The ColoCare Study

Study background

The ColoCare Study is an international cohort of colorectal cancer patients. The goal of the ColoCare Study is to uniformly collect comprehensive clinical data, information on health behaviors and biospecimens (blood, urine, saliva, stool, tumor tissue etc) from 4,000 multiethnic colorectal cancer patients at multiple time points (prior to surgery and 3, 6, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60 months post-surgery), and quantitative accelerometry data to assess physical activity. ColoCare is uniquely suited for the discovery of new biomarkers of colorectal cancer treatment response and prognosis, as well as research that elucidates the influence of health behaviors on treatment efficacy and toxicity, quality-of-life, recurrence, and survival. The ColoCare Study was initiated by Dr. Neli Ulrich together with Dr. Bill Grady at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in 2007. Since 2007, the consortium has expanded to include:

Cedars-Sinai
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
German Cancer Research Center
Huntsman Cancer Institute
Moffitt Cancer Center
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Washington University School of Medicine

Washington University joined the ColoCare Consortium in 2016 and is dedicated to enriching minority accrual into the study. The link to the consortium is included here.

Eligibility

You may be eligible to participate if you:

Have recently been diagnosed with primary colon or rectal cancer
Aged 18-89 years

What will I be asked to do?

We would see you 4 times over 2 years at your regular clinic appointments. You will be asked to complete, and provide:

Survey questions about your health habits, quality of life, and medical history
Blood samples
Saliva samples
Urine samples
Stool samples

Important notes

Participating in this study will not change your medical care
ColoCare Study will not charge you or your insurance company for study-related activities
The ColoCare Team will coordinate specimen sample collection with your doctors and nurses
Your participation is voluntary and confidential
You can stop participating at any time

Coordinator contact information

Apurva Medhe
Phone: (314) 286-2547
Email: colocare@wudosis.wustl.edu

Community Advisory Board (CAB): The ColoCare Consortium has a Community Advisory Board (CAB). CAB members receive background information on colorectal cancer survivorship and are invited to provide their perspectives on the identification and prioritization of research topics and on the study’s procedures, protocols, and patient communication methods. CAB members participate in the annual investigator meeting, one additional conference call per year, and respond to questions or needs that arise.

Current St. Louis Area CAB Member: Katrina Flood

Contact a CAB Member with questions or to join their Facebook support group: colocarecab@gmail.com