The activities that are run by NIC are diversified aiming at effective outcomes for the cancer research, detection, treatment and prevention. The most activities that are given priority are cancer concepts, clinical trials, giving cancer statistics and research and finding. These tenants work independently but linked together to enhance cancer efforts achievement. Cancer statistics The national cancer institute plays a central role in enabling the American cancer society to give the public and other stakeholders’ estimates of the number of new cancer cases and deaths expected in US based on NCI.
At the NCI, the cancer incidence and mortality rates are age standardized to the 2000 United States standard million population. Based on this notion, NCI projects that a total of 563,700 deaths and 1,368,030 new cancer cases were expected in the US at the end of 2005. At the same time statistics provision indicated that incidences have stabilized amongst men since 1995 to 2000, but increased amongst females by 0. 4 percent from the year 1987 to 2000. Further reports reveal that mortality rates have decreased by 1. 5 percent per year since 1992 among men, but from 1998 it has stabilized among women up to 2000.
Fortunately, the statistics show that death rates continue to decrease among men in colon and rectum, prostate and lung and bronchus cancer sites, while in women show decrease in cancer sites such as breast cancer and colorectal. The statistics analyzed by race in US, African-American men and women have 40 percent in total death rates arising from cancer, while the white men and women have 20 percent while at the same time, cancer incidences and mortality are higher in African-American and white races and lower among other races such as Hispanic and Asians.
Moreover, the other ethnic groups apart from African-American and whites exhibit high cervical, stomach and liver cancers. Cancer issues After getting the statistics the NIC strategizes how to possibly minimize the cancer epidemic through designing various methods and techniques based on the key concept that can enhance a fight against cancer. For instance, there are cancer tools that are designed to be used in implementing cancer treatment and prevention.
These tools include; cancer treatment, preventing screening, genetics and causes preventing cancer. Cancer is a term used for diseases in which the abnormal cells divide without control and these cells are able to invade other cells through blood or lymph systems. It should be noted that cancer is not one disease, but many diseases. The types of cancer are named according to the organ or the cell in which they start. For example, cancer that starts at the breast is called breast cancer.
The NCI has broad classification of cancer into five broad categories. These are: Central nervous system cancer that starts in the skin, Lymphoma and myeloma cancer that begins with the immune system, Sarcoma cancer that begins in blood vessels, born, cartilage or all that begins with supportive tissues, and Leukemia cancer that start from blood forming tissues. Cancer treatment and Diagnosis Through the actual research, NCI engages in necessary design that helps to treat cancer in the US community.
This is done effectively by perdition research programs, cancer therapy programs, developmental therapeutics programs, cancer diagnosis programs, and cancer imaging and translation research. In regard to treatment and diagnosis, NCI uses the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD) take prospective detection and treatment leads. This is facilitates National Cancer Institute paths to clinical application, and expedites the initial and subsequent large-scale testing of new agents and interventions in patients with cancer.
Figure 2: Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis at NCI The Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis has seven major programs such as the Cancer Diagnosis Program which coordinates, and funds specimen resources, databases related to those specimens and research on diagnostics and improved technologies to better characterize tumors. Secondly, the Cancer Imaging Program that applies new technologies to expand the role of imaging in noninvasive diagnosis, identification of disease subsets in patients, disease staging, and treatment monitoring in all cancer related cases.
Third, there is Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program this function as NCI’s primary clinical evaluator of new anticancer agents, radiation treatments, and surgical methods. This is a vital program and its importance lies in the fact that it administers the eleven (11) cooperative research groups that unite researchers around the US and the world in the pursuit of distinctive and effective new treatments for cancer. Fourth, the Biometrics Research Branch that provides state-of-the-art statistical and biomathematical analyses for Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis.
Fifth, there is the Radiation Research Program which provides expertise to investigators who perform novel radiotherapy research and assists in establishing future radiation research directions in cancer related diagnoses and treatment. Six one is the Developmental Therapeutics Program which serves as a vital resource in discovering potential cancer therapeutics and acquiring preclinical development information.
Additionally, the program provides research materials and manufactures new agents in bulk quantities for use in investigational new drug (IND)-directed studies. The seventh and the last involve the Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine which is a new program that has recently relocated to Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis. This new section aims to increase the amount of high-quality cancer research and information about the use of complementary and alternative modalities. Cancer Biology