Young Receives 2006 National Public Service Award
Dr. Howard Young, Head, Cellular and Molecular Immunology Section, Laboratory of Experimental Immunology, has been selected as one of five recipients of the 2006 National Public Service Award for outstanding contributions in public service within and outside of the work environment; the highest standards of excellence, dedication, and accomplishment over a sustained period of time; and creative and highly skilled career management at all levels of public service. Dr. Young will receive his award at the American Society for Public Administration National Conference in Denver in April.

FDA Draft Guidance on Patient-Reported Outcomes Is Available
The FDA has released its draft guidance on patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures for use by industry as effectiveness endpoints in clinical trials and support of product claims. The guidance is currently open for comments, and NCI encourages anyone who has specific recommendations to submit comments by April 4. The Mayo Clinic is sponsoring a conference Feb. 23-25 in Chantilly, Va., to review and provide input on the draft guidance. Both the draft guidance and the February conference will help inform the proceedings of an NCI-sponsored conference to take place Sept. 20-21 in Rockville, Md. The NCI conference, "Patient-Reported Outcomes Assessment in Cancer Trials: Evaluating and Enhancing the Payoff to Decision Making," will examine how PRO measurement in cancer trials can yield valuable information for decisions about cancer care, third-party reimbursement, and drug approval. Further, the NCI conference will serve as a platform for informing the NCI Clinical Trials Working Group implementation process. For information, contact Dr. Bryce Reeve at reeveb@mail.nih.gov or 301-594-6574.

CAM Scientist Tests Lung Cancer Herb
At the second in its monthly series, NCI's Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine (OCCAM) Director Dr. Jeffrey White welcomed Dr. Stephen Lam from the University of British Columbia to Bethesda, Md., last week, where he described his recent work on a promising new CAM drug treatment.

Chemoprevention, in this case, targets an important population that is growing in number worldwide: former smokers with precursor neoplastic lesions that have an array of gene changes and that might be treated effectively if detected early. Lung cancer entails gene changes on all 23 chromosome pairs, which demands "a multitargeted, multifunction approach to developing an effective agent, such as from a natural herbal product," says Dr. Lam.

At a 1996 chemoprevention conference in China, Dr. Lam learned of a drug already approved by the Chinese FDA, known in the West as Anti-Cancer and Preventive Herbal Agent (ACAPHA). ACAPHA actually contains 6 herbal agents, which in turn have about 10 potentially active chemical compounds. He has begun phase II-b studies on ACAPHA, following a physiologically based pharmacokinetic model designed for more rapid screening of potential agents. "With natural products, you really need to hone in on what they're doing in humans and on their safety," he said.