International Union Against Cancer

The International Union Against Cancer (UICC) promotes awareness and responsibility for the growing global cancer burden; takes effective action to prevent and reduce cancer incidence and mortality; improves the quality of life of cancer patients and their families; and builds the capacity of their members and partners to meet local cancer control needs. The organization's objectives include the advancement of medical and scientific knowledge in research, prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment of cancer, and promotion of all other aspects of the campaign against cancer throughout the world.

UICC's members include voluntary organizations, cancer leagues and societies, cancer research and treatment centers and institutes, cancer patient associations and, in some countries, Ministries of Health. To promote its objectives, UICC works side by side with these members, as well as with other concerned governmental and non-governmental organizations and individuals, including several hundred volunteer experts and professionals who are active in cancer control, research and patient care.

Partnership Activities

CDC and UICC are partnering to develop a Spanish translation of Abstract Plus, a cancer registry software currently available only in English. This partnership will allow Latin American countries to abstract cancer cases using North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR) standards and other common standards developed by UICC.

CDC played an active role in planning a conference track that addressed public health, cancer prevention, and early detection during the 2006 UICC Quadrennial Congress and Cancer Organizations Combined Conference. This conference brought together leading clinicians, practitioners, organization leaders, patient care experts, and public health experts from around the world to discuss the latest strategies that translate what is known and proven about cancer control into action for diverse economic communities, worldwide. The conference was held in Washington, D.C.

Since 1996, CDC has worked in partnership with the UICC and the American Joint Committee on Cancer to accomplish the following objectives:

1. To develop a standardized staging classification suitable for cancer registries and screening programs compatible with Tumor Node Metastasis (TNM) and ensuring stability of criteria over time. Over the years users of the TNM system around the world introduced variations in the rules of classification of certain cancer sites leading to inconsistencies and incongruities. To address this problem, the TNM committees of over 20 countries charged the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) in 1982 with the formulation of a single TNM classification system to unify and update existing classifications as well as to develop new ones.



2. To monitor the utilization of the TNM classification to detect problems in interpretation and application of TNM standards.



3. To expand the TNM classification to include more anatomic sites and tumor types. This is still in the development stage.



4. To continue to evaluate existing classifications for their relevance in view of new developments in imaging, diagnosis, and management.



5. To disseminate updated information through appropriate publications.



6. To assess prognostic factors information and develop a system to serve as a prognostic index.

International Union Against Cancer
62 route de Frontenex
1207 Geneva
Switzerland
Telephone: + 41 22-809 18 11
Fax: + 41 22-809 18 10
www.uicc.org*

*Links to non-Federal organizations found at this site are provided solely as a service to our users. These links do not constitute an endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at these links.