Examining comprehensive cancer control partnerships, plans, and program interventions: successes and lessons learned from a utilization-focused evaluation

The National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program has experienced exponential growth over the past 20 years due to the coordination and collaboration of many stakeholders to sustain multisector coalitions, develop and execute data-driven plans, and successfully implement evidenced-based interventions across the United States. These stakeholders have worked tirelessly to address the burden of cancer by employing strategies that promote healthy behaviors to reduce cancer risk, facilitate screening, and address the needs of cancer survivors. The interaction between the comprehensive cancer control program and the coalitions to engage in this work has been coined the 3Ps: the partnership, the CCC plan, and CCC program interventions. This article describes the efforts to evaluate the growth of the comprehensive cancer control movement, especially as it pertains to coalition contribution, plan priority development and implementation, and intervention implementation. It describes successes and lessons learned from an evaluation whose findings can be used to bolster and sustain comprehensive cancer control programs and coalitions across the U.S.