New on NCI's Websites for October 2019

October 3, 2019, by NCI Staff

NCI’s collection of cancer information products is constantly growing, so we provide periodic updates on new and updated content of interest to the cancer community.

NCI’s Annual Plan and Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2021

Each year, NCI prepares a plan for advancing cancer research and the funding required to make the most rapid progress against cancer. The Annual Plan & Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2021 focuses on three emerging areas of research: the immune system and microbiome, artificial intelligence, and implementation science.

NCI Bottom Line: A Blog about Grants and More

NCI has launched a new blog on everything you ever wanted to know about grants and how NCI funds its grants portfolio. The Bottom Line blog’s goal is to transparently share information about the fiscal landscape and the opportunities and challenges it presents to NCI and grantees.

Implementation Science at a Glance eBook

Implementation science is an important area of research opportunity in NCI’s annual plan for fiscal year 2021. Implementation Science at a Glance (ePub) offers practical guidance on this topic for cancer control practitioners, policymakers, and cancer control and implementation researchers.

OCG e-Newsletter: New Issue Published

The Office of Cancer Genomics (OCG) has published issue 22 of the OCG e-Newsletter. Topics discussed include the use of single-cell RNA sequencing to understand the diversity of cells within tumors and ways to use next-generation cancer models for translational research. The newsletter also includes a perspective by Lauren Hurd, Ph.D., on how her background in genomics helps in her role as a scientific program manager for the Human Cancer Models Initiative.

Center for Global Health Recognizes World Cancer Research Day

NCI’s Center for Global Health (CGH) marked this year’s World Cancer Research Day (September 16) with a new post on its CGH Spotlights blog. World Cancer Research Day is a global initiative to increase awareness about the importance of cancer research and how researchers are working to make progress against cancer.

New Issue of DCTD Pipeline News Posted

The August 2019 issue of Pipeline News, a quarterly newsletter of the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD), includes features about: the Patient-Derived Models Repository and NCI’s National Clinical Trials Network; a profile on Malcolm Smith, M.D., Ph.D., of the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program; and news about other DCTD programs and activities.

NExT Program Supports Collaborative Project to Develop p97 ATPase Inhibitors

The DCTD website has a feature on how the NCI Experimental Therapeutics (NExT) program is working with academic and biotech industry partners to support a collaborative project to develop inhibitors of an enzyme called p97 ATPase, which is essential for a range of cellular functions and may be a novel target for cancer therapy.

New DCEG Website

NCI’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG) debuted its new website in August. The site features a new navigation system and enhanced appearance. The changes make DCEG’s website similar in design and function to NCI’s main website.

NCORP Website Updated as New Grants Awarded

The Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP) has refreshed the website for the NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) with new features, including a tool called “find a site” that lets users locate NCORP research bases and partner sites by state or by using an interactive map. The refresh coincides with the expansion of NCORP to 44 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories of Puerto Rico and Guam, the largest geographic coverage in the program’s history.

Infographic: Why Invest in Basic Science?

An infographic titled “Why Invest in Basic Science?” illustrates the development lifecycle of the drug crizotinib (Xalkori). The infographic presents the translation of basic discovery to a first-in-human trial to the clinical trials leading to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval and beyond, as the drug was tested in new patient groups and combination regimens.

Video—Randomization in Clinical Trials

In some phase 2 and all phase 3 clinical trials, patients are assigned to groups that receive different treatments. The process of assigning patients to these groups by chance is called randomization. A new video explains how and why researchers randomly assign clinical trial participants to different treatment groups in some clinical trials.

How Cancer Is Diagnosed

When someone has a symptom or a screening test result that suggests cancer, their doctor must find out whether it is due to cancer or some other cause. This updated page discusses many of the tests used to help diagnose cancer, including lab tests, imaging tests, and biopsies, as well as tests used to plan treatment after cancer is diagnosed.

Cancer Type Research Pages

Over the past several months, NCI has added new content to help explain the most recent advances in research for several common types of cancer, including:

Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy Fact Sheet

NCI recently updated its fact sheet about sentinel lymph node biopsy, including new information on why it is used, when it is used, and the benefits and harms of the procedure.

New Patient Summary on Hereditary Syndromes Associated with Kidney Cancer

A new PDQ summary explains who might benefit from genetic counseling and testing for kidney cancer and discusses the four known hereditary kidney cancer syndromes and the genes that cause them. It also has new medical drawings to explain autosomal inheritance and show areas of the body affected by the different syndromes.

New Drugs Information Summaries

NCI has added new drug information summaries for several drugs recently approved by FDA, including:

the breast cancer drug apelisib (Piqray)
darolutamide (Nubeqa) for metastatic prostate cancer
polatuzumab vedotin-piiq (Polivy), which was approved to treat a common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma
fedratinib hydrochloride (Inrebic), a new drug for people with myelofibrosis