Clinical Research Directory

PROSPR Project 1: Identifying and Tracking Personalized CRC Screening Regimens for Patients in Clinical Settings

The overall goal of the Parkland-UT Southwestern Population-based Research Optimizing Screening through Personalized Regimens (PROSPR) Center is to optimize colon cancer screening through personalized regimens in the integrated safety-net clinical provider network, which serves a large and diverse population of under- and un-insured patients in Dallas. Together, three research projects will assess clinic, system, and organizational factors associated with over-, under- and guideline-based screening among this important population and will compare benefits, harms, and costs of strategies for facilitating optimized screening regimens. The theme of optimizing colorectal cancer screening in a safety-net clinical provider network brings together several components. Its focus on colorectal cancer (CRC) screening which is important, because CRC is the second cancer killer in the US while being the only major cancer for which optimized screening results in primary prevention. Despite this strong potential benefit, CRC screening remains suboptimal overall, and especially among low-income and minority individuals served by safety-nets. Safety-net networks therefore offer tremendous potential for CRC prevention and control, but numerous factors at the clinics-, system-, and organization-level influence their ability to provide optimized care.