The provocative questions project is intended to assemble a list of important but non-obvious questions that will stimulate the NCI’s research communities to use laboratory, clinical, and population sciences in especially effective and imaginative ways. The questions should not be simple restatements of long-term goals of the National Cancer Program, which are to improve the prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment of all forms of cancer. Instead they should:
Build on specific advances in our understanding of cancer and cancer control;
Address broad issues in the biology of cancer that have proven difficult to resolve;
Take into consideration the likelihood of progress in the foreseeable future (e.g. 5 to 10 years); and
Address ways to overcome obstacles to achieving long-term goals.
Why Now?
Due to recent technological advances in many fields,
especially in genomics, molecular biology, and computational sciences,
there has never been a better time for doing cancer research. We have
made large leaps in our basic knowledge about cancers---especially about the genetic and biochemical mechanisms by which they arise. Now we have an
opportunity to take a step back from the momentum of these
discoveries and make sure we have left no stone unturned and no
important but perhaps non-obvious question left unexplored. The new
leaders at the NCI are eager to influence the state of cancer
research by attempting to define more potentially
game-changing scientific questions that could influence the directions
taken by NCI-sponsored research in the future.
"Provocative Questions" and the Broader Community
The collaborative process of formulating the provocative questions should engage the NCI’s scientific community in serious debate and energize the NCI’s many constituencies (advocacy groups, health
professionals, Members of Congress, and others) about the prospects
for improving the welfare of cancer patients through research. These
other constituencies are encouraged to take part in the "Provocative Questions" enterprise through discussions and activities on this Web site.