Cancer health disparities

TRDRP will prioritize and support research that investigates the causes and potential remedies for health disparities in tobacco-related cancers, with an emphasis on improving equity in prevention, detection, treatment, and care. While research on cancers identified by the Surgeon General as caused by tobacco products will continue to be supported, higher priority will be given to studies that specifically address unequal cancer burdens across different groups.

Example Research Topics:

• Clinical and/or pre-clinical studies on the carcinogenic potential of tobacco products that are preferentially used by certain age groups or other tobacco priority populations.  

• Implementation strategies aimed at improving evidence-based tobacco treatment, such as the utilization of biomarker evaluation, in cancer care settings that serve tobacco priority populations.   

• Mechanistic insights informing prevention strategies in patients who engage in co-use of cannabis and tobacco during cancer treatment.  

• The impact of menthol and/or non-menthol synthetic cooling agents (such as WS-3 and WS-23) on cellular processes such as proliferation, cell cycle checkpoint mechanisms, and senescence. 

• Studies of epigenetic changes induced by tobacco product exposure (first-, second-, or thirdhand) combined with changes induces by chronic stress or other social determinants of health. 

• The development of therapeutic strategies for small cell lung cancer (SCLC) with assessments of therapeutic efficacy in smokers and non-smokers. Note: Due to the strong risk for small cell lung cancer (SCLC) among smokers and the dearth of information on methods to treat this disease, studies of SCLC will be exempt from the above eligibility requirements.