Radiation Research Program |
Rapid City Regional Hospital
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Grant Staff Contact Information Program Director Clinical Research Assistant/Office Coordinator Grants Administrator Patient Navigators Dave Koop, RN Clinical Oncology Research Nurses Michele Sargent, RN Dave Koop, RN |
Community Research Supervisor Community Research Representatives/Community Navigators Raylene Miner (Cheyenne River Reservation) Caroline Spotted Tail (Rosebud River Reservation) David Rooks (Pine Ridge Reservation) Primary Partner Institution Contact Information |
The Cancer Care Institute (CCI) in Rapid City, South Dakota, serves approximately 100,000 Native Americans from surrounding reservations in South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming and Nebraska. Some patients live up to four hours from the cancer center. Identifying barriers, which prevent Native Americans from presenting with earlier stages of cancer, or in some circumstances not at all, are being investigated. A culturally responsive questionnaire is administered to randomly selected Native Americans on the reservation who do not have cancer. A second questionnaire is given to cancer patients, and address similar issues, but concentrate on additional questions of oncologic relevance. It is hypothesized that a major barrier is geographic dislocation from cultural/community roots close to home. Traditional radiotherapy involves a 6 to 8 week course and daily treatments. This treatment approach may represent a major barrier. With the use of advanced technologies such as intensity modulated radiotherapy and brachytherapy, the treatment course can be shortened to 1(delete "to 1") to 4 weeks. Therefore, to address this barrier, clinical trials have been developed which shorten treatment duration. A series of phase II studies are being conducted for malignancies commonly seen among the Native Americans: metastatic disease, non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), breast, prostate, and head and neck (H&N) cancer. For patients with stage I and II breast cancer, high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy is being substituted for a conventional course of external beam radiation. Patients with advanced prostate cancer are being treated with a 2-week course of conformal external beam radiation followed by an HDR implant in combination with androgen ablation. Pilot tomotherapy trials are proposed for patients with metastatic disease, locally advanced H&N, and NSCLC. The final pilot trial will investigate the use of HDR brachytherapy alone for early stage prostate cancer. A genetic milieu may exist which renders Native Americans more sensitive to radiation. Therefore, a laboratory study is being conducted to investigate whether Native Americans have a higher mutation rate of the AT (ataxia-telangiectasia) gene determined through HPLC of the peripheral blood lymphocytes. Through patient education, screening, assessing potential barriers to health care, and innovative treatment strategies, it is hoped that Native Americans will eventually present earlier in their disease process.
Rapid City Regional Hospital's Native American Patient Navigator Program (NAPNP)
Programmatic Goals:
Diminish cancer incidence and mortality and to improve the quality of life of
people with cancer in the Native American community served by Rapid City Regional
Hospital. Rapid City Regional Hospital's Native American Patient Navigator Program
(NAPNP) will identify and assist potential cancer patients to obtain the most appropriate
diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up by helping patients navigate the health care
and insurance systems.
Due to the long distances patients must travel to receive treatment at Rapid City Regional Hospital, Dr. Petereit has designed a Patient Navigator Program to give patients immediate access to a CDRP representative. Dr. Petereit has hired Community Research Representatives to work on the reservations and assist the Patient Navigators who are located in Rapid City.
Patient Navigator Responsibilities:
Community Research Representatives Responsibilities:
Contact Information Patient Navigator |
Community Research Representatives/Community Navigators Raylene Miner (Cheyenne River Reservation) Caroline Spotted Tail (Rosebud Reservation) David Rooks (Pine Ridge Reservation) |
Details of Rapid City Regional Hospital's Patient Navigator Program were taken from the Patient Navigator Plan entitled the "Native American Patient Navigator Program: A Program of the Rapid City Regional Hospital in conjunction with NIH Grant RFA-CA-02-002 'Enhancing Native American Participation in Radiation Therapy Trials'" submitted by Dr. Daniel Petereit. (January 31, 2003)