Managing Multi-Center Recruitment in the PLCO Cancer Screening Trial.

There were significant recruitment challenges specific to the PLCO Cancer Screening Trial. Large numbers of participants were to be randomized from ten catchment areas nationwide within time and budgetary constraints. The eligible population was elderly and had to meet health and behavioral thresholds.

Building Successful Relationships in the PLCO Cancer Screening Trial.

Biomedical research cannot succeed without funding, knowledgeable staff, and appropriate infrastructure. There are however equally important but intangible factors that are rarely considered in planning large multidisciplinary endeavors or evaluating their success. The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) Cancer Screening Trial required extensive collaborations between individuals from many fields, including clinicians, clinical trialists, and administrators; it also addressed questions across the spectrum of cancer prevention and control.

Recruitment methods employed in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial.

Background: The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO) is a US National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded randomized controlled trial designed to evaluate whether certain screening tests reduce mortality from prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancer. To obtain adequate statistical power, it was necessary to enroll over 150,000 healthy volunteers. Recruitment began in 1993 and ended in 2001.

Final results of the Lung Screening Study, a randomized feasibility study of spiral CT versus chest X-ray screening for lung cancer.

The Lung Screening Study (LSS) was a pilot study designed to assess the feasibility of conducting a large scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) of low radiation dose spiral computed tomography (LDCT) versus chest X-ray (CXR) for lung cancer screening. Baseline results of LSS have been previously reported. Here, we report on the findings at the year one screen and on the final results of the LSS study.

Assessment of farmers' acceptance of veterinarians as human health advocates.

The project goal was to collaborate with veterinarians in delivering skin cancer information to a farming population. Two interventions and a control were utilized: in nine Wisconsin counties veterinarians delivered education materials as part of routine dairy herd health visits, veterinarians in nine additional counties provided client lists so education materials could be mailed, and veterinarians in nine control counties provided client lists but farmers received no education materials. A questionnaire was administered by phone to a random sample of farmers in each group, assessing knowledge, sun protection attitudes and behaviors, acceptance of veterinarians in a human health education role.