PDQ® Cancer Information Summaries for Health Professionals
The PDQ health professional cancer information summaries are part of the comprehensive, evidence-based, up-to-date cancer content made available as a public service of the NCI. The summaries are written by Editorial Boards of cancer experts and provide the strength of the evidence for specific interventions. The summaries are fully referenced with links to published literature.
As a public service that is fully funded by the US government, PDQ health professional cancer information summaries are freely available to US and International audiences through publication on NCI’s website. Most of the health professional summaries are also available in a patient-focused format. The summaries are also made available to other organizations for translation and reuse through the NCI content syndication program.
In addition to English, almost all summaries are available in Spanish from NCI, and selected content is available in Chinese and Japanese from content partners. Learn more about PDQ® in Other Languages.
The PDQ health professional cancer information summaries were established in response to legislative mandates originally contained in the National Cancer Act of 1971. They are not clinical practice guidelines or treatment recommendations and are not intended to be used as a basis for insurance reimbursement.
The PDQ is an invaluable resource for both providers and patients. For clinicians and teachers, the summaries provide the most up-to-date evidence-based treatment for care of patients with cancer.
Cancer Information Summaries
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Adult Treatment Summaries
The adult treatment summaries provide treatment information for over 70 types of common and rare cancers in adults. Summaries provide detailed information on cancer subtypes, staging, treatment, and prognosis for each disease.
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Pediatric Treatment Summaries
The pediatric treatment summaries contain treatment information on the major types of cancer in children, as well as information on rare childhood cancers. The summaries provide detailed information on cancer subtypes, staging, treatment, and prognosis for each disease.
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Supportive and Palliative Care Summaries
The supportive and palliative care summaries provide descriptions of the pathophysiology and treatment of common physical and psychosocial complications of cancer and its treatment, such as pain, fatigue, and nausea/vomiting. The summaries generally contain an overview, with detailed information on etiology, assessment, and management.
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Screening Summaries
Summaries are available on screening for many of the common cancers, including lung, colorectal, breast, and prostate. The summaries contain an overview of screening for particular disease sites, and provide details about the magnitude and strength of evidence for each screening intervention.
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Prevention Summaries
Summaries are available on the prevention of many of the common cancers including lung, colorectal, breast, and prostate. The summaries contain current data about risk factors and prevention interventions for particular disease sites, and provide details about the strength of evidence for each prevention intervention.
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Genetics Summaries
The genetics summaries provide evidence-based information about the genetic basis of certain cancers. Information is given about risk factors related to family history, major genes and syndromes associated with the disease, interventions specific to individuals at high risk, and the ethical, legal, and social issues related to cancer risk counseling and genetic testing.
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Integrative, Alternative, and Complementary Therapies Summaries
The integrative, alternative, and complementary therapies summaries contain background information about the therapies that includes a brief history of the development, information about the proposed mechanism(s) of action, and evidence related to relevant preclinical and clinical studies.