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Background Cancer is the third leading cause of mortality in Kenya, accounting for 7% of annual deaths. The Kenyan Ministry of Health (MOH) is committed to reducing cancer mortality, as evidenced by policies such as the National Cancer Control Strategy (2011-2016). There are many Kenyan and international organizations devoted to this task; however, coordination is lacking among stakeholders, resulting in inefficient and overlapping expenditure of resources. Methods The MOH and the NCI Center for Global Health collaboratively executed a two day workshop to improve coordination among government, NGO, and private organizations. Over 80 stakeholders participated from leading cancer research and control institutions in Kenya and the international sphere. Findings Actionable recommendations include: establishment of a nationally representative population-based cancer registry; enhanced training for community health workers, nurses, researchers, pathologists, and oncology specialists; a reconfigured referral process, including leveraging of existing resources to improve access to cancer care; and coordinated community outreach and education. The MOH is in the process of forming a Technical Working Group (TWG) and has elected a Board of Directors for the newly established Kenyan National Cancer Institute (KNCI), with both entities committed to advancing the cancer control work of the MOH. Interpretation This stakeholder meeting enhanced in-country networks, identified priority needs and developed actionable proposals for coordinated improvement of cancer research and control. Active, persistent follow-up by the TWG, KNCI, and other partners will be needed to turn proposals into reality and ensure that partners' investments are integrated into larger cancer control efforts prioritized by MOH.

Women in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (PR) have a higher age-adjusted incidence rate for uterine cervix cancer than the U.S. mainland as well as substantial access and economic barriers to cancer care. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) funds a Minority/Underserved NCI Community Oncology Research Program in PR (PRNCORP) as part of a national network of community-based health-care systems to conduct multisite cancer clinical trials in diverse populations. Participation by the PRNCORP in NCI’s uterine cervix cancer clinical trials, however, has remained limited. This study reports on the findings of an NCI site visit in PR to assess barriers impeding site activation and accrual to its sponsored gynecologic cancer clinical trials. Qualitative, semi-structured individual, and group interviews were conducted at six PRNCORP-affiliated locations to ascertain: long-term trial accrual objectives; key stakeholders in PR that address uterine cervix cancer care; key challenges or barriers to activating and to enrolling patients in NCI uterine cervix cancer treatment trials; and resources, policies, or procedures in place or needed on the island to support NCI-sponsored clinical trials. An NCI-sponsored uterine cervix cancer radiation–chemotherapy intervention clinical trial (NCT02466971), already activated on the island, served as a test case to identify relevant patient accrual and site barriers. The site visit identified five key barriers to accrual: (1) lack of central personnel to coordinate referrals for treatment plans, medical tests, and medical imaging across the island’s clinical trial access points; (2) patient insurance coverage; (3) lack of a coordinated brachytherapy schedule at San Juan-centric service providers; (4) limited credentialed radiotherapy machines island-wide; and (5) too few radiology medical physicists tasked to credential trial-specified positron emission tomography scanners island-wide. PR offers a unique opportunity to study overarching and tactical strategies for improving accrual to NCI-sponsored gynecologic cancer clinical trials. Interview findings support adding and re-tasking personnel for coordinated trial-eligible patient referral, accrual, and treatment.

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The philosophy of the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Cancer Information Service (CIS) staff training program is based on the premise that a solid relationship exists between staff performance and training. As a leading edge organization and the premiere cancer information service in the world, the CIS provides more training to its staff than many organizations. This factor is in part responsible for the program's success over the past 30 years, during which time the staff training program was revised to reflect a more comprehensive, performance-based approach. This paper describes the development of the curricula and the standards that are the foundation of the CIS program.

The aim of this study was to understand the current environment around clinical research relating to nursing education and practice. This descriptive study analyzed data from 33 in-depth interviews with faculty members, nurse executives, staff development directors, and practicing nurses, as well as an online interactive brainstorming session with 28 deans of schools of nursing (or their designee). Patterns and themes that emerged within each group were identified and analyzed in relation to study objectives. Central themes emerged around participants' knowledge and attitudes about clinical research education for baccalaureate nursing students, factors enhancing or inhibiting inclusion of clinical research content in baccalaureate nursing programs, and professional roles nursing students could expect to assume after graduation. Although the participants agreed that mastery of clinical research knowledge and related skills is important, there was no agreement whether nurses should receive this education and training in baccalaureate programs or in staff development.