Grant Details
Grant Number: |
3U01CA063731-05S1 Interpret this number |
Primary Investigator: |
Taplin, Stephen |
Organization: |
Group Health Cooperative |
Project Title: |
Breast Cancer Surveillance in a Defined Population |
Fiscal Year: |
1999 |
Abstract
This project will build on existing surveillance systems for breast
cancer detection and diagnostic procedures among 92,000 women aged 35
and above. These women are enrollees of a health maintenance
organization, Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound (GHC), which
established a formal breast cancer screening program in 1985. Current
independent automated clinical systems include mammography, pathology,
cost, breast cancer risk factor, and clinical breast examination data
on most women age 35 and above. Cancer outcomes are captured by the
SEER registry. The core activity of the project will enhance and link
existing data systems to improve their usefulness for research.
Specific activities include: 1) implementing the American College of
Radiology lexicon for standardized interpretation and reporting all
mammography examinations, 2) enhancing the pathology system to capture
histologic findings, and 3) creating a breast tissue registry that
links biopsy dates, findings and breast cancer risk information.
Prior experience with surveillance research, and ability to build on
an existing data system, will assure rapid provision of high quality,
detailed data, make the investigative team a strong contributor to
collaborative analyses.
The core activities will support two Surveillance Initiatives and four
Research Projects. Surveillance Initiative 1 will monitor population
rates of mammography and clinical breast examination among symptomatic
and asymptomatic women, record rates of diagnostic service usage, and
evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value
of screening and symptomatic mammography. Surveillance Initiative 2
will document the effectiveness of breast cancer screening in our
population and that of the surrounding area, using our existing
linkage to the western Washington SEER system. the Research Projects
will investigate 1) cellular differences in normal and malignant
breast tissue using biomarkers; 2) the costs of alternative diagnostic
strategies; 3) methods to improve the quality of mammographic
interpretation. The results of the project will contribute to
improvements in breast cancer detection and diagnosis, implementation
of breast cancer screening, and our understanding of breast cancer
biology.
Publications
None. See parent grant details.