Baltimore CASCADE Study Site (BaCSS Project)

Women living with HIV (WLWH) have a higher risk of cervical cancer because of incomplete immune reconstitution and high prevalence of risk factors for cervical cancer. The risk is greater among African American (AA) WLWH in economically and socially disadvantaged areas such as West Baltimore because of intersection with race, gender, social determinants of health (SDOH), and HIV co-morbidities including substance abuse. Despite the widespread availability of population-based cervical cancer screening in the US, AA-WLWH living in disadvantaged areas have lower rates of screening uptake. Strategic evaluations of recently developed and emerging methods and technologies for cervical cancer prevention in intended use settings are urgently needed to address the cervical cancer prevention needs of this population. In the BaCSS project, we engage the clinical and population science resources of the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) to establish a clinical study site for the CASCADE network. The site will enroll AA-WLWH into implementation science studies and clinical trials of evidence-based interventions for the prevention and early diagnosis of cervical cancer. The project provides operational leadership and pluripotent infrastructure for these studies in the CASCADE network and supports the development of concepts and protocols for pragmatic clinical trials of the effectiveness of clinically proven interventions to overcome barriers and reduce failures in cervical cancer prevention in WLWH.