Haidar Amira, Villalobos Aubrey, Vinson Cynthia, Neta Gila
Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, 9609 Medical Center Dr. , Rockville, MD, 20850, USA.
Implement Sci Commun. 2025 Jul 22;6(1):76. doi: 10.1186/s43058-025-00755-4.
The dynamic landscape of cancer implementation science (IS) has seen a significant rise in the use of policy as a tool. This analysis explores the multifaceted nature of policy in IS, not only as a directive to be adopted or implemented but also as context that can influence or a strategy that can shape and support effective implementation of cancer control interventions.
The NIH Query View Report tool was used to identify National Cancer Institute-funded IS grants related to policy between fiscal years 2014-2023. Three coders reviewed the abstracts and specific aims of the grants to ensure a focus on IS, followed by a secondary review to verify the relation to policy. Eligible grants were then coded to determine policy conceptualization methods, level of policy being targeted, alignment with U.S. National Cancer Institute activities, cancer continuum focus, cancer type(s), and cancer content area.
Of the 41 IS grants identified, 14 (34.1%) were included in the analysis. More than half (n = 8, 57.1%) of the grants were awarded in FY2020-2023. Most (n = 10, 71.4%) grants conceptualized policy as something to implement, 28.6% (n = 4) each conceptualized policy as a strategy to use or as something to adopt, and 35.7% (n = 5) as context to understand. Ten grants (71.4%) addressed cancer prevention, three grants (21.4%) addressed new innovations, and two grants each (14.3%) addressed expanding access to cancer screenings and supporting cancer survivors and their caregivers. No grants examined policies that address toxic and environmental exposures. Seven grants (50%) addressed the National Cancer Institute activities of increasing access to care.
The NCI funds policy IS across the cancer continuum and in alignment with several National Cancer Institute activities. However, there remain many opportunities to expand policy IS, especially regarding policies that impact cancer diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship and policies related to environmental exposures. Our study highlights key opportunities to conduct research that will inform the adoption, implementation, and use of policies to address the cancer burden in the U.S..
癌症实施科学（IS）的动态格局中，将政策作为一种工具的使用显著增加。本分析探讨了IS中政策的多面性，不仅将其视为一项待采纳或实施的指令，还将其视为一种能够影响癌症控制干预措施有效实施的背景，或一种能够塑造并支持该实施的策略。
使用美国国立卫生研究院查询视图报告工具，识别2014财年至2023财年期间与政策相关的国立癌症研究所资助的IS项目。三名编码员审查了项目摘要和具体目标，以确保聚焦于IS，随后进行二次审查以核实与政策的关系。然后对符合条件的项目进行编码，以确定政策概念化方法、目标政策级别、与美国国立癌症研究所活动的一致性、癌症连续统一体重点、癌症类型以及癌症内容领域。
在识别出的41个IS项目中，14个（34.1%）被纳入分析。超过一半（n = 8，57.1%）的项目是在2020财年至2023财年授予的。大多数（n = 10，71.4%）项目将政策概念化为有待实施的内容，28.6%（n = 4）的项目分别将政策概念化为一种可使用的策略或有待采纳的内容，35.7%（n = 5）的项目将政策概念化为用于理解的背景。10个项目（71.4%）涉及癌症预防，3个项目（21.4%）涉及新创新，2个项目（各占14.3%）分别涉及扩大癌症筛查的可及性以及支持癌症幸存者及其护理人员。没有项目审查涉及有毒和环境暴露的政策。7个项目（50%）涉及国立癌症研究所增加医疗可及性的活动。
国立癌症研究所为癌症连续统一体各阶段的政策IS提供资金，并与国立癌症研究所的多项活动保持一致。然而，扩大政策IS仍有许多机会，特别是在影响癌症诊断、治疗和生存的政策以及与环境暴露相关的政策方面。我们的研究突出了开展相关研究的关键机会，这些研究将为美国采用、实施和使用应对癌症负担的政策提供信息。
