National Comprehensive Cancer Network: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 19:45, 7 August 2007
National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is an alliance of twenty-one cancer centers from across the United States.
Mission
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) works to improve care along the continuum of cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up. A not-for-profit alliance of twenty-one cancer centers, NCCN communicates evaluative clinical information to patients, physicians, and others involved in cancer care. The primary goal of all NCCN initiatives is to improve the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of oncology practice.
NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology™
The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology™ strive to be the most comprehensive and most frequently updated clinical practice guidelines available in any area of medicine. Covering 97 percent of all cancers and updated on a continual basis, these guidelines are developed through an explicit review of the evidence integrated with expert medical judgment by multidisciplinary panels from NCCN Member Institutions. Treatment recommendations are specific and are implemented through performance measurement.
NCCN Guidelines Panels address cancer detection, prevention and risk reduction, workup and diagnosis, treatment and supportive care. NCCN Guidelines have become the most widely used guidelines in oncology practice and have been requested by cancer care professionals in over 115 countries.
NCCN/ACS Treatment Guidelines for Patients
Produced in collaboration with the American Cancer Society (ACS), Treatment Guidelines for Patients provide cost-free, specific, and understandable information that patients and their families can use to make timely and well-informed decisions about cancer treatment. Developed from the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology™, the patient versions of the guidelines describe diagnosis and treatment of frequently occurring cancers and supportive care issues in an easy-to-read format. These guidelines provide patients access to the same decision pathways their oncologists use.
Booklets are available in English and Spanish for the following:
Treatment of Cancer by Site
o Bladder Cancer
o Breast Cancer
o Colon and Rectal Cancers
o Lung Cancer
o Melanoma
o Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
o Ovarian Cancer
o Prostate Cancer
Supportive Care
o Advanced Cancer and Palliative Care
o Cancer Pain
o Cancer-Related Fatigue and Anemia
o Distress
o Fever and Neutropenia
o Nausea and Vomiting
Oncology Clinical Trials Information for Patients
Clinical trials (also called medical research and research studies) are conducted to determine whether new drugs or treatments are both safe and effective. They answer specific questions about new therapies or new ways of using known treatments.
All patients in clinical trials are closely watched by a team of experts to monitor their progress very carefully. Studies are designed to pay close attention to the study participants. While there are risks and benefits of every clinical trial, it is important to keep in mind that even standard treatments have risks and benefits.
The Purpose of Clinical Trials
Researchers conduct studies of new treatments to answer important questions:
o Does this treatment work?
o How does this new type of treatment work?
o Does it work better than other treatments already available?
o What side effects does the treatment cause?
o Are the side effects greater or less than the standard treatment?
o What other risks are involved?
o Do the benefits outweigh the risks?
o In which patients is the treatment most likely to be helpful?
Types of clinical trials
Clinical Trials are usually conducted in three phases:
o Phase I determines safety and side effects
o Phase II determines whether the treatment works and provides more information on safety
o Phase III determines if it’s better than current therapies
Deciding to Enter a Clinical Trial
Perhaps the best way to feel confident about participating in a clinical trial is to learn as much as possible about cancer clinical trials, about the study itself, and about how other people have made the decision. A comprehensive cancer resource list is available to help you in your learning.
NCCN Member Institutions
- City of Hope * Los Angeles, CA
- Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Institute |
Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center * Boston, MA - Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center * Durham, NC
- Fox Chase Cancer Center * Philadelphia, PA
- Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah * Salt Lake City, UT
- Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance * Seattle, WA
- Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital & Richard J. Solove Research Institute at
The Ohio State University * Columbus, OH - The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins * Baltimore, MD
- Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University * Chicago, IL
- Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center * New York, NY
- H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute at the University of South Florida * Tampa, FL
- Roswell Park Cancer Institute * Buffalo, NY
- Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and
Washington University School of Medicine * St. Louis, MO - St. Jude Children's Research Hospital/University of Tennessee Cancer Institute * Memphis, TN
- Stanford Comprehensive Cancer Center * Stanford, CA
- University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center * Birmingham, AL
- UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center * San Francisco, CA
- University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center * Ann Arbor, MI
- UNMC Eppley Cancer Center at The Nebraska Medical Center * Omaha, NE
- The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center * Houston, TX
- Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center * Nashville, TN
External Links
National Comprehensive Cancer Network
American Cancer Society
