Army of Women Joins Forces with caBIG

Sharing data over the caBIG network will help the Avon/Love Army of Women move  ”Beyond the Cure” towards research to prevent breast cancer.

Dr. Susan Love from the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation, joined caBIG director Dr. Ken Buetow to announce the partnership at the caBIG Annual Meeting on July 20, 2009 in Washington.

caBIG is the National Cancer Institute’s cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid, an open source, collaborative computer information network designed to link cancer research data across a broad range of needs and projects.

The mission of caBIG® is to develop a truly collaborative information network that accelerates the discovery of new approaches for the detection, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer, ultimately improving patient outcomes.

The Army of Women is recruiting one million women of all backgrounds who will agree to consider participation in research studies.  The Army/caBIG effort will link those women with scientists using software tools developed by caBIG to match potential participants to trials.

The Army of Women wants volunteer women with breast cancer, but they also need and want healthy women who haven’t been diagnosed with breast cancer.  Volunteers with other cancers or  health conditions are also an important part of the project.

So far 300,000 women have signed up to be part of the Army of Women.  They provide limited personal information when they join and learn about studies they might be eligible for via email.    If they decide to apply for a study, they submit more information confidentially.

Trying to find appropriate study participants is a serious problem for cancer research, often taking years.  Many vital studies can’t be completed because enrollees can’t be signed up.

The Army of Women provides a huge pool of potential candidates, all of whom know about research needs and want to help.

Keeping private information secure is a commitment of the Army of Women and of caBIG, whose Data Sharing and Security Framework is designed to make sure that researchers only receive information that they need and are approved to see.  Names and other identifying information is kept confidential.

On Monday, Dr. Love described 10 early studies using the AOW that fully filled studies with qualified participants within days — and sometimes hours — moving enrollment targets from years to weeks.

The Army of Women/caBIG  project will also build a large database of interconnected information about the volunteer women that can be studied by researchers to look for patterns of breast cancer risk and outcomes.

Want to join?  It’s simple to do.

Note from Kate: You may wonder why I’m writing about a breast cancer initiative in a C3 Colorectal Cancer Coalition blog.

First of all, I am impressed with the strength and value of building a huge cohort of people ready to participate in clinical trials and to share valuable information about themselves and their lives.

We think — but aren’t sure — that there may be a connection between breast cancer and colorectal cancer.  There may be links between certain inherited colon cancers and breast cancer.  We need big groups of people to answer those questions.

Like my mother, I’ve had both breast and colon cancer and don’t know if there was a real link or just coincidence.

So, I’ve joined the Army of Women!

I am also a patient advocate with caBIG and committed to sharing information across a broad grid of information to solve the problem of cancer — whatever organs it may involve.

Dr. Love’s enthusiasm, caBIG’s technical expertise, and the generosity of a million women can make a huge leap forward.

And that’s the first step for other cancers as well.