Project Grant R01CA311948

The National Cancer Institute awarded The General Hospital Corporation (Massachusetts General Hospital) $684,857 on September 1, 2026, under the Cancer Cause and Prevention Research program (CFDA 93.393) to conduct a randomized controlled trial expanding the BRIDGE intervention—a person-centered collaborative care model designed to improve cancer care delivery and outcomes for individuals with serious mental illness.

The award funds a five-year project (September 1, 2026 through August 31, 2031) to scale and evaluate BRIDGE across multiple sites. The intervention integrates early mental health care with cancer treatment to reduce treatment delays, deviations from guideline-concordant care, and treatment interruptions. A pilot trial with 120 participants demonstrated feasibility (85 percent consent rate), remote delivery capability during the pandemic, and significant clinical benefit: BRIDGE participants experienced cancer care disruptions at a rate of 17 percent compared to 35 percent in the enhanced usual care control arm. The expanded trial will test whether collaborative care—previously demonstrated as cost-effective for depression in cancer populations—remains effective when extended to patients with serious mental illness, a population historically excluded from integrated oncology-psychiatry interventions.

Work is performed in Boston, Massachusetts. The project addresses a critical gap: adults with serious mental illness, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and severe major depression, face 15- to 25-year reductions in life expectancy, with smoking-related illness accounting for more than 70 percent of that mortality gap. Over 50 percent of adults with serious mental illness smoke; they receive tobacco cessation treatment and cancer care at substantially lower rates and experience cancer mortality 2 to 4 times higher than the general population.