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150 Years of Advances Against Cancer - 2000s
2000s
| 2000 | NCI establishes the Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities (CRCHD) as part of a major national commitment to identify and address the underlying causes of disease and disability in racial and ethnic communities. The prevalence of U.S. adult smoking declines to 23.3 percent. |
| 2001 | The drug imatinib mesylate is shown to be effective against chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Imatinib mesylate is the first anticancer drug developed specifically to target the molecular defect that causes a particular type of cancer. Initial findings from the Human Genome Project are reported. Results of the genomic analyses and the advanced DNA sequencing technologies developed during this project will facilitate future projects aimed at investigating the genomic changes that occur in human cancers. |
| 2002 | NCI launches the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) to determine whether low-dose helical computed tomography (CT), which is also known as spiral CT, is better than single-view chest x-rays in helping to reduce deaths from lung cancer among current and former heavy smokers. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) publishes a monograph on tobacco smoke and involuntary smoking (secondhand smoke) that classifies secondhand smoke as carcinogenic to humans. |
| 2003 | Results from the NCI-sponsored Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT) show that men taking the drug finasteride, which reduces the production of male hormones, were 25 percent less likely to develop prostate cancer than men taking a placebo, demonstrating that prostate cancer can be prevented. An NCI-supported international clinical trial finds that the drug letrozole lowered the risk of breast cancer recurrence in postmenopausal women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer who took the drug after completing an initial 5 years of adjuvant therapy with tamoxifen. Letrozole is an aromatase inhibitor, a class of drugs that inhibit the production of the female hormone estradiol. The FDA approves the drug bortezomib for the treatment of multiple myeloma. Bortezomib represents a new class of targeted agents that inhibit proteasomes, structures inside cells that degrade proteins. |
| 2004 | Letrozole is approved by the FDA for the adjuvant treatment of early-stage breast cancer in postmenopausal women who have already been treated with 5 years of tamoxifen therapy. Data from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study show that women who take estrogen in combination with the hormone progestin have a greater risk of developing breast cancer than women who take estrogen alone. The results also show that menopausal hormone therapy with estrogen alone has no benefit in disease prevention, specifically in reducing the risks of colorectal cancer, coronary heart disease, and dementia. The monoclonal antibody bevacizumab is approved by the FDA for use with other drugs in the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer. Bevacizumab blocks the activity of a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which stimulates the growth of new blood vessels to tumors (a process called tumor angiogenesis). Without an adequate blood supply, tumors cannot get the oxygen and nutrients they need for continued growth. The monoclonal antibody cetuximab is approved by the FDA for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer. Cetuximab inhibits the activity of a protein called epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which is overexpressed in some cancers. The FDA approves oxaliplatin, a platinum-containing drug, for use in the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer. Palifermin is approved by the FDA to decrease the incidence and duration of severe oral mucositis (painful inflammation and sores in the mouth) in patients with leukemia, lymphoma, or multiple myeloma who have been treated with high doses of chemotherapy and radiation therapy followed by bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. Results from two randomized clinical trials show that treatment with the drug docetaxel (a taxane) can increase the survival of men with metastatic hormone-insensitive prostate cancer. |
| 2005 | Results from two large NCI-sponsored randomized clinical trials show that patients with early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer who were treated with the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab in combination with adjuvant chemotherapy had about a 50 percent lower risk of cancer recurrence than patients who received the same chemotherapy without trastuzumab. NCI and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) announce the launch of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project, a collaborative effort that, in its initial phase, will systematically explore the genomic changes in lung, brain (glioblastoma), and ovarian cancer. The number of cancers to be studied will later be increased to more than 20. The FDA approves an albumin-stabilized nanoparticle formulation of paclitaxel for use in the treatment of metastatic or recurrent breast cancer. The FDA approves the aromatase inhibitors anastrozole and exemestane for the adjuvant treatment of hormone receptor-positive early-stage breast cancer. |
| 2006 | Initial results from an NCI-sponsored trial, the Study of Tamoxifen and Raloxifene (STAR), show that the drug raloxifene, an antiestrogen used to prevent osteoporosis in postmenopausal women, reduces the incidence of breast cancer in postmenopausal women at increased risk of the disease to the same extent (approximately 50 percent) as tamoxifen. However, raloxifene appears less likely to cause some of the potentially dangerous side effects found with tamoxifen. The FDA approves the vaccine Gardasil, which protects against persistent infection with the two types of HPV that cause approximately 70 percent of all cases of cervical cancer worldwide. Gardasil also provides protection against the two types of HPV that are responsible for 90 percent of all cases of genital warts. NCI scientists developed the underlying technology used to make Gardasil. The U.S. Surgeon General releases a report on the harmful health consequences of involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke (secondhand smoke). The FDA approves trastuzumab for use with other drugs in the adjuvant treatment of women with early-stage node-positive HER2-overexpressing breast cancer. The FDA approves the drugs thalidomide and lenalidomide, which is a thalidomide derivative, for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma. Thalidomide is a tranquilizer and antiemetic that was used initially to prevent morning sickness in pregnant women. It was withdrawn from the market in the early 1960s after it was found to cause birth defects. |
| 2007 | Results of a randomized clinical trial show that adult patients with previously untreated acute promyelocytic leukemia who were treated with arsenic trioxide after standard chemotherapy had longer disease remissions and better overall survival than patients who received standard chemotherapy alone. Scientists find that the decline in use of menopausal hormone therapy that occurred after the announcement of results from the WHI study was associated with a reduction in breast cancer incidence. The prevalence of U.S. adult smoking declines to 19.8 percent. |
| 2008 | Results from a large multicenter study sponsored by NCI show that the accuracy of virtual colonoscopy is similar to that of fiber-optic colonoscopy in detecting intermediate-size and large colorectal polyps, suggesting that the procedure could serve as an initial screening exam for colorectal cancer. The first TCGA results are announced—findings from a large-scale study of the brain tumor glioblastoma multiforme. The findings include the identification of three previously unknown mutations in this disease and the identification of core cell-signaling pathways that are disrupted in this type of brain cancer. The prevalence of U.S. adult smoking increases to 20.6 percent. |
| 2009 | The FDA approves Cervarix, a second vaccine that protects against persistent infection with the two types of HPV that cause approximately 70 percent of all cases of cervical cancer worldwide. Formaldehyde is associated with increased risks of cancers of the blood and lymphatic system in workers exposed occupationally to this chemical. |
| 2010 | The FDA approves the use of sipuleucel-T for the treatment of metastatic hormone-insensitive prostate cancer. Sipuleucel-T is the first approved human cancer treatment vaccine. Results of a randomized clinical trial show that the drug cabazitaxel can increase the survival of men with metastatic hormone-insensitive prostate cancer whose disease has progressed despite treatment with the drug docetaxel. Results of a randomized controlled trial in the United Kingdom show that one-time screening of people between the ages of 55 and 64 with flexible sigmoidoscopy can help reduce colorectal cancer incidence and mortality. Initial results of NLST show that screening with low-dose helical CT can help reduce lung cancer deaths among current and former heavy smokers. |
