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East Central Florida             Cancer Control Collaborative

Cancer Prevention, Access, and Survivorship Resources 

Connect to organizations in East Central Florida that will help you, family members, and friends with a cancer diagnosis.

Prevent Cancer

 Access Cancer Care

Survivorship Support

Prevent Cancer

"The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will instruct his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease"  Thomas Edison, 1903
These organizations provide cancer prevention information for residents of Brevard, Osceola, Orange, Seminole, Lake, Sumter, and Marion counties.





Cancer Prevention Initiatives

Paramedics screen for harmful radon gas in area homes (2023-2024)

The East Central Florida Cancer Control Collaborative (ECFCCC) has been awarded $16,100 to fund electronic radon gas screening by paramedics in homes throughout the Orlando metropolitan area. Administered by the Health Council of East Central Florida, ECFCCC received this grant from Moffitt Cancer Center to reduce harmful exposure to radon gas, a Class A carcinogen that is the second leading cause of lung cancer according to the 2020-2025 Florida Cancer Plan.

The grant is funding home radon screening by community paramedics associated with the Health Council of East Central Florida’s Care-A-Medix program. When physicians refer their complex care patients to Care-A-Medix for home paramedicine support, the radon screening is offered at no cost. The paramedics who provide disease management and self-care education in the home place an electronic device to screen for radon gas. One week later they retrieve the device. A measure of 4 picocuries/liter or more triggers a protocol that outlines full radon testing and home remediation to reduce or eliminate risk from the gas exposure.

“Radon screening to detect this invisible gas is simple and easy to do” said Care-A-Medix Community Paramedic James Witherspoon. “It is exciting to offer yet another service that reduces the risk to our patients living with chronic health conditions so that they can live independently and as healthy as possible”.  

The grant paid for six electronic radon gas screening devices and over eighty home screens. Once the screening program is complete, plans are to share the results with other community paramedic programs statewide to enable radon gas screening to be done on a wider scale, an objective of the 2020-2025 Florida Cancer Plan.

Florida Cancer Prevention Network to launch in 2024


The East Central Florida Cancer Control Collaborative (ECFCCC) will create the Florida Cancer Prevention Network to support cancer prevention awareness and screening for primary care medical practice patients in Brevard, Osceola, Orange, Seminole, Lake, Sumter, and Marion counties. 


Grant funding for the network has come from Moffitt Cancer Center, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the University of Florida Health Cancer Center.

   

"When cancer is detected at the earliest stages, treatment is more effective and survival drastically improves. Yet ~50% of cancers are still only detected at an advanced stage. Improved earlier detection of cancer could substantially increase survival rates.” (SCIENCE, 18 Mar 2022, Vol 375, Issue 6586)


Early detection is more likely to occur in the primary care medical setting. However, the time that may be devoted to patient education at primary care medical offices is extraordinarily limited due to both appointment time constraints and the clinical workforce shortage.


“In a national survey released by The Physicians Foundation, only 11 percent of patients and 14 percent of physicians said they felt that their visits offered all the time needed to provide the highest standards of care.” (FPM Journal).


When participating in the Florida Cancer Prevention Network, primary care medical offices will provide patients with access to on-line cancer education webinars and resources to improve health literacy. Through on-line pre- and post- testing, increased patient knowledge will be assessed. Higher-risk patients who self-identify will be directed to follow-up screening services (low dose CT lung scans, pap tests, HPV vaccination, mobile dermatology, mammography, colonoscopies, PSA and DRE) available in their area.


Individuals screened with suspected disease will be referred to their primary care medical office to be directed to a cancer specialist physician within the same practice group or health insurance plan.

 

In the case of uninsured or underinsured individuals, in selected counties within the ECFCCC service area, a limited number of free primary medical clinics have established specialist referral panels for the uninsured. Additionally, some Federally Qualified Health Clinics (FQHCs) are now participating in value-based contracts with Medicaid plans that include cancer specialists.


Resource materials and webinars will be prepared in both English and Spanish languages.

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