Services

Pre-award, the RCIC can provide potential case numbers, including specific information regarding race, age, gender, and stage, to guide you in the grant-planning and writing phase of your project. There is no charge for these services.

Post award services are fee-for-service with a discount to members of the DF/HCC. Post award services include the identification of study eligible patients, medical record review, retrieval of pathology specimens, identification of population controls, and assistance with IRB approval.

Services offered by the core include the following:

Identification of patients: Through review of pathology reports, RCIC staff will identify study eligible patients at DF/HCC and other Eastern Massachusetts hospitals within two to four weeks of diagnosis that are eligible for:

• Epidemiologic Studies
• Social and Behavioral Research Studies
• Clinical Trials

Medical record review: We will work closely with you to tailor our data collection efforts to meet the specific needs of your study in order to:

• Obtain clinical data for epidemiologic, social and behavioral research studies, and clinical research
• Provide annotated clinical data for tissue obtained via the Pathology Specimen Locator core or other means

Pathology specimens: RCIC staff will coordinate and provide the retrieval of pathology specimens including the following tasks:

• Locate initial diagnostic material at DF/HCC and outside institutions
• Arrange for transportation and/or shipment of material to designated study staff
• Provide for the return of material if required
• Provide detailed tracking of specimens throughout the process

Potential case numbers – preliminary data: With ready access to hospital and state cancer registry data, the RCIC will provide case numbers to assist researchers in determining adequate potential patient populations for grant planning and preparation. Specifically we can provide you with:

• Hospital-specific data by cancer site, race, age, stage, and gender
• Regional (county, city/town) data by cancer site, race, age, stage, and gender
• State-wide data by cancer site, race, age, stage, and gender
• Demographic/census profiles for each county and major city/town in Massachusetts

Identification of population controls: RCIC staff will provide demographic information on potential population controls via the Town Book Library. This library:

• Contains a comprehensive collection of Resident Lists for the cities and towns in Eastern Massachusetts. Each list provides resident name and address as well as date of birth and occupation for some cities and towns
• Is continually updated each year for each city/town in Eastern Massachusetts
• Contains the current plus five previous years of Town Books

Assistance with IRB approval: RCIC staff will provide assistance with the case ascertainment issues surrounding IRB approval for studies utilizing the core. The core will:

• Assist with IRB approval at non-DF/HCC institutions including attendance at approval meetings if requested
• Provide protocol language describing the core, staff, and issues surrounding access to protected health information
• Maintain and provide proof of CITI and/or other human subjects training requirements for all core staff members