Director's Update Archive: 2003

• 12/16/2003 - Announcing the Publication of The Nation's Investment in Cancer Research for 2005
  Yesterday, NCI released The Nation's Investment in Cancer Research: A Plan and Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2005. This document highlights our recent progress in cancer research and outlines our Action Plan and the resource requirements to maximize progress, as we reach toward our Challenge Goal to eliminate the suffering and death due to cancer by 2015.
• 12/09/2003 - Advances in Hematology Oncology
  Earlier today, I had the privilege of speaking at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). I took this opportunity to acknowledge the vital contribution ASH is making toward helping NCI and the larger cancer research community deepen our knowledge of the etiology, prevention, and treatment of blood cancers. This work is an important part of our overall commitment to eliminate the suffering and death due to cancer by 2015.
• 12/02/2003 - The Tumor Microenvironment: Looking Beyond the Cancer Cell
  When I entered the field of oncology thirty years ago, the revolution in molecular biology and genetics was only beginning - and with it, an exciting new era in molecular oncology. At the time, the cancer cell was, for the most part, a "black box" to us, and as a result, we had little understanding of how cancer develops and progresses to a life-threatening disease.
• 11/25/2003 - Tobacco Use: Despite Progress, Still the Leading Cause of Cancer Death
  Last week, the Great American Smokeout provided the more than 46 million smokers in this country the opportunity and the motivation to stop smoking - for a day and hopefully for a lifetime. More than 22 percent of adults and more than 28 percent of high school students in this country are current smokers.
• 11/18/2003 - National Biospecimen Network Blueprint Available for Public Comment
  The development of infrastructure to support cancer research took an important step forward this week with the publication of a report that outlines a new model for a nationwide biospecimen network and database.
• 11/11/2003 - The National Clinical Trials Program: Advancing Cancer Prevention and Treatment
  Clinical trials are a cornerstone of cancer research. Through this framework, we move promising new cancer interventions from the laboratory into clinical studies, and then into the general health care setting.
• 11/04/2003 - The Interface of Aging and Cancer
  We know that the risk of developing cancer increases with age and - as the population of older Americans expands over the next several decades - we can only assume that the burden of cancer on our society also will increase. By 2030, 20 percent of the U.S. population will be 65 years or older, and close to 60 percent of new cancers and 70 percent of cancer deaths now occur in this population. Despite this increased risk, current health care practices frequently fall short of providing the best available early detection, treatment, and care that older Americans richly deserve.
• In Memoriam: Paul Calabresi, M.D. (1930-2003)
  It is with much sadness that I write to you today about the death of a dear friend and esteemed colleague, Dr. Paul Calabresi. Paul died of cancer on Saturday, October 25, 2003.
• 10/28/2003 - The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program: 30 Years of Measuring Our Nation's Progress Against Cancer
  In 1973, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) launched its Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program in an effort to systematically measure the burden of cancer on our nation.
• 10/21/2003 - caBIG (the Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid): Enabling the Future of Collaborative Cancer Research
  In cancer research today, thousands of scientists across a myriad of scientific disciplines are striving to understand the biology of cancer and apply their discoveries to the development of new, effective interventions for this complex disease. Utilizing leading-edge and high-throughput technologies, these scientists are developing novel scientific research tools and are generating immense volumes of valuable information.
• 10/14/2003 - Letrozole: A Positive Step in Our Overall Progress
  Last week, the cancer community received encouraging news about letrozole, a new breast cancer agent that, when used in a clinical trial as a follow-on to tamoxifen therapy, substantially cut the rate of tumor recurrence.
• 10/07/2003 - Innovative Collaboration: The Future of Cancer Research
  Cancer is a large and complex problem with scientific, medical, social, cultural, and economic dimensions. Addressing this problem requires the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to work across institutional and sector boundaries, share knowledge, and bring together the diverse members of the cancer community who can help develop systems-based solutions to the many-faceted cancer problem.
• 09/30/2003 - Nanoscience: Small Particles, Huge Potential
  One of the most promising and exciting areas of cancer research is the emerging field of nanoscience. Nanoscience involves creating useful materials and devices by manipulating molecules on a nanoscale.
• 09/23/2003 - Working to Reduce Cancer Disparities Among African-American Men Through the 9 A Day Campaign
  As we work together to eliminate suffering and death due to cancer for all people, we must never lose sight of the fact that certain communities currently bear a disproportionate share of the cancer burden.
• 09/16/2003 - Survivorship: The New Priority
  In July, I was privileged to be at the finish line to witness Lance Armstrong win the Tour de France, for the fifth consecutive time.
• 09/09/2003 - The Critical Role of Advanced Biomedical Technologies in Accelerating the Progress of Cancer Research
  In my address to the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB) today, I introduced an initiative that is in its early stages of development - a national advanced biomedical technologies initiative for cancer.
• 09/02/2003 - Status of Cancer in the United States: New Data Points and Opportunities for Improvement
  This year's just-published Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer" offers encouraging evidence that the accelerating pace of cancer research over the past several decades is paying dividends - but the report also indicates that we can and must do more.
• 08/27/2003 - Eliminating Suffering and Death from Cancer by 2015: What Should NCI Contribute to the Challenge Goal?
  In 1971, the National Cancer Act proposed a goal to find the "cure" for cancer. Resources poured into the National Cancer Program, but as knowledge began to accumulate, we came to understand the complexity of the problem and the reality that the goal was really just a dream.