Notes
Clinical Trials Promotional Tools Available from NCI
NCI recently made available two patient education posters and a pin to increase awareness about clinical trials by sparking discussions with cancer patients who may be interested in enrolling in a trial. The posters and pins introduce patients to the concept of clinical trials, complement education and recruitment efforts, and serve as conversation starters to discuss trials in a general context before exploring specific trials with patients. The pins can also be worn by patients participating in clinical trials or their family members and friends—individuals who can help increase awareness.
For more information about the posters and pins, call NCI's Cancer Information Service toll free at 1-800-4-CANCER or order them online by clicking: https://pubs.cancer.gov/ncipl.
NCI-Frederick Prepares for Annual Spring Research Festival
The National Cancer Institute at Frederick, in partnership with the National Interagency Confederation for Biological Research at Fort Detrick, will hold the 13th Annual Spring Research Festival on April 29 and 30 in Frederick, MD. Scientific staff, including students, technical support staff, postdoctoral fellows, and principal investigators, will present posters describing their research to the joint scientific communities. This year's festival will also include a health and safety exposition, educational information, safety and scientific displays, and commercial exhibits on the latest scientific equipment and technologies. More information is available online.
CTCAE 4.0 Posted for Public Review
NCI's Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 3.0 is widely accepted throughout the oncology research community as the standard grading scale for defining protocol parameters such as maximum tolerated dose, dose modification, and comparison of safety profiles between interventions.
NCI's Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program and Center for Bioinformatics have revised CTCAE version 3.0 to address agreement with the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) terminology, integration with caBIG data systems, and long-term governance of CTCAE. A draft of CTCAE version 4.0 is available for public review at http://ctep.cancer.gov/ under “CTEP Highlights" through April 10. The site includes further information about the revision and instructions for submitting comments. Questions should be addressed to ctcae4@bah.com.Meet NCI Experts at AACR
Join Dr. John E. Niederhuber on Monday, April 20, at 11:45 a.m. for the NCI Director Session during the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting. Learn about NCI's programs and Web sites by visiting booth #306 in the exhibit hall. NCI experts will be available to talk about a wide range of topics. See the schedule below.
| Sunday, April 19 | |
| 1:00 p.m. | NCI Intramural Fellowships |
| Jonathan Wiest, Center for Cancer Training | |
| 2:00 p.m. | NCI-Funded Research Portfolio |
| Lisa Krueger, Division of Extramural Activities | |
| 3:00 p.m. | The Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid: Resources to Support Translations Research |
| Donna Messersmith, Center for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology | |
| 4:00 p.m. | Collaborating with NCI in Pediatric Oncology Drug Development—From Target Discovery to Early Phase Clinical Trials |
| Malcolm Smith, Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program | |
| Monday, April 20 | |
| 9:00 a.m. | NCI Career Development Awards |
| Lester Gorelic, Center for Cancer Training | |
| 10:00 a.m. | Cancer Nanotechnology—Opportunities and Challenges |
| Piotr Grodzinski, Center for Strategic Scientific Initiatives | |
| 11:00 a.m. | Epigenetics and Cancer Epidemiology |
| Mukesh Verma, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences | |
| 12:00 p.m. | NCI-Funded Research Portfolio |
| Michelle Vos, Division of Extramural Activities | |
| 1:00 p.m. | NCI Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine Program |
| Libin Jia, Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine | |
| 2:00 p.m. | Prostate Cancer Epidemiology—What's New? |
| Ann Hsing, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics | |
| 3:00 p.m. | NCI-Funded Research Portfolio |
| Lisa Krueger, Division of Extramural Activities | |
| Tuesday, April 21 | |
| 9:00 a.m. | NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award |
| Nancy Lohrey, Center for Cancer Training | |
| 10:00 a.m. | NCI-Funded Research Portfolio |
| Lisa Krueger, Division of Extramural Activities | |
| 11:00 a.m. | Advancing Protein Science for Personalized Cancer Care |
| Henry Rodriquez, Clinical Proteomic Technologies for Cancer, Center for Strategic Scientific Initiatives | |
| 12:00 p.m. | Streamlining Clinical Trials Contract Negotiations |
| Sheila Prindiville, Coordinating Center for Clinical Trials | |
| 1:00 p.m. | How to Tap into NCI SBIR Dollars to Support Innovative Cancer Research |
| Michael Weingarten, Small Business Innovation Research Program | |
| 2:00 p.m. | Quality Biospecimens are the Key to Personalized Medicine |
| Carolyn Compton, Office of Biorepositories and Biospecimen Research, Center for Strategic Scientific Initiatives | |
| 3:00 p.m. | NCI-Funded Research Portfolio |
| Lisa Krueger, Division of Extramural Activities | |
| Wednesday, April 22 | |
| 9:00 a.m. | Cancer Genetics Network |
| Scott Rogers, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences | |
| 11:00 a.m. | Clinical Grants & Contracts |
| William Merritt, Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program | |