Pfizer Global Medical Grants, in collaboration with the National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s (NCCN) Oncology Research Programme (ORP), has jointly awarded funding to nine projects to improve quality of breast cancer care.
NCCN is a not-for-profit alliance comprising 27 major cancer centres focused on patient care, research and education, and aims at enhancing the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of cancer care so that people can live improved lives.
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The projects focus on the use of clinical care pathways to implement quality improvement (QI) initiatives along the continuum of care for underserved patients with breast cancer.
Some of the projects will concentrate on evaluating care choices, including the way to maximise chemotherapy delivery, manage symptoms, adhere to guidelines, improve clinical pathways and use shared decision-making.
Other projects focus on specific patient groups, such as African Americans, younger women and patients living in rural areas.
NCCN ORP Clinical Operations director Susan Most said: “Our request for proposals (RFP) specifically sought out centres that focus on treating underserved patients with cancer.
“By highlighting technological advances and multidisciplinary collaboration, we hope to encourage the widespread adoption of best practices for reducing costs and improving quality in breast cancer patient care.”
More than 90 letters of intent were submitted to the RFP, of which 23 full proposals were requested for review.
Led by NCCN, the review committee for the projects included a medical representative from Pfizer.
Slated to commence in January next year, the projects will continue for a period of two years, during which each of them will have to provide evidence of scalability and sustainability.
Data based on their outcomes will be assessed and disseminated in early 2020.
The current partnership is the third collaboration between NCCN ORP and Pfizer.
