Federal Cervical Cancer Collaborative: Improving cervical cancer prevention through vaccination, screening, and management in safety-net settings of care

Abstract

The Federal Cervical Cancer Collaborative (FCCC) was established by the Health Resources and Services Administration Office of Women’s Health and its interagency partners within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Its primary mission, aligned with the goals of the Cancer Moonshot (https://www.cancer.gov/research/key-initiatives/moonshot-cancer-initiative/implementation/prevention-early-detection), is to accelerate control of cervical cancer within safety-net settings of care. This interagency partnership works in close collaboration to reduce disparities in cervical cancer care, particularly among populations that are geographically isolated, economically challenged, and medically underserved. The FCCC bridges federal priorities of cancer research from the National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute to health care delivery in Health Resources and Services Administration–supported and safety-net settings of care. In this commentary, FCCC activities are discussed to improve cervical cancer prevention and control through vaccination, screening, and management of preinvasive cervical disease in safety-net settings of care. These activities include the development and implementation of an evidence-based, action-oriented provider toolkit and federal opportunities report. The FCCC’s efforts to increase the readiness of safety-net settings of care to implement the 2019 American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology Risk-Based Management Consensus Guidelines for patients with abnormal cervical cancer screening results are discussed. Also described are the results from a survey of National Cancer Institute–designated cancer centers, designed to inform future efforts to strengthen referrals and care coordination with safety-net settings of care.