The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is teaming with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) to develop a national map that tracks all pancreatic cancer research and clinical trials. The mapping concept is intended to "connect the dots" between all those involved in pancreatic cancer research to speed the development of national strategies and leverage resources for pancreatic cancer research. The research map is a tool designed for the research community, and for organizations like PanCAN and the Lustgarten Foundation.

"By joining forces with the advocacy and research communities, the map will serve to integrate information on new research and discoveries," says NCI Director Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach. New discoveries in this area are desperately needed. Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death, with a median survival after diagnosis of only 6 months. Only 4 percent of patients survive for 5 years.  Read more  



Working Group Maps the Way to Healthier Women Worldwide

On July 27, along with the Advisory Committee to the Director, I had the privilege of receiving the report and recommendations of the Women, Tobacco, and Cancer Working Group during a teleconference with the working group's co-chairs, distinguished scientists Drs. Ellen R. Gritz and C. Tracy Orleans. The report, available at http://planning.cancer.gov/whealth/reports/wtobacco.htm, represents the collaborative efforts of an outstanding team of scientists, clinicians, and advocates who participated in a public/private partnership to map an achievable solution to the problem of tobacco-related morbidity and mortality among women.

Under the leadership and guidance of Ms. Anna Levy, deputy director of NCI's Office of Women's Health, and Dr. Michele Bloch, medical officer in NCI's Tobacco Control Research Branch, the working group's starting point was the 2001 report of the Surgeon General, Women and Smoking - a comprehensive, scientific review of smoking's effects on women's health and strategies to reduce smoking by women. In February 2003, some of the most knowledgeable and experienced experts in the fields of tobacco-related disease and women's health met in Houston, Texas to discuss this topic. Their collective wisdom, experience, and creative ideas form the substance of this report.  Read more  

This NCI Cancer Bulletin is produced by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). NCI, which was established in 1937, leads a national effort to eliminate the suffering and death due to cancer. Through basic and clinical biomedical research and training, NCI conducts and supports research that will lead to a future in which we can prevent cancer before it starts, identify cancers that do develop at the earliest stage, eliminate cancers through innovative treatment interventions, and biologically control those cancers that we cannot eliminate so they become manageable, chronic diseases. For more information on cancer, call 1-800-4-CANCER or visit http://cancer.gov. NCI Cancer Bulletin staff can be reached at ncicancerbulletin@mail.nih.gov.