About

Mission

Our goal is to improve outcomes and quality of life for men with favorable risk prostate cancer on active surveillance (AS). We want to support men on AS; not only do we want to provide men with the tools they need to be successful on AS but we also want to leverage the team of doctors (cancer specialists and primary care physicians) that care for the men to help with this.

There is a large and quickly growing population of people with favorable risk cancers on AS, including men with prostate cancer. These patients have unique needs that cannot be met by cancer specialists alone. PCPs can play an important role to fill in the gaps in AS care.

Many men (40%) with favorable risk prostate cancer initially choose AS. But about one in three men transition off AS even without any signs their cancer has gotten worse. This means that they can suffer serious side effects from treatments that could be avoided if they stayed on AS.

AS is similar to chronic disease management, which is something PCPs are already doing. It requires routine clinical exams, monitoring for cancer progression, and providing emotional support. Despite the potential for PCPs to be involved in active surveillance, there is not clear guidance on the best ways to engage PCPs in team-based cancer care delivery. Our research study will help answer this question.

Who we are

Dr. Archana Radhakrishnan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Michigan. She is a primary care physician (PCP) practicing at the Ann Arbor VA and cancer health services researcher. She received her MD from the University of Illinois at Chicago and completed residency in Internal Medicine at Case Western Reserve University. She additionally completed a General Internal Medicine clinical research fellowship at Johns Hopkins University, where she also received a Master in Health Science (MHS) from the Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Dr. Radhakrishnan’s clinical and research interests align to ultimately improve the quality of care of patients with cancer. Specifically, she focuses on understanding and optimizing the role of PCPs in the care of patients throughout the cancer continuum. Her projects include examining the role of PCPs for patients with low-risk cancers and developing and implementing team-based models involving PCPs to improve cancer survivorship care delivery. She is the Principal Investigator on this current Management of Active surveillance in Prostate cancer (MAP) study funded by the National Cancer Institute.

Aaron Rankin is a Research Area Specialist with CanSORT (Cancer Surveillance & Outcomes Research Team). He holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Michigan and a Master of Social Work from Eastern Michigan University. Aaron has previously worked for the U-M IRBMED as a board member and staff reviewer, the Scleroderma Research Program, and most recently at the Dermatology Research Program. Before working at U of M, Aaron was a Case Manager for Washtenaw County’s Community Support and Treatment Services working with adults with mental health and substance abuse issues.

We are also collaborating with the existing infrastructure of the Michigan Urological Surgery Improvement Collaborative (MUSIC). MUSIC is a physician-led quality improvement collaborative, established in 2011, comprised of a consortium of urology practices (academic, private practice, community) across the state of Michigan designed to evaluate and improve the quality of prostate cancer care in Michigan.

Have questions?

Contact the study team for help.