The partnership between the University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center (HCCC) and the Iowa Cancer Consortium (the Consortium) has long been a boon for both groups. The Consortium’s mission to reduce the burden of cancer in Iowa through advocacy, equity, and collaboration is particularly in line with the cancer center’s directive of combining patient-first care and groundbreaking research, so lending a hand between groups, or offering a referral when appropriate has helped them both to reach people in need. With a coalition of more than 675 people and 65 formally aligned organizations, the Consortium excels in meeting people where they are, and often helps them find the treatment, support, or collaboration they need within UI Health Care.
“We support cancer advocates and professionals in finding resources and finding each other. This is critical because cancer is a complicated and costly disease. Addressing it would be impossible to do alone,” said Kelly Wells Sittig, executive director of the Consortium and co-lead on the HCCC’s community outreach and engagement team.
Consortium members and partners have also developed the Iowa Cancer Plan, Sittig explained, which provides evidence-based, responsive ways to improve cancer prevention, early detection, treatment, quality of life, and equity throughout Iowa. They fund programs and projects that implement pieces of the plan and convene several statewide groups of experts and advocates who work on specific cancer-related issues so they can learn from one another.
The Consortium specifically works with members of the Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Blood & Marrow Transplantation (HOBMT) in areas such as melanoma prevention, which is especially important in Iowa’s sunnier summer months. Through their annual Sun Safety Community Projects, Consortium members can apply to receive up to three gallons of sunscreen for use at outdoor community events or places like pools, daycares, and worksites.
“One of our sunscreen awardees had a family member who was deeply involved in the clean-up response after the tornadoes in Greenfield,” Sittig said. “They had already received their awarded three gallons of sunscreen, so when they saw and heard that clean-up crews needed sun protection, they called the Consortium and asked if they could change plans and donate their gallons to the effort.”
The clean-up process for the Greenfield tornado—the path of which went through southwestern Iowa, claiming lives and leaving miles of destruction in its wake this May—was intensive, and the crews involved worked long hours in the sun.
Luckily, the Iowa Cancer Consortium and HOBMT partnership was able to provide some assistance. With the division’s financial support of the Consortium’s sunscreen initiative, they could happily accept this request, in addition to providing the sunscreen requested for the original project. Additionally, the Consortium awarded more than 95 gallons of sunscreen this year alone as part of their Sun Safety Community Projects. In the past they have supported organizational partners in holding pledge-not-to-tan initiatives, developed evidence-based social media message sets about melanoma and sun safety for partner organizations to use, and used the Iowa Cancer Plan to call for Iowans to reduce exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun and indoor tanning devices.
“The consortium gives us another way to reach more Iowans. Not just to treat their cancer but to keep them from getting it in the first place,” HOBMT Division Director Mo Milhem, MBBS, said. “Their partnership on the sunscreen delivery this summer is a great example of how we can move quickly and effectively to help keep people safe.”
These are just a few examples of their alliance; the Consortium is funded largely by a contract from the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (Iowa HHS), and housed at the HCCC, naturally leading to close collaboration on a variety of projects.
“Working closely builds connection between state cancer control partners and advocates who are most in touch with the needs and interests of the people of Iowa, and the experts at Iowa’s only NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center who are doing research, solving problems, and providing care to so many Iowans,” Sittig said. “We are really grateful for this structure and partnership—it has helped the Iowa Cancer Consortium become what I am confident is one of the strongest cancer control partnerships in the country.”
Outreach that builds these connections is vital to the missions of both the Consortium and the cancer center.
“Cancer is a costly and complicated disease, and addressing it would be nearly impossible to do alone. That’s why it is so important to have people who are formally working together across competitive boundaries, industries, geographical barriers, political ideologies, and more, especially considering we now know Iowa has the second-highest cancer incidence rate in the county, the fastest climbing incidence rate, and some of the worst racial cancer disparities in the country,” Sittig said.
The Consortium’s events—the biggest of which is the yearly Iowa Cancer Summit—provides the perfect environment for conversations about overcoming these barriers, improving patient outcomes, and growing a bigger and better network of providers and advocates.
Want to get involved with the Iowa Cancer Consortium and help reduce the burden on cancer on Iowans? They have a variety of membership levels available, including no-cost options. Learn more at the 2024 Iowa Cancer Summit, featuring keynote speaker Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, MMHC, director of the National Cancer Institute.