title: Building Successful Relationships in the PLCO Cancer Screening Trial.
abstract: Biomedical research cannot succeed without funding, knowledgeable staff, and appropriate infrastructure. There are however equally important but intangible factors that are rarely considered in planning large multidisciplinary endeavors or evaluating their success. The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial required extensive collaborations between individuals from many fields, including clinicians, clinical trialists, and administrators; it also addressed questions across the spectrum of cancer prevention and control. In this manuscript, we examine the experiences and opinions of trial staff regarding the building of successful relationships in PLCO. We summarize, in narrative form, data collected using open-ended questionnaires that were administered to the National Cancer Institute project officers, coordinating center staff, screening center principal investigators, and screening center coordinators in 2015, about 3 years after publication of the final primary trial manuscript. Trust, respect, listening to others, and in-person interaction were frequently mentioned as crucial to building successful relationships.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. marcusp@mail.nih.gov.
authors.forename: Pamela M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Marcus
authors.forename: Karen G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Broski
authors.forename: Saundra S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Buys
authors.forename: Jeffery
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Childs
authors.forename: Timothy R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Church
authors.forename: John K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Gohagan
authors.forename: Lisa H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Gren
authors.forename: Darlene
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Higgins
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jaggi
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Jenkins
authors.forename: Christine C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lappe
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: Sheryl L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Ogden
authors.forename: Philip C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Prorok
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Reding
authors.forename: Vicki
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Shambaugh
authors.forename: Lance A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Yokochi
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yurgalevitch
mesh_terms: D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D054547:National Cancer Institute (U.S.); D009936:Organizational Innovation; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D018579:Patient Selection; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D011786:Quality Control; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States