James H. Doroshow, M.D., FACP, has been the Director of the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), since 2004. He is responsible for integrating the activities of DCTD with NCI’s other divisions and offices, as well as extramural scientists and clinicians, patient advocates, and professional cancer organizations. More…
The Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD) collaborates with other National Cancer Institute (NCI) components as the world’s largest sponsor of clinical cancer research.
The multiple programs within DCTD work together toward a common goal of identifying promising research areas and translating them into improved diagnostic and therapeutic interventions for patients with cancer. The division takes prospective detection and treatment leads, facilitates their paths to clinical application, and expedites the initial and subsequent large-scale testing of new agents and interventions. By determining the highest priority questions that can be examined in the laboratory, developed through translational research, and tested in clinical trials, the multidisciplinary staff members of DCTD assure that appropriate mechanisms and resources are available to increase the number of novel interventions for the wide range of cancers affecting children and adults.
Another major objective for the division is increasing the scientific vigor with which new treatments are being developed and evaluated, while helping to coordinate the administration and conduct of clinical trials with other NCI components involved in the pursuit of clinical studies.
DCTD, like all of NCI, supports many programs that could not be done without government funding — investigators supported by the division engage in scientifically sound, high-risk research that may yield great benefits for patients with cancer, but are too difficult or risky for industry or academia to pursue. This includes a particular emphasis on the development of distinct molecular signatures for cancer, refined molecular assays, and state-of-the-art imaging techniques that will guide oncologic therapy in the future.
The eight major components of the division allow DCTD to unite a broad range of crosscutting disciplines to bring unique molecules from the laboratory bench to the patient bedside.
Cancer Diagnosis Program (CDP) — strives to improve the diagnosis and assessment of cancer by effectively moving new scientific knowledge into clinical practice. This program stimulates, coordinates, and funds specimen resources, databases related to those specimens, and research on diagnostics and improved technologies to better characterize tumors, so that cancer patients and their physicians can have access to a broader range of diagnostic information as they make clinical decisions. The laboratory tools CDP develops also help to maximize the impact of cancer treatments.
Cancer Imaging Program (CIP) — unites researchers in a team approach from disciplines as diverse as radiology, bioengineering, biology, chemistry, and physics. The program encourages researchers to integrate new imaging discoveries and developments into the study of cancer biology and into the clinical management of cancer and cancer risk. This translational research program is using new technologies to expand the role of imaging in noninvasive diagnosis, identification of disease subsets in patients, disease staging, and treatment monitoring. CIP supports and advises innovative developers in academia and private industry as they create the next generation of imaging technology, including molecular probes, optical technology devices, and new contrast agents.
Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP) — functions as NCI’s primary clinical evaluator of new anticancer agents. Program staff members play a critical role in helping to select promising agents to enter human clinical trials. In addition, the program also evaluates new radiation and surgical methods; identifies biomolecular characteristics of malignant tumors that investigators may be able to exploit clinically; and administers 11 cooperative research groups that unite researchers around the nation and the world in the pursuit of distinctive and effective new treatments for cancer.
CTEP accomplishes its goals by administering, coordinating, and funding clinical trials, as well as sponsoring other research. The program fosters collaborations within the cancer research community and works extensively with the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. CTEP also works closely with the NCI Coordinating Center for Clinical Trials (CCCT) and its scientific steering committees to establish research priorities.
Developmental Therapeutics Program (DTP) — serves as a vital resource in discovering potential cancer therapeutics and acquiring preclinical development information. The program provides research materials, including Web-accessible data and tools, vialed and plated compounds, tumor cells, and research animals, and manufactures new agents in bulk quantities for use in investigational new drug (IND)-directed studies. The program is playing a central role in new collaborations with the NCI Center for Cancer Research (CCR) to reinvigorate the cancer drug development pipeline, with the goal of significantly shortening the amount of time it takes to safely develop effective new treatments for patients with cancer.
Radiation Research Program (RRP) — supports clinical research by providing expertise to investigators who perform novel radiotherapy research; assisting the radiotherapy research community in establishing priorities for the future direction of radiation research; providing medically underserved communities with access to radiation therapy; and by evaluating the effectiveness of radiation research being conducted by NCI grantees. RRP also coordinates its activities with other radiation research programs at NCI, NIH, other federal agencies, and national and international research organizations. Additionally, RRP serves as a focal point for extramural investigators concerned with clinically related radiation research.
Biometrics Research Branch (BRB) — provides state-of-the-art statistical and biomathematical analyses for DCTD and other NCI components and performs research in the areas of statistical, mathematical, and computational sciences that are motivated and informed by real and important problems in current cancer research. Branch members provide leadership for the DCTD national research programs by formulating biomathematical approaches for analyzing genomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and other data emanating from the developmental therapeutics, diagnostics, imaging, radiation research, and clinical trials programs.
Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine (OCCAM) — coordinates NCI’s involvement in identifying gaps in the science and creating corresponding funding opportunities in relation to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM); partners with NCI staff and other federal and nongovernmental organizations to increase the testing of CAM approaches with regard to cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment, symptom management, and rehabilitation; develops communication products for various audiences concerning the investigation of these approaches; and helps to build bridges between CAM practitioners and the cancer research community.
An eighth component, the Translational Research Program (TRP), was added to DCTD as this report went to press. Subsequent reports will include highlights from TRP, which houses the Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grants.