Prevention, Screening, and Surveillance Committee

The Prevention, Screening, and Surveillance Committee pursues research that aligns with the National Cancer Institute’s definition of cancer prevention: action taken to lower the risk of getting cancer. The ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group pursues a broad scope of prevention research that spans primary prevention, cancer screening, and secondary prevention through this committee.

This committee aims to reduce cancer risk, incidence, and mortality. It evaluates medicines that may prevent early cancer from progressing. It studies ways to identify asymptomatic populations at risk for developing cancer (primary prevention) and prevent cancer progression in at-risk populations with known pre-cancer or low-risk cancer (secondary prevention).

The landmark TMIST mammography trial seeks to personalize breast cancer screening. This committee is co-leading TMIST along with the Imaging Committee and Breast Cancer Committee.

Through its component Prevention Subcommittee, the committee pursues precision prevention strategies that identify and test imaging and molecular biomarkers for their potential to predict cancer risk. It co-developed a trial to explore if green tea extract pills can reduce the progression of early, slow-growing prostate cancer (EA8184), with the Genitourinary Cancer Committee. This trial also studies whether a recently-discovered tumor marker may predict response to green tea treatment.