National Cancer Institute

The National Cancer Institute's (NCI's) overall mission is to conduct and support research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs with respect to the cause, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancer and the continuing care of cancer patients and the families of cancer patients.

NCI is a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), one of eight agencies that compose the Public Health Service (PHS) in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). NCI, established under the National Cancer Act of 1937, is the Federal Government's principal agency for cancer research and training. The National Cancer Act of 1971 broadened the scope and responsibilities of NCI and created the National Cancer Program. Over the years, legislative amendments have maintained NCI authorities and responsibilities and added new information dissemination mandates as well as a requirement to assess the incorporation of state-of-the-art cancer treatments into clinical practice.

Partnership Activities

CDC has an interagency agreement with the NIH and NCI. The purpose of this agreement is to facilitate interagency collaborations around research and programmatic activities. Below are examples of CDC collaborations.

Cancer Surveillance
CDC and NCI have established a formal collaboration between NCI's surveillance research program, Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) and CDC's National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR). This collaboration has allowed a more coordinated national cancer surveillance effort that builds upon and strengthens the existing infrastructure, improves the availability of high quality data for measuring the nation's cancer burden, and advances the capacity for surveillance research.

CDC and NCI, in collaboration with the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR), annually combine their cancer incidence data sources to produce official federal cancer statistics on cancer incidence (for a single year for each registry that met data quality criteria) in the United States Cancer Statistics: Incidence and Mortality Report. Mortality statistics from CDC's National Vital Statistics System also are included.

CDC, NAACCR, NCI, and the American Cancer Society (ACS) collaborate to produce the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, an annual publication that began in 1998. The 2007 edition was released in October, 2007, with a special section on cancer in American Indians and Alaska Natives. Reports for previous years are available in the Archive of the Annual Reports to the Nation.

CDC is collaborating with NCI to collect, analyze, and present data on cancer prevention and control practices of a nationally representative sample of 36,000 U.S. adults interviewed as part of the year 2000 National Health Interview Survey. CDC and NCI also collaborate by working together on various committees of NAACCR.

CDC and NCI are members of the National Coordinating Council for Cancer Surveillance (NCCCS), along with the ACS, the American College of Surgeons (ACoS), NAACCR, the National Cancer Registrars Association (NCRA), and other cancer-related organizations. This working consortium provides a forum and opportunities for member organizations to collaborate on cancer surveillance and registration issues.

Breast and Ovarian Cancer
CDC supports an NCI study on ovarian cancer screening study that seeks to evaluate the use of a protocol that tests women who are at high risk of ovarian cancer because of genetic susceptibility. The study utilizes, among other things, the Breast and Ovarian Cancer Family Registry, another project that receives support from CDC and NCI. The Registry is a large international resource for the discovery of new genes that play a role in breast and cervical cancer, and their characterization. CDC funding will support mutational analysis of the breast cancer genes named BRCA1 and BRCA2, the results of which are likely to have direct relevance for clinicians and public health practitioners.

The CDC provides additional support to the NCI-funded Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project, a multidisciplinary effort to investigate whether environmental factors are responsible for breast cancer in New York and Connecticut. The Geographic Information System for Health (GIS-H) provides researchers with a new, unique tool to investigate potential relationships between environmental exposures and risk for breast cancer.

Office of Cancer Survivorship
The Office of Cancer Survivorship (OCS) was established in July 1996 by NCI to enhance the quality and length of survival of all persons diagnosed with cancer and to minimize or stabilize adverse effects experienced during cancer survivorship. OCS conducts and supports research that both examines and addresses the long- and short-term physical, psychological, social, and economic effects of cancer and its treatment among pediatric and adult survivors of cancer and their families.

The OCS Web site is primarily designed for researchers and public health planners. The site provides information regarding OCS key initiatives, the research portfolio, and funding opportunities. It also provides post-treatment resources for cancer survivors and their families, including Follow-Up Medical Care After Cancer Treatment, Possible Late Effects of Cancer Treatment, Getting Involved After Cancer Treatment, Health and Well-Being After Cancer Treatment, and Reports and Publications.

Other Activities
NCI is leading an effort to identify a core set of cancer quality measures for use in research, guidelines, surveillance, and other arenas. Funds from the CDC will be used to support the identification of core measures of the quality of prostate cancer care.

CDC and NCI are the designated leads and managers for Healthy People 2010 Cancer Goals and Objectives. Healthy People 2010, the prevention agenda for the Nation, is a statement of national health objectives designed to identify the most significant preventable threats to health and to establish national goals to reduce these threats. As co-leaders in the cancer area of Health People 2010, CDC and NCI are responsible for undertaking activities to move the Nation toward achieving the year 2010 goals and for reporting progress on the focus area objectives over the course of the decade.

NCI Public Inquiries Office
Suite 3036A
6116 Executive Boulevard, MSC8322
Bethesda, MD 20892-8322
Toll-free: 800-4-CANCER (800-422-6237)
www.cancer.gov