EGRP Cancer Epidemiology News

May 2024

• NCI-Supported Cancer Epidemiology Cohorts: Past, Present, and Future
• Funding Opportunities
• Contract Opportunities
• Grants Policy Announcements
• Requests for Information
• New Resources
• News, Blog Posts, and Podcasts

NCI-Supported Cancer Epidemiology Cohorts: Past, Present, and Future

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has made substantial investments in cancer epidemiology cohorts to study both cancer etiology and survivorship. These cohorts vary in sample size and scientific scope. They have advanced knowledge across the cancer continuum by providing fundamental insights into key environmental, lifestyle, clinical, and genetic determinants of cancer and its outcomes. The Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program (EGRP) currently supports over 45 cancer epidemiology cohorts. Collectively, these survivor and etiology cohorts have enrolled over 1 million participants. Moreover, these cohorts have rich epidemiological data and biospecimens that could be leveraged by researchers worldwide to investigate novel research questions.

In the 1990s, NCI supported large-scale etiology cohorts as investigator-initiated R01s or P01s. With recognition of the rising number of cancer survivors and critical needs to ameliorate burden in survivorship, funding for survivor cohorts began in the mid-2000s to address scientific gaps. More recently, and with anticipated research needs, EGRP has enhanced its efforts to increase the diversity of the cohorts in NCI’s portfolio – in terms of the participant demographics (e.g., race/ethnicity, age, and less common cancer types) and scientific questions being addressed (e.g., emerging cancer treatments; disparities; and impact of climate change, environmental disasters, behavioral factors, and novel chemicals on cancer risk and outcomes).

Three funding opportunities with targeted goals have been published: (1) Utilizing Cohort Studies to Address Health Outcomes in Cancer Survivors (RFA-CA-20-030); (2) New Cohorts for Environmental Exposures and Cancer Risk (CEECR) (RFA-CA-20-049); and (3) Cannabis and Cannabinoid Use in Adult Cancer Patients During Treatment: Assessing Benefits and Harms (RFA-CA-22-052). Together, these initiatives resulted in the creation of 14 new cancer epidemiology cohorts (four cohorts addressing health outcomes in survivors, five cohorts focused on environmental exposures and cancer risk, and five survivor cohorts focused on cannabis use) that are currently enrolling targeted populations and establishing prospectively collected resources to be shared and leveraged by the extramural community. In alignment with the goals of the National Cancer Plan and Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, these new cohorts seek to complement other investigator-initiated studies to meet needs and drive innovation and forward-thinking cancer epidemiological research.

In addition, EGRP has ongoing efforts to encourage grant applications that address scientific knowledge gaps in cancer etiology and cancer survivorship. New cohorts may be proposed through Building the Next Generation of Research Cohorts (PAR-22-161) to initiate and build cancer epidemiology cohorts that can address critical scientific gaps concerning new or unique exposures in relation to cancer risk and/or outcomes. New cohorts proposed should seek to include understudied populations (racial/ethnic groups, rural populations, individuals living in persistent poverty areas) as the focus of the cohort, and also have plans for community engagement to establish bi-directional partnerships between researchers and community partners. This is critical to incorporate and integrate respective unique strengths and perspectives to inform research priorities in ways that are sensitive to local cultures and belief systems.

While building resources with new cohorts, NCI also seeks to leverage the existing cohort resources for hypothesis-driven studies (Research Opportunities in Established Cancer Epidemiology Cohort Studies, PAR-22-162). Established cohorts (defined as studies that have achieved their initial planned recruitment goal) have a wealth of exposure data, stored biospecimens, considerable follow-up time, and cancer information. Through PAR-22-162, researchers can propose studies that leverage existing cohort data and biospecimens to address novel hypotheses and address gaps in scientific knowledge (e.g., understudied populations [race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, early-onset cancers, and geography], understudied cancers, and exposures) while supporting cohort infrastructure.

For more information about NCI-funded cancer epidemiology cohorts, visit the EGRP cohort website or contact cohort coordinators Somdat Mahabir, PhD, MPH, and Danielle Carrick, PhD, MHS. Additionally, the Cancer Epidemiology Descriptive Cohort Database (CEDCD) contains descriptive information about cohort studies in EGRP’s grants portfolio and other non-NCI funded cohorts.

Funding Opportunities

Contract Opportunities

Grants Policy Announcements

Requests for Information

New Resources

News, Blog Posts, and Podcasts