New on NCI’s Websites for August 2016

August 29, 2016 by NCI Staff

Pregnancy and Smoking infographic — Smokefree.gov

NCI’s cancer information products are constantly evolving and growing, so periodically we provide updates on new content of interest to the cancer community.

Smokefree.gov Redesigned

The Smokefree.gov website has undergone a major redesign. The site also features new and updated content, including a Pregnancy and Smoking Infographic and the Practice Quit & Daily Challenges text messaging services.

New Tool to Measure Tobacco Use Released

The Cancer Patient Tobacco Use Questionnaire (C-TUQ) is the most recent clinically tested measure of tobacco use developed by NCI’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS) and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). The new C-TUQ tool is the result of an ongoing partnership between NCI and AACR to develop new, clinically tested research instruments for assessing tobacco use and cessation in cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship.

Updated Resource on NCI’s International Tobacco Use Research Portfolio

NCI’s Tobacco Control Research Branch (TCRB) has updated the information on its website about its international research on tobacco use. The update features a new fact sheet(PDF) that describes TCRB’s international research portfolio, such as information about its support of international research grants, reports and resources, and collaborations.

In Memory of Alfred Knudson

Alfred Knudson Jr., M.D., Ph.D., a pioneer in the field of cancer genetics, died at the age of 93 on July 14. In the late 1990s, Dr. Knudson took a leave of absence from his position at the Fox Chase Cancer Center to provide guidance and expertise for the newly foundedDivision of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG) at NCI. Read about his scientific accomplishments and contributions to NCI in DCEG’s obituary for Dr. Knudson.

New Epidemiological Research Application Released

Melissa Friesen, Ph.D., of DCEG’s Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch and Daniel Russ, Ph.D., from the NIH Center for Information Technology, recently unveiled their computer application to standardize occupational codes for epidemiological studies of workplace exposures to possible carcinogens and other toxins.

Center for Global Health Fellow Reflects on a Year at NCI

Tulika Singh, a Cancer Research Training Award Fellow, reflects on her year working at NCI’s Center for Global Health (CGH) in a recent post on the CGH Spotlight blog. The University of Wisconsin–Madison graduate, who began her fellowship in July 2015, describes her time at CGH as a “wonderful opportunity for personal growth and professional development.” She is beginning a Ph.D. program in molecular genetics and microbiology at Duke University this fall.

New Tool for Capturing Patient-Reported Outcomes

NCI’s Healthcare Delivery Research Program (HDRP), part of DCCPS, recently launched a new resource to help researchers gather and evaluate data on patient experiences. The new Patient-Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (PRO-CTCAE) tool will help patients report adverse events they experience while participating in cancer clinical trials.

NCI-MPACT Trial Opens at U.S. Sites

NCI’s precision medicine clinical trial, NCI-Molecular Profiling-based Assignment of Cancer Therapy (NCI-MPACT), has recently opened at sites across the country. Doctors with NCI’sDevelopmental Therapeutics Clinic at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD, began enrolling patients with advanced solid tumors in the trial in January 2014. The study is now open at sites in the NCI-sponsored Experimental Therapeutics Clinical Trials Network.

Cancer Clinical Investigator Team Leadership Awards Winners Named

NCI’s Coordinating Center for Clinical Trials has named the 2016 recipients of the Cancer Clinical Investigator Team Leadership Award. The award recognizes and helps support outstanding mid-career clinical investigators working at NCI-Designated Cancer Centers.

New Cancer Disparities Page

A new page about cancer disparities has been added to the Understanding Cancer sectionof NCI’s website. The term “cancer disparities” refers to a difference in any measurable aspect of cancer (such as incidence, treatment access, mortality, etc.) that is borne disproportionately by any identifiable population group.

Metastatic Cancer Resource Updated

The NCI website now features expanded information about metastatic cancer. The new page explains how cancer spreads, common sites for metastases, and how to find treatment options.

New Images Added to NCI Visuals Online

What do photonic crystal biosensors, biodegradable graphene oxide, and quantum dots all have in common? They are all portrayed in recent images added to NCI’s Visuals Online resource.

New Childhood Cancer Genomics Summary Added to PDQ

A new summary about the genomics of childhood cancers has been added to NCI’s collection of peer-reviewed state-of-the-science summaries. The PDQ Childhood Cancer Genomics summary reviews the scientific literature on the genomic landscape of 10 different types of childhood cancers.