We have set our sights on a major destination - the elimination of suffering and death due to cancer by 2015. The best scientists, our committed partners, and the patients and volunteers who participate in clinical studies are helping us focus to meet this ambitious Challenge Goal.

We move toward our goal in steps, each research finding is a milestone that informs the next study - sometimes moving us forward in a straight line, other times pointing us in unexpected directions. There is so much research being done and the pace is often so rapid, that it becomes too easy to move from one achievement to the next without pausing to take stock of where we have come and what each means. I have instituted this annual progress report to communicate the breadth and depth of accomplishments within cancer research, to share the commitment of the research community that I witness every day, and to convey the sense of hope that progress brings.

The research process spans a continuum from discovery of new knowledge about the process of cancer, to development of new interventions, to the ultimate delivery of new, more effective, and safer interventions to all who need them. This report contains examples of achievements that cross the discovery, development, and delivery continuum, and ends with a look at the infrastructure we have built to remove barriers to progress - forging partnerships, opening access to datasets and tissue resources, and more fully utilizing emerging technologies to apply them to our efforts in genomics, proteomics, communications, and delivery of clinical and public health interventions.

This is a time of great discovery in cancer research. Scientists are peering deep inside the cell, characterizing the many steps and complex mechanisms involved in the disease process called cancer. Researchers are beginning to unravel cancer's mysteries and use that new knowledge to develop ways to preempt cancer before it becomes life-threatening, or even prevent it altogether.

Because cancer research has been a vibrant, wide-ranging enterprise for decades now, cancer does not take the same toll it did 30 years ago. Now more people are living with cancer than dying from it. In 1976, half of all cancer patients survived more than five years after diagnosis. Today, closer to two thirds (63 percent) are alive five years after they learn they have cancer.

Last year, as we marked the 30th anniversary of NCI's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER), we reported that death rates have declined from the four most common cancers - lung, breast, prostate, and colorectal. These examples of measurable progress mean that 10 million Americans alive today are survivors of cancer. Much more than dry statistics, these numbers reflect the lives of people who are counting on us to reduce the burden of cancer for them and future generations.

This report spotlights the achievements that define for me the excitement and potential for significant impact and real movement toward our Challenge Goal. The work described on these pages illustrates the innovation, focused energy, and collaborative spirit that is moving us forward.

Andrew von Eschenbach, M.D.
Director
National Cancer Institute

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