NCI-designated Cancer Centers: An important source of care for cancer patients

National Cancer InstituteDec 31 2014

You may have heard about National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Centers. Perhaps there is even one in your city. NCI-designated Cancer Centers are often located at well-known, academic institutions, such as the Mayo Clinic, and are an important source of care for cancer patients.

These cancer centers are part of the NCI Cancer Centers Program, a network of 68 cancer centers that deliver some of the latest medical advances to patients and families. NCI-designated cancer centers are institutions dedicated to research in the development of more effective approaches to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. They conduct a wide variety of research, from laboratory to clinical research with patients, and also in population-based research. They also conduct training for scientists, doctors, and health professionals, and provide education and outreach about cancer prevention and screening with special attention to the needs of underserved populations. This NCI-designated Cancer Centers Program is critical for continuing to make progress in cancer research and for ensuring that the benefits of that research are available to all of us, regardless of socio-economic status or race and ethnic background. For more information about the NCI Cancer Centers Program, please visit http://cancercenters.cancer.gov.

NCI Community Oncology Research Program

Because the vast majority of people receive their cancer care in the communities where they live, NCI also maintains a strong community oncology program. The NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) is a national network of investigators, cancer care providers, academic institutions, and other organizations. The overall goal of NCORP is to bring cancer research, to individuals in their own communities, to contribute to better patient outcomes and a reduction in cancer disparities. NCORP consists of Research Bases and Community Sites. The Research Bases design and conduct NCORP's multi-center cancer studies. The NCORP Community Sites accrue participants to NCORP cancer prevention, control, screening and post-treatment surveillance clinical trials and cancer care delivery research as well as to NCI's treatment, imaging and quality of life trials. Twelve of the 46 community NCORP sites are designated as Minority/Underserved sites, where at least 30 percent of cancer patients from racial/ethnic minority or other underserved rural populations.