NCI Testifies on Radiation Effects from Nuclear Weapons Testing
At a July 19 Senate hearing, Dr. Kiyohiko Mabuchi, an expert with NCI's Radiation Epidemiology Branch, testified that NCI plans to prepare several scientific papers for peer-reviewed journals on the Institute's estimates that radioactive fallout from U.S. nuclear weapons testing in the Marshall Islands between 1947 and 1957 might be associated with as many as 500 excess cancers over the lifetimes of the exposed population. This would represent an approximate 9-percent increase over the estimated 5,600 lifetime cancer cases predicted to occur naturally in a comparable unexposed population.

NCI's estimates were first presented publicly to a House committee on May 25 (NCI Cancer Bulletin, June 7). At the July hearing, Dr. Mabuchi reiterated that NCI's estimates are highly uncertain due to limitations in radiation dose estimates and other factors. By pursuing scientific publication, "our work can be verified, refined, and employed by others," Dr. Mabuchi explained. Detailed information is available at http://dceg.cancer.gov/radia-researchDosimetryRMI.html.

New Web Sites Describes BCSC Resources
The Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC) recently launched a new Web site - http://breastscreening.cancer.gov/work/ - to assist investigators who wish to initiate new research using the BCSC data on U.S. breast cancer screening practices. Development of new collaborative research ideas is a key goal of BCSC, a cooperative agreement between NCI and researchers who study breast cancer screening practices, created in response to the Mammography Quality Standards Act of 1992.

Another new BCSC Web site - http://breastscreening.cancer.gov/benchmarks/diagnostic/ - provides information from a recent paper using BCSC data, "Performance Benchmarks for Diagnostic Mammography" (Radiology 2005;235(3):775-790). The study pooled data from BCSC registries on 332,926 diagnostic mammography exams performed between 1996 and 2001 at 151 facilities. The Web site contains tables and figures with performance parameters pertinent to the auditing of diagnostic mammography exams.

Diet and Communication Workshop
About 150 people attended the "Diet and Communication: What Can Communication Science Tell Us About Promoting Optimal Dietary Behavior?" workshop on July 14 and 15 in Bethesda, Md., to discuss applying communication science to the nutrition field. Dietitians, nutritionists, marketing executives, science writers, policy experts, and researchers discussed how communication research might be applied to nutrition health promotion. Speakers presented information from studies of media coverage, children's responses to television, nutrition in special populations, health campaigns, message design, and industry marketing tactics.

The workshop was sponsored by the Health Promotion Research Branch of NCI's Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences and NIH's Division of Nutrition Research Coordination.

CNP Grantees Discuss Cancer Disparities
More than 350 principal investigators and community-based cancer outreach specialists from around the country gathered in Bethesda, Md., last week to network, share ideas and experiences, and hear from NCI divisions and offices as they prepare to launch programs as part of NCI's $95 million, 5-year Community Networks Program (CNP) to address cancer disparities in minority and underserved communities.

CNP will approach disparities reduction through community-based education, training, research, and interventions.

The 3-day meeting was organized by NCI's Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities. This was the first meeting of the CNP grantees, which represent the diverse communities where cancer rates are disproportionately high: Hispanic, African American, Asian American, Pacific Islanders, Native American, and underserved white populations.

The conference goal was to help participants learn about the NCI resources that will enable them to proceed with their projects. Topics that were discussed included NCI's partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on early detection, NCI's activities with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on cancer coverage for Medicare beneficiaries, HPV testing and cervical cancer screening, overviews of NCI's Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences and Office of Communications, information about career and fellowship opportunities, and NCI's Web-based Cancer Control PLANET resource.