PREVENTIVE MEDICINE 27, S84–S92 (1998) ARTICLE NO. PM970314 Balancing Research and Service: The Experience of the Cancer Information Service Linda Fleisher, M.P.H., 1, * Marsha Woodworth, M.P.H., 2 Marion Morra, 3 Susan Baum, M.S.W., 4 Sherri Darrow, Ph.D., 5 Sharon Davis, M.P.A., 6 Rosemarie Slevin-Perocchia, R.N., M.Ed., 7 William Stengle, M.P.H., 8 and JoAnn Ward, B.A. 9 1 Cancer Information Service, Fox Chase Cancer Center, 510 Township Line Road, Cheltenham, Pennsylvania 19012; 2 Cancer Information Service, Penrose–St. Francis Healthcare System, P.O. Box 7021, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80933; 3 Cancer Information Service, Yale Cancer Center, P.O. Box 208004, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8004; 4 Cancer Information Service, University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center, Suite 127, CH-19, 933 South 19th Street, Birmingham, Alabama 35294-2041; 5 Cancer Information Service, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Carlton and Elm Streets, RSC/430, Buffalo, New York 14263-0001; 6 Cancer Information Service, Northern California Cancer Center, 32960 Alvarado-Niles Road, No. 600, Union City, California 94587-3106; 7 Cancer Information Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Office of Cancer Communications, 1275 York Avenue, New York, New York 10021; 8 Cancer Information Service, Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, 110 East Warren Avenue, Detroit, Michigan 48201-1379; and 9 Cancer Information Service, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77030 Key Words: Cancer Information Service; cancer con- Background. The National Cancer Institute’s Cancer trol; research; communications; collaboration; part- Information Service (CIS), the nation’s foremost re- nership. source for cancer information, has supported cancer control research throughout its 22-year history. The Cancer Information Service Research Consortium (CISRC) is a consortium established to fully involve INTRODUCTION the CIS in theory-based cancer control research. Methods. This paper focuses on the experiences of the CIS Project Directors in the development and im- Overview plementation of three research projects within the CIS The National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Cancer Infor- program. Conclusions are drawn from discussions that mation Service (CIS), the nation’s foremost resource for have taken place over time in such venues as confer- ence calls, CISRC Members Council meetings, and proj- cancer information, was established in 1975 in response ect advisory meetings. to the 1971 National Cancer Act, which stipulates that Results. Overall, the CISRC/CIS collaboration has the NCI “Provide a program to disseminate and inter- been successful. A number of factors have contributed pret . . . for practitioners and other health professionals, to this success, including the perceived value of the scientists, and the general public, scientific and other research within the CIS and the mechanisms and struc- information regarding the causes, prevention, detection tures established to foster collaboration. The lessons and treatment of cancer.” learned, based on the challenges and opportunities of The Cancer Information Service Research Consor- implementing these intervention research projects tium (CISRC) was established in 1993 to develop the within the operations of the regional CIS offices, are research potential of the CIS, foster collaboration be- discussed. tween investigators and the CIS network, and move Conclusions. Integration of research within a service the CIS toward high-quality, peer-reviewed research. program requires careful planning and preparation. During its 22-year history, the CIS has been involved Mutual benefit, shared ownership, consistency with in research activities, but the vast majority have been current practice, staff training, and the value of re- descriptive in nature, relying primarily on analyses of search to each partner were essential ingredients to data obtained from CIS call record forms [1] and involv- the success of this collaboration. 1998 American Health Foun- ing limited participation among the majority of regional dation and Academic Press CIS offices. Over the past 5 years, the partnership between the *To whom reprint requests should be addressed. Fax: (215) 379-1369. CIS and the CISRC has brought together research and S84 0091-7435/98 $25.00 Copyright  1998 by American Health Foundation and Academic Press All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.