Project Title: Cancer Genetics Network (CGN): Buena Vida Magazine Evaluation and CGN Recruitment Study

Abstract:

This study will evaluate the effectiveness of a magazine, developed in the fall of 2001 by the Texas Cancer Genetics Consortium (TCGC). The 24-page, 4-color, English/Spanish, cultural and literacy appropriate magazine is aimed at recruiting Hispanics to the CGN registry. Tumor registries from San Antonio, Texas that consist of English and Spanish speaking Hispanic registrants at an increased cancer risk (having had some form of cancer or having family history of cancer) will be selected to participate in this CGN recruitment study. The study will not target or require recruitment to a specific clinical trial but rather recruit only to the general CGN registry. Individuals will be randomly selected into three different conditions. Condition X1 will receive standard materials via mail, X2 will receive X1 materials plus a Buena Vida magazine, and X3 will receive X2 materials as well as phone contact. Six hundred individuals, 300 males and 300 females will be randomized to one of three conditions (X1, X2, or X3) with 200 participants per condition, 100 males and 100 females into each of the conditions. There will be two different types of evaluations, a process and an outcome evaluation. The process evaluation will entail the development of a database to monitor the sample identification, recruitment and follow-up activities. The outcome of this study will be the completion of the standard CGN registry materials. Outcome evaluation will consist of receiving completed CGN Registry materials, as well as a brief series of questions regarding the effectiveness of the Buena Vida magazine and the effectiveness of telephone intervention (for X3 only) as recruitment tools for the CGN Registry. This project is expected to last 12 months, beginning in December 2003 and ending in December 2004.

PI:

  • Alexander Miller, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Co-Chief, Division of Surgical Oncology and Director of the Cancer Risk Assessment and Prevention Clinic at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Co-PI:

  • Amelie G. Ramirez, DrPH, Professor of Medicine and Deputy Director of the Chronic Disease Prevention and Control Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine

Funding Institution:

National Cancer Institute, Texas Cancer Genetics Consortium

Funding Period:

1 yr.– 2003 - 2004

Location/Service Area:

Hispanic tumor registrants from San Antonio, Texas considered high risk (having had some form of cancer or having family history of cancer)

Collaborators/Co-sponsors:

  • Cancer Genetics Network
  • Cancer Information Service
  • Cancer Therapy and Research Center
  • Cancer Registry from the Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, Texas
  • Dr. Ian Thompson, SABOR PI from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Goals:

To evaluate the effectiveness of a culturally sensitive bilingual magazine and interpersonal communication, as a recruitment device for the TCGN registry to increase Hispanic enrollment in the TCGN registry.

Results:

Completed CGN pedigree surveys, and consent documents were returned by 153 participants, yielding an overall 33% response rate (153/458). There were 46 registrants from the X1 group (a 30% response rate), 43 registrants from the X2 group (a 28% response rate), and 64 registrants from the X3 group (a 42% response rate).

Males outnumbered females in the study, most likely because one of the recruitment sources was a prostate cancer study that yielded 38% of the entire study population. Seventy-seven percent of the eligible 153 study respondents reported that they were White, while 35% answered race as unknown or other. However, 100% of the sample acknowledged being Latino, predominantly of Mexican American ethnicity (52.5%). Most subjects were of Catholic faith (78%), and the majority had at least a high school education, with nearly half having earned a college degree.

About 50% of the total sample reported having a personal history of cancer, and 67% had a family history of cancer. Considering cancer history across the treatment conditions, subjects in X1 also had slightly higher rates of personal and family cancer history than X2 or X3; however, this did not positively correlate to increased interest in participating in the national CGN cancer registry. Only 5% of all study subjects chose to complete the pedigree and consent documents in Spanish, with the majority selecting English materials.

Potential Impact:

The project could lead to an increase in the number of enrolled Hispanics in the Texas Cancer Genetics Network registry, which would aid researchers in developing novel treatments.

Publications:

Published Manuscripts:

  • Ramirez AG, et al. Testing three different cancer genetics registry recruitment methods with Hispanic cancer patients and their family members. Community Genetics 2007; in press.