The Nation's Investment in Cancer Research
A Plan and Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2008
Prepared by the Director, National Cancer Institute as mandated by The National Cancer Act (P.L. 92-218)
Developing Effective and Efficient Treatments
We will support the development and dissemination of interventions to treat malignancy either by destroying all cancer cells or restraining and controlling metastasis, both with little or no harm to healthy tissue.
Today's Research
A large part of NCI's research portfolio focuses on discovering, developing, and evaluating more efficient and effective treatment strategies. Developing cancer treatments that leave surrounding healthy tissue unharmed is at the heart of NCI's research agenda. Examples of NCI research include:
- Developing and improving localized therapies such as surgery or radiation therapy to directly target the tumor and if necessary, surrounding tissue
- Investigating systemic (whole body) therapies including cytotoxic (cell-killing) or hormonal agents, vaccines, antibodies (immune system proteins), gene therapy, angiogenesis inhibitors, and differentiating agents
- Researching molecularly targeted therapies that act primarily on the tumor and associated tissue
- Developing combination therapies that use two or more drugs and/or treatment types to increase treatment effectiveness
- Investigating complementary/alternative treatment approaches
Tomorrow's Strategies
NCI's portfolio will include a special focus on facilitating the research and development of individualized therapies tailored to the specific characteristics of a patient's cancer. Treatment strategies may include localized, systemic, molecularly targeted, complementary and alternative, or combination treatment approaches. NCI will:
- Identify the molecular and cellular factors that cause metastatic behavior.
- Validate biomarkers for cancer prognosis, metastasis, treatment response, and progression.
- More quickly identify, develop, and validate potential targets and strategies for cancer treatment by integrating preclinical (laboratory and animal) and clinical research.
- Integrate clinical trial networks and programs to ensure that the most promising treatment opportunities are identified, the necessary clinical trials are conducted rapidly, and clinicians have effective use of information and resources.
- Work to manage the toxic effects of cancer therapy.
Moving Research Forward
…with Improved Treatment Delivery
FDA approval of a new drug to fight cancer and its availability to patients are only the beginning of the story of cancer treatment research. Even before a new drug is used in the first patient, researchers are planning how to improve ways of giving the drug to patients to make it more effective. For example, part of the remarkable improvement in childhood leukemia survival over the past 20 years has been achieved by modifying the delivery methods and dosing schedules of successful treatment drugs. NCI continues to test both established and new ways to improve the delivery of cancer drugs.
…and Progress in Pursuit of our Goal
- A New Approach to Immunotherapy. An NCI research team confirmed the effectiveness of using a new cell-based immunotherapy approach combined with chemotherapy for treating advanced stage metastatic melanoma. The goal is to fight cancer tumors by stimulating and reintroducing a patient's own T cells (rare disease-fighting immune cells). The promise of this therapy is that a patient's own immune system may be used to effectively treat existing tumors.
In a recent clinical trial using this immunotherapy approach, 51 percent of the patients (18 of 35) experienced a significant reduction in the size or the disappearance of their tumors—patients who previously had not responded to treatment. A Phase II trial is under way that will enable researchers to evaluate the effectiveness of this immunotherapy approach among a larger group of participants. - Abdominal Chemotherapy for Ovarian Cancer. A recent NCI study shows that intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy, which delivers drugs directly to the abdominal cavity through a catheter (tube), can significantly increase survival for some women with ovarian cancer. About 400 women in the study were given chemotherapy after successful removal of their tumors. Half received intravenous (IV) cisplatin and paclitaxel, and the others received IV paclitaxel, plus IP cisplatin and paclitaxel. The women who received IP chemotherapy lived on average 16 months longer than women who had IV chemotherapy alone, an unusually large survival benefit for a clinical trial. One year after treatment, both groups of patients reported a similar quality of life. As the results of the study were made public, NCI issued a rare clinical announcement to inform physicians and patients about the potential benefit of IP chemotherapy for ovarian cancer.
