NCI's Physical Sciences-Oncology Centers Program (PS-OCs) is a collaboration of experts in the disparate fields of physics, mathematics, chemistry and biology who are applying the physical laws of matter, including energy flows, gradients, and thermodynamics, to understand the fundamental process of cancer initiation and progression. Recovery Act funds will be used to expand NCI's network of PS-OCs in which cross-disciplinary teams are combining physics and cancer biology to develop new, non-traditional approaches to clinical advances for patients.

Why is the Physical Sciences-Oncology Centers Program a Signature Initiative?

NCI has identified the PS-OCs Program as a Signature Initiative because it is providing answers to the questions of why some people develop cancer and others do not, and once cancer develops, how it grows and what can stop it. The program is helping scientists better understand cancer's causal pathways and identify targets that respond to drugs - knowledge that is leading to the much-anticipated era of personalized medicine.

Engaging the nation's top scientists from previously unrelated fields to explore the root causes of cancer is enabling the translation of that knowledge into effective cancer prevention, detection and treatment programs. The PS-OCs program directly supports NCI's mission to not simply fund research but to be a convener of scientists from government, academia and industry to change cancer's future and to constantly expand science's boundaries into unchartered areas.

How will Recovery Act Funding Impact the Physical Sciences-Oncology Centers Program?

PS-OCs are generating new bodies of knowledge that define the physics, chemistry, and engineering that operate in cancer processes. Recovery Act funding will be used primarily to create jobs to staff, organize and support the cross-disciplinary teams and develop and acquire advanced technology to support their endeavors.