About the Carolina Endometrial Cancer Study

The Carolina Endometrial Cancer Study (CECS) is a population-based study of endometrial cancer that is being conducted statewide in North Carolina in collaboration with the Central Cancer Registry. Our goal is to enroll about 1,800 adults (age 20–80) living in North Carolina (all 100 counties) at the time of their recent first diagnosis of endometrial cancer to learn more about survivorship after endometrial cancer and why some people have different outcomes and experiences.

The CECS explores survivorship and experiences after endometrial cancer. Our goal is to understand more about factors that contribute to different outcomes among adults with endometrial cancer, including tumor recurrence, survival, and quality of life changes. Our team investigates factors such as tumor biology, lifestyle and behaviors, socioeconomic backgrounds, and barriers to care. We will examine these factors among a cohort of adults diagnosed with endometrial cancer across North Carolina.

Participants will be asked to complete a baseline survey, consent to obtain medical records, and a sample of stored tissue from diagnosis/treatment of endometrial cancer, and to provide a saliva sample through a self-collection kit. Our participants will be contacted for follow-up for about 5 years in order to obtain updated treatment and outcomes information.

The Carolina Endometrial Cancer Study (CECS) is funded by the University Cancer Research Fund of North Carolina and the National Institutes of Health (U01CA281026). CECS recruits participants via the Rapid Case Ascertainment (RCA) method. It is a research study data collection method used by the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center supported by P30CA016086 and the University Cancer Research Fund of North Carolina. RCA is a collaboration between UNC Lineberger, the North Carolina Central Cancer Registry (CCR), and participating hospitals in North Carolina. The findings and conclusions in this herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health. We are grateful to CECS participants and study staff.

Histopathology/Digital Pathology was performed by the Pathology Services Core at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, which is supported in part by an NCI Center Core Support Grant (P30CA016086). Saliva nucleic acid extractions and sample processing and storage were performed by the University of North Carolina BioSpecimen Processing Facility (RRID: SCR_021290, supported in part by NCI Cancer Center Support Grant 5P30CA016086-46 and the NIEHS UNC Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility Center grant 5P30ES010126. Tissue nucleic acid extraction, library preparation, and sequencing were performed by the Lineberger Translational Genomics Lab (TGL) (RRID SCR_025231) at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, which is supported by the Lineberger University Cancer Research Funds (UCRF). Genomics project management was performed by the Lineberger Office of Genomics Research at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, which is supported in part by the Lineberger University Cancer Research Fund and by the following grants: P50CA058223, 5UG1CA233333, P30ES010126.