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National Cancer Institute (NCI)


Self Description

May 2008: "Since the passage of the National Cancer Act in 1971, our nation has made great progress in reducing the burden of cancer. It was reported in February 2005 that cancer deaths in the United States have declined - for the first time since 1930, the year our country began compiling statistics on the disease's toll. The numbers were modest yet historic: 369 fewer people died from cancer in 2003 than in 2002.

Today's progress against cancer is the result of enhanced prevention strategies, along with earlier detection and better treatment - all made possible by years of dedicated intramural and extramural research.

While we have much more to learn about this complex disease, our increased understanding of cancer at the genetic, molecular, and cellular levels is opening up enormous opportunities to interrupt the initiation and development of the disease.

The National Cancer Institute's research programs are extensive and contain many innovative initiatives. I invite you to explore our Web site to find out more about the exciting work being conducted here at NCI and by NCI-supported scientists throughout the country.

You will also find valuable cancer-related information of all kinds. For the general public, patients, and health professionals, we offer consumer-oriented information on a wide range of topics as well as comprehensive descriptions of our research programs and clinical trials. Scientists will find detailed information on specific areas of research interest and funding opportunities."

http://www.cancer.gov/directorscorner/welcome

Third-Party Descriptions

July 2011: "Instead, as patients and their doctors try to make critical decisions about serious illnesses, they may be getting worthless information that is based on bad science. The scientific world is concerned enough that two prominent groups, the National Cancer Institute and the Institute of Medicine, have begun examining the Duke case; they hope to find new ways to evaluate claims based on emerging and complex analyses of patterns of genes and other molecules."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/08/health/research/08genes.html

August 2009: "There are more than 6,500 cancer clinical trials seeking adult patients, according to clinicaltrials.gov, a trials registry. But many will be abandoned along the way. More than one trial in five sponsored by the National Cancer Institute failed to enroll a single subject, and only half reached the minimum needed for a meaningful result, Dr. Ramsey and his colleague John Scoggins reported in a recent review in The Oncologist."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/health/research/03trials.html

June 2009: "Among the recent research grants awarded by the National Cancer Institute is one for a study asking whether people who are especially responsive to good-tasting food have the most difficulty staying on a diet. Another study will assess a Web-based program that encourages families to choose more healthful foods."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/health/research/28cancer.html

May 2008: "Scientists who study smoking have identified various disparities in the health of black and white smokers. National Cancer Institute data shows that African-American men get lung cancer at a rate 50 percent higher than white men — a gap that most scientists say cannot be fully explained by historically higher rates of smoking by black men."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/business/13menthol.html

March 2008: "To settle the dispute, the National Cancer Institute started in 2002 the $200 million National Lung Screening Trial comparing death rates among 55,000 people randomly assigned to have CT scans or chest X-rays. Results are not expected until 2010. Dr. Henschke has asserted that allowing hundreds of thousands of people to die in the meantime is unethical."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/26/health/research/26lung.html

November 2007: Yes, the war has had some important successes: Cancer deaths in the United States are finally dropping, chiefly because of badly belated (and still poorly supported) efforts to curb smoking, reductions in the levels of some pollutants and significant advances in the control of cancers of the breast, colon, prostate and cervix. But new cases of cancer not linked to smoking or aging are on the rise, such as cancer in children and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in people older than 55. And according to the CDC, cancer is the No. 2 cause of death for children and middle-age people, second only to accidents. The longer view is troubling: The National Cancer Institute reports that from 1950 to 2001, the number of cancers of the bone marrow, the bladder and the liver doubled.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110201648.html

November 2005: The National Cancer Institute said yesterday that it will cancel its online subscription to a widely read weekly newsletter that has been publishing unflattering articles about the institute and its director, Andrew C. von Eschenbach.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/21/AR2005112101355.html

Relationships

RoleNameTypeLast Updated
Owned by (partial or full, past or present) National Institutes of Health (NIH) Organization Nov 22, 2005
Employee/Freelancer/Contractor (past or present) Prof. Devra Lee Davis Ph.D., MPH Person Nov 5, 2007
Organization Head/Leader (past or present) Dr. Richard D. Klausner M.D. Person Jun 29, 2009
Advised by (past or present) Elias A. Zerhouni Person Mar 4, 2004
Organization Head/Leader (past or present) Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach M.D. Person Nov 22, 2005

Articles and Resources

24 Articles and Resources. Go to:  [Next 4]

Date Fairness.com Resource Read it at:
Jul 07, 2011 How Bright Promise in Cancer Testing Fell Apart

QUOTE: as patients and their doctors try to make critical decisions about serious illnesses, they may be getting worthless information that is based on bad science. The scientific world is concerned enough that two prominent groups, the National Cancer Institute and the Institute of Medicine, have begun examining the Duke case; they hope to find new ways to evaluate claims based on emerging and complex analyses of patterns of genes and other molecules.

 New York Times
Oct 22, 2009 Research Uproar at a Cancer Clinic

QUOTE: community [research] centers may not always be adhering to the rigorous protocols of research medicine that the National Cancer Institute expects them to follow.

 New York Times
Aug 31, 2009 PSA Test: More Harm Than Good? Study: 1 Million Men Suffered Needless Treatment After Prostate Cancer Test

QUOTE: The PSA prostate cancer screening test does more harm than good, a new study suggests.

 WebMD
Aug 02, 2009 Lack of Study Volunteers Hobbles Cancer Fight ("Forty Years' War" part 4)

QUOTE: There are more than 6,500 cancer clinical trials seeking adult patients, according to clinicaltrials.gov... But many will be abandoned along the way. More than one trial in five sponsored by the National Cancer Institute failed to enroll a single subject, and only half reached the minimum needed for a meaningful result Dr. [Scott] Ramsey and his colleague John Scoggins reported...

 New York Times
Jul 16, 2009 Should Racial Profiling Play a Role in Cancer Prognosis? Two recent studies indicate that the genetics of race influences the survivability of some cancers, but the conclusions are not so black and wh

QUOTE: Two research teams, however, have recently suggested that the genetics of race itself is likely to be a contributor [to higher cancer rates in African-Americans]. Exactly how significant the findings are and just what they mean for treatment is unclear, but some scientists worry that African-Americans could take such conclusions the wrong way, leading them not to seek treatment.

 Scientific American
Jun 27, 2009 Grant System Leads Cancer Researchers to Play It Safe

QUOTE: One major impediment, scientists agree, is the grant system itself. It has become a sort of jobs program, a way to keep research laboratories going year after year with the understanding that the focus will be on small projects unlikely to take significant steps toward curing cancer.

 New York Times
Jun 15, 2009 Tobacco Regulation Is Expected to Face a Free-Speech Challenge

QUOTE: The marketing and advertising restrictions in the tobacco law that Congress passed last week are likely to be challenged in court on free-speech grounds. The controversy... involves tension between the right of tobacco companies to communicate with adult smokers and the public interest in preventing young people from smoking.

 New York Times
May 13, 2008 Cigarette Bill Treats Menthol With Leniency

QUOTE: But those new strictures would exempt menthol — even though menthol masks the harsh taste of cigarettes for beginners and may make it harder for the addicted to kick the smoking habit. For years, public health authorities have worried that menthol might be a factor in high cancer rates in African-Americans.

 New York Times
Apr 28, 2008 PETA and Euthanasia: Even among animal lovers, killing unwanted pets is a divisive issue (Animal Rights)

QUOTE: But what many animal lovers don't realize is that PETA itself may have put down some of those unwanted Dalmatians. The organization has practiced euthanasia for years.

 Newsweek
Mar 26, 2008 Cigarette Company Paid for Lung Cancer Study

QUOTE: An increasing number of universities do not accept grants from cigarette makers, and a growing awareness of the influence that companies can have over research outcomes, even when donations are at arm’s length, has led nearly all medical journals and associations to demand that researchers accurately disclose financing sources.

 New York Times
Nov 20, 2007 Are Scientists Playing God? It Depends on Your Religion

QUOTE: Asia offers researchers new labs, fewer restrictions and a different view of divinity and the afterlife. In South Korea, when Hwang Woo Suk reported creating human embryonic stem cells through cloning, he did not apologize for offending religious taboos. He justified cloning by citing his Buddhist belief in recycling life through reincarnation.

 New York Times
Nov 04, 2007 Off Target in the War on Cancer: An Ounce of Prevention

QUOTE: those who profit from the continued use of some risky technologies have devised well-financed efforts to sow doubt about many modern [cancer-related--Ed.] hazards, taking their cue from the machinations of the tobacco industry. The best crafted public relations campaigns masquerade as independent scientific information from unimpeachable authorities.

 Washington Post
Nov 14, 2006 For Smokers, a Tough Call

QUOTE: "because lung cancer is such a major killer, there's going to be a lot of interest in moving [aggressive CT scanning--Ed.] down the road" and many people who say they want the test but may not understand the pitfalls....Finding a nodule usually triggers a cascade of interventions, starting with a biopsy, which can cause infection, scarring and a collapsed lung."

 Washington Post
Aug 11, 2006 Intimidation Alleged in High-Stakes Patent: IP firm faces possibility of removal

QUOTE: Kenyon & Kenyon faces sanctions, including the possibility of removal from a case, for alleged witness intimidation in a high-stakes federal patent case involving the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ImClone Systems Inc. and Repligen Corp.

 Law.com
Aug 11, 2006 Teen battles state over cancer treatment

QUOTE: Starchild Abraham Cherrix, a 16-year-old suffering from Hodgkin's disease, has refused chemotherapy and radiation treatments ordered by his oncologist...government lawyers will accuse his parents, who support Abraham's herbal treatment, of medical neglect.

 CourtTV.com
Aug 01, 2006 A 10-Year Checkup: A Decade Into the E-Health Era, Online Medical Resources Pass a Real-Life Test

QUOTE: This is about the quality of health information on the Internet, all that stuff buzzing around between Web servers and computer screens intended to help people manage their health.

 Washington Post
Nov 22, 2005 Cancer Institute to Drop Newsletter: Online Publication Printed Criticisms About Group, Director

QUOTE: Officials at the $4.8 billion institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, said the action was a cost-cutting move...But others interpreted the decision as an attempt at information control.

 Washington Post
Jul 20, 2005 Reporting Bias Can Skew Research: Researcher says unpublished work can dampen prognostic power of disease markers

QUOTE: Thanks to research biases, factors that purportedly predict the outcome of various diseases may be less reliable than people believe...

 HealthDay
Jul 18, 2005 Pregnancy Centers Found to Give False Information on Abortion

QUOTE: Federally funded "pregnancy resource centers" are incorrectly telling women that abortion results in an increased risk of breast cancer, infertility and deep psychological trauma, a minority congressional report charged yesterday.

 Washington Post
Jun 29, 2005 Many new drugs have strong dose of media hype

QUOTE: The FDA has the task of making sure that drug companies do not make misleading claims in their ads, whether in medical journals or in mass-market Parade. But the regulatory agency, with part of its budget dependent on drug-company funding, has little firepower.

 Seattle Times

24 Articles and Resources. Go to:  [Next 4]