title: Leveraging epidemiology and clinical studies of cancer outcomes: recommendations and opportunities for translational research.
abstract: As the number of cancer survivors continues to grow, research investigating the factors that affect cancer outcomes, such as disease recurrence, risk of second malignant neoplasms, and the late effects of cancer treatments, becomes ever more important. Numerous epidemiologic studies have investigated factors that affect cancer risk, but far fewer have addressed the extent to which demographic, lifestyle, genomic, clinical, and psychosocial factors influence cancer outcomes. To identify research priorities as well as resources and infrastructure needed to advance the field of cancer outcomes and survivorship research, the National Cancer Institute sponsored a workshop titled "Utilizing Data from Cancer Survivor Cohorts: Understanding the Current State of Knowledge and Developing Future Research Priorities" on November 3, 2011, in Washington, DC. This commentary highlights recent findings presented at the workshop, opportunities to leverage existing data, and recommendations for future research, data, and infrastructure needed to address high priority clinical and research questions. Multidisciplinary teams that include epidemiologists, clinicians, biostatisticians, and bioinformaticists will be essential to facilitate future cancer outcome studies focused on improving clinical care of cancer patients, identifying those at high risk of poor outcomes, and implementing effective interventions to ultimately improve the quality and duration of survival.
authors.affiliation: Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Branch, DCCPS 6130 Executive Blvd, rm 5136 Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. elenajw@mail.nih.gov
authors.forename: Joanne W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Elena
authors.forename: Lois B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Travis
authors.forename: Naoko I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Simonds
authors.forename: Christine B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Ambrosone
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ballard-Barbash
authors.forename: Smita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bhatia
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Cerhan
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hartge
authors.forename: Rebecca S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Heist
authors.forename: Lawrence H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Kushi
authors.forename: Timothy L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Lash
authors.forename: Lindsay M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Morton
authors.forename: Kenan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Onel
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Pierce
authors.forename: Leslie L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Robison
authors.forename: Julia H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Rowland
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schrag
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Sellers
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Seminara
authors.forename: Xiao Ou
authors.initials: XO
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.forename: Nancy E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Cornelia M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Ulrich
authors.forename: Andrew N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Freedman
mesh_terms: D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002908:Chronic Disease; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003226:Congresses as Topic; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D054547:National Cancer Institute (U.S.); D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D016609:Neoplasms, Second Primary / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D017741:Survivors; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical / Q000379:methods; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology