These sessions are designed for science and medical reporters with the intent of increasing the quality and quantity of media coverage on cancer research. The speakers will be Dr. Lance Liotta and Dr. Emanuel Petricoin, codirectors of the NCI/Food and Drug Administration Clinical Proteomics Program, and their collaborator Dr. Elise Kohn, from the NCI Laboratory of Pathology.

The scientists will explain their successes in distinguishing ovarian, breast, and prostate cancers from benign conditions and how their techniques can be used to clinically identify early-stage cancers. They will highlight progress since their 2002 landmark paper in The Lancet, which first described proteomics for possible use in detecting ovarian cancer. The seminar will be held from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the NIH campus in Bethesda at the Natcher Conference Center, Room F1. Pre-registration is required for on-site attendance, but anyone can watch the live webcast at http://videocast.nih.gov/.

President's Cancer Panel Focuses on Survivorship
Cancer survivors of all ages share many of the same concerns, the President's Cancer Panel concluded after its series of meetings on cancer survivorship in 2003 and into 2004. The latest meeting on this topic, held in Philadelphia in January 2004, focused on older adult survivors; earlier events examined concerns of adults, adolescents, and young survivors.

The panel has heard of the difficulties all survivors endure: transferring NCI treatment records to their community providers, accessing relevant post-treatment information, obtaining appropriate follow-up screening and care, acquiring necessary support services, overcoming financial and insurance-related barriers, and addressing cultural and language barriers to care.

Specific issues affect survivors ages 60 and older. Survivors in this age group told the panel of the hardships of living on a fixed income. They also expressed their fears of losing their employment and associated insurance benefits. They called for improved communication with the public - employers, caregivers, and insurers - about the experiences and needs of cancer survivors.

Older adult survivors have more co-morbidity issues, which may obscure symptoms of recurrence. They metabolize pharmacologic agents differently than younger people. And they are more concerned about transmitting genetically linked cancers to their children.

The panel's final report on cancer survivorship is expected to be released this summer.

Sporn Named First NCI Eminent Scholar
Dr. Michael B. Sporn, of Dartmouth Medical School, has been appointed as the first NCI Eminent Scholar at the NCI Center for Cancer Research (CCR). As part of the re-engineering of the Intramural Research Program (IRP), the scholar program was established to allow close interactions and collaborations between distinguished extramural and NCI IRP scientists. The formal inclusion of extramural scientists within the IRP fosters the exchange of ideas among basic, translational, and clinical researchers. Scholars interact on a regular basis with the intramural scientists, faculties, and training programs. They may mentor fellows and play a direct role in IRP research programs.

Awards
Nobel Laureate Dr. Leland H. Hartwell, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, received the Alfred Knudson Award in Cancer Genetics at the NCI Combined Intramural Principal Investigator Retreat on January 16. Dr. Hartwell addressed nearly 600 staff members of the NCI intramural program about the prospects of eliminating cancer. The award recognizes Dr. Hartwell for pioneering genetic and molecular studies uncovering the regulation of cell division. The award was created to foster the development of research programs in cancer genetics. It was named after Dr. Knudson, who revolutionized the understanding of the genetic basis of cancer, especially through his groundbreaking work which led to the discovery of tumor suppressor genes, and who served at NCI in the late 1990s.

Also at the retreat, Dr. Janet D. Rowley, University of Chicago, an expert on human chromosome analysis, accepted the Rosalind E. Franklin Award for Women in Cancer Research. Dr. Rowley, an Albert Lasker Award recipient, is internationally known for her discovery that the translocation of genetic material seen in the Philadelphia chromosome is the cause, not the result, of chronic myelogenous leukemia. The NCI prize honors the commitment of women in cancer research and is given in tribute to Dr. Franklin, who played a critical role in the discovery of the DNA double helix.