Essentia Health Community Cancer Program (NCORP)

Essentia Health Community Cancer Research Program - NCORP

NIH-funded research Essentia Institute of Rural Health · NIH-11337108

This program brings NCI-supported cancer treatment trials, screening, imaging, and survivorship care to people who live in rural parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Quick facts

Grant typeNIH-funded research
Study typeNIH-funded research
Funding institutionEssentia Institute of Rural Health NIH-funded
Lab location1 site (Duluth, United States)
Project IDNIH-11337108 on NIH RePORTER

What this research studies

From the patient's perspective, Essentia Health's program makes National Cancer Institute–backed treatment, prevention, screening, imaging, and post-treatment studies available at local hospitals and clinics across a five-state rural region. The grant supports local staff, equipment, and coordination so patients can join clinical trials and cancer-control studies without traveling to a major cancer center. The program works with affiliate sites and tribal communities to enroll people into treatment, screening, surveillance, and imaging protocols and to carry out Cancer Care Delivery Research. By organizing care and research locally, it aims to improve access to state-of-the-art cancer options closer to home.

Who could benefit from this research

Good fit: Ideal candidates are people with cancer or those eligible for screening or survivorship studies who live within the program's catchment area across MN, WI, MI, ND, and SD and are willing to take part at a participating affiliate clinic.

Not a fit: Patients who live outside the program's geographic catchment area or whose condition does not match any currently open protocol at local sites are unlikely to benefit directly from this program.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, the program could let more rural patients join NCI clinical trials and receive advanced cancer care locally, reducing travel and widening access to new treatments.

How similar studies have performed: This NCORP builds on a long-running CCOP/NCORP effort dating to 1984 that has successfully expanded local access to clinical trials for rural and tribal communities.

Where this research is happening

Duluth, United States

Researchers

About this research

  1. This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
  2. Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
  3. For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.
Conditions Breast Cancer DetectionBreast cancer screeningCancer ControlCancer Control ScienceCancer Research Programs
Last reviewed 2026-06-13 by the Find a Trial editorial team. Information on this page is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Always consult qualified healthcare professionals about clinical trial participation.