-specific database, deliver blocks to the study pathologist/lab for processing, and return all tumor blocks to originating facilities.

Policies:
The Research Process:

* Researchers contact RCA and NCCCR to discuss their upcoming proposal or grant.

* Individual projects receive IRB approval, and then approval from NCCCR.

* Registrars provide pathology reports, demographics and physician contact information of potentially eligible patients to RCA within 1 month of diagnosis.

* Eligible patients’ data are entered in a database.

* A brochure outlining NCCCR’s role and notification of possible contact by researchers is mailed to eligible patients.

* Data are delivered to the research project.

Individual projects will then:
- notify physician of intent to contact eligible patient;
- mail invitation letter explaining study to eligible patient;
- obtain consent; and
- administer in-home / telephone interviews, and if applicable, collect specimens and provide incentives.

Charges:
The Core does not charge for its services. Users pay a per-case ascertainment fee ($15) directly to hospitals for pathology reports, as well as monetary support for RCA staff.

Staff:
Dr. Andrew Olshan, Facility Director
Tara Strigo, Facility Coordinator
Karen Knight, Director, NCCCR
Chandrika Rao, Asst. Director, NCCCR
Dorothy Martin, RCA Coordinator
Dianne Vann, RCA Coordinator
Sarah Walden, RCA Coordinator

Location:
Most activities of the Rapid Case Ascertainment staff are based at the N.C. Central Cancer Registry in Raleigh, NC

For More Information:

Contact Tara Strigo at 919-966-0032 or tara_strigo@unc.edu

Web site:
http://cancer.med.unc.edu/research/cores/facility.asp?facilityID=17

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