Metro-Minnesota Community Oncology Research Consortium
joins national “Impact of Cancer on Finances” study
Bloomington, Minn. — Understanding the personal financial toll cancer can have on patients is the main goal of a new study. Metro-Minnesota Community Oncology Research Consortium investigators are participating in a National Cancer Institute study designed to measure how often cancer patients face financial problems and how it affects their quality of life. Researchers are specifically looking at colorectal cancer patients.
“It’s clear the cost of cancer care drugs is rising rapidly,” said Dr. Daniel Anderson, a MetroMinnesota Community Oncology Research Consortium principal investigator, HealthPartners Institute investigator and HealthPartners oncologist. “This study will help us figure out how drug cost is affecting patient’s ability to receive care and afford other expenses.”
Investigators are recruiting 350 patients at 174 institutions across the nation who have colorectal cancer. Local cancer center sites in this study are HealthPartners Cancer Center at Regions Hospital, HealthPartners Frauenshuh Cancer Center, HealthPartners Riverside Cancer Care Center, Lakeview Hospital Cancer Care Center, Westfields Hospital Cancer Care of Western Wisconsin, Abbott Northwestern Hospital and Hennepin County Medical Center. The one-year study will include questionnaires every three months asking patients specific questions about how cancer care has affected their finances.
“We know there is a financial impact,” said Dr. Pam Pawloski, site principle investigator for this study and HealthPartners Institute investigator. “By conducting this study, we will systematically evaluate it and understand its impact in a large group of patients. The ultimate goal of this study is to estimate the incidence of cancer treatment-related financial hardship. By understanding this better, we can develop interventions to address the financial consequences patients face during cancer treatment.”
Potential study participants can call Metro-Minnesota Community Oncology Research Consortium at 952-993-1517 to learn more about being a part of this research.
About HealthPartners Institute
HealthPartners Institute is part of HealthPartners, the largest consumer-governed, non-profit health care organization in the nation with a mission to improve health and well-being in partnership with members, patients and the community. One of the largest medical research and education centers in the Midwest, the Institute has about 450 studies underway each year, trains more than 500 medical residents and fellows and more than 500 students, and provides continuing medical education for 25,000 clinicians as well as patient education and clinical quality improvement. For more information, visit healthpartnersinstitute.org.
Metro-Minnesota Community Oncology Research Consortium
HealthPartners has participated for more than 20 years in a local research collaborative called the Metro-Minnesota Community Oncology Research Consortium (MMCORC). MMCORC is a nonprofit research program sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and participating hospitals and clinics. This program provides people in our community access to the newest therapies available for cancer treatment, management of treatment side effects and disease symptoms and cancer prevention. The overall goal of MMCORC is to bring cancer clinical trials (cancer control, prevention, screening, treatment, and imaging), as well as cancer care delivery research, to individuals in their own communities, thus generating a broadly applicable evidence base that contributes to improved patient outcomes and a reduction in cancer disparities. For more information, visit ccopnet.com