Researchers from National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Cancer Centers met in Denver last month to share preliminary findings from seven pilot studies aimed at increasing participation in early phase clinical trials, particularly among elderly and underserved populations.

The meeting was the third workshop organized under the 2003 NCI-led initiative, "Overcoming Barriers to Early Phase Clinical Trials." The workshops allow grantees to exchange ideas on why certain groups do not join phase I and II clinical trials and what can be done about it.

"We are looking at a variety of different approaches for overcoming barriers, and it's important to say at this point that the initiative is still a work in progress," said Dr. Edward Trimble of NCI's Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis. Among the strategies being tested are the use of counselors to guide patients through the clinical trials process, community education programs, and equipping oncologists with Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) so they can identify open trials during office visits with patients.  Read more  

In this issue of the Bulletin, we celebrate the NCI Cancer Centers Program and the 60 institutions it currently funds. It's impossible to capture the program's history and spirit in 8 pages and a few thousand words, but I hope you'll come away understanding how important the Cancer Centers are in supporting NCI's mission.

It's been 35 years since the Yarborough Committee - a panel of medical and policy experts convened by the Senate committee chaired by Sen. Ralph W. Yarborough (D-Texas) - recommended that Comprehensive Cancer Centers serve as a focal point to speed progress in a new, coordinated assault on cancer. President Nixon signed the National Cancer Act 1 year later, and many of us have spent untold hours attempting to achieve the noble goal set forth in that law.  Read more  

The NCI Cancer Bulletin is produced by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). NCI, which was established in 1937, leads the national effort to eliminate the suffering and death due to cancer. Through basic, clinical, and population-based biomedical research and training, NCI conducts and supports research that will lead to a future in which we can identify the environmental and genetic causes of cancer, prevent cancer before it starts, identify cancers that do develop at the earliest stage, eliminate cancers through innovative treatment interventions, and biologically control those cancers that we cannot eliminate so they become manageable, chronic diseases. For more information on cancer, call 1-800-4-CANCER or visit http://www.cancer.gov. NCI Cancer Bulletin staff can be reached at ncicancerbulletin@mail.nih.gov.