Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock ( 🔒 ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Need Help

Planning grant to support a future trial of an intervention to improve clinical trial education and enrollment

Award Number: R34CA313778
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/01/2026
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2029

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Planning grant to support a future trial of an intervention to improve clinical trial education and enrollment - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Cancer patient participation in therapeutic clinical trials is essential to the development and evaluation of new cancer treatments to improve patient survival, outcomes, and quality of life. However, investigators and institutions often fail to recruit the number of patients required to answer the study’s question or provide generalizable results, limiting the advancement of cancer care. Trial enrollment rates among U.S. cancer patients remain persistently low. It is estimated that 77% of US cancer patients are not enrolled to trials due to being treated at sites with no trial options for them. Of the remaining 23% of all patients treated at facilities with available trials, only 8%, or just over 1 in 3, are enrolled. Rural areas are characterized by uneven and insufficient accrual of patients onto therapeutic clinical trials. Current solutions to supporting clinical trial enrollment include big data initiatives, such as precision oncology protocols, designed to reduce structural barriers by matching patients to trial opportunities within large clinical trial networks. Patient decision aids administered at the time of invitation to a specific trial are designed to help patient better understand and make informed decisions about joining trials . Despite the proliferation of these efforts, their efficacy in increasing trial enrollment is inconsistent and trial enrollment rates remain stagnant. Research from our group and others has shown that patients’ trial enrollment decisions are not just based on their views of a specific trial opportunity but also factors such as misunderstanding, mistrust, negative attitudes, and poor communication skills which can limit patients’ participation in clinical trial conversations and decision making. Our premise is that interventions are needed to extend beyond prevailing strategies of offering decision aids or education at the time of trial invitation to also proactively preparing patients to have meaningful conversations and make informed decisions if presented with a trial opportunity. We have developed and experimentally tested a set of evidence-based message strategies, grounded in health communication principles and behavior change theories, which can be effective at improving patient understanding and communication skills, even among those with mistrust or negative attitudes toward research. We propose to assemble these evidence-based components into an interactive, game-based educational intervention to prepare patients to engage in clinical trial conversations and informed decision-making if an opportunity to join a trial emerges during their treatment. The planning studies in this R34 application are designed to support a future trial by completing these Specific Aims: 1) to apply user-centered design and iterative development methods to produce an intervention that integrates evidence-based messaging strategies into a game package ; 2) to conduct a pilot study of the intervention in the field; and 3) to collect prospective data from medical records and self-report patient survey related to clinical trials.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $281,820 )
2026	2026	UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY RESEARCH FOUNDATION, THE	500 S LIMESTONE	LEXINGTON	KY	40526	FAYETTE	USA	Cancer Cause and Prevention Research	000	1	6/19/2026	NEW	$281,820
														Subtotal = $281,820

Grand Total All Awards = $281,820

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Planning grant to support a future trial of an intervention to improve clinical trial education and enrollment

Award Number: R34CA313778

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/01/2026

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 06/30/2029

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer