NIH Seeks Public Input on Expansion of the Clinical Trial Registry and Results Data Bank
(March 25, 2009 ) The National Institutes of Health (NIH) will hold a public meeting and requests input from interested parties on issues that the agency will consider as it develops regulations to expand the clinical trial registry and results data bank commonly known as ClinicalTrials.gov. The public meeting will be held on Monday, April 20, 2009 from 9:00am to 5:00pm.  The meeting will be held in Masur Auditorium, which is located on the NIH Campus, Building 10, South Side, First Floor, 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20892. Participants wishing to make an oral statement at the Public Meeting are requested to register online and to submit to the meeting docket a written version of their remarks by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 13, 2009. If you can't attend the meeting, we encourage you to provide comments for the public record. Submit electronic comments to Docket No. NIH-2009-0002 at: http://www.regulations.gov. To ensure consideration, written comments should be submitted to the docket by Monday, June 22, 2009. The FR Notice includes 11 detailed questions for which NIH is seeking input. The questions include issues related to unapproved products, narrative summaries, plain language, complete protocol submissions, quality control, timing for submission of results and updates, adverse events, and voluntary submissions.
The Federal Register Notice can be viewed at:
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-6198.pdf
You may also view the meeting remotely via live videocast at: http://videocast.nih.gov.

CDC and NCI Release 1999-2005 United States Cancer Statistics: Incidence and Mortality Web-Based Report
(February 11, 2009 ) The 1999–2005 United States Cancer Statistics (USCS) Incidence and Mortality Web-based report, released today, marks the seventh time that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) have jointly produced official federal cancer incidence statistics for each state having high-quality cancer data. The report is produced in collaboration with the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries. This year's report features information on more than one million cases of cancer diagnosed in 2005 among residents of 48 states, 6 metropolitan areas, and the District of Columbia—geographic areas in which about 96% of the U.S. population reside. Incidence data are from CDC's National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) and NCI's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program. Data from population-based central cancer registries in these states and metropolitan areas meet the criteria for inclusion in this report. The report also provides cancer mortality data collected and processed by CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. Mortality statistics, based on records of deaths that occurred during 2005, are available for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

American Cancer Society/Kaiser Family Foundation Report Highlights Gaps in Health Care System
(February 6, 2009) The American Cancer Society (ACS) and the Kaiser Family Foundation release a report illustrating the financial burdens faced by cancer patients, who often struggle with crippling medical costs even when they have health insurance. The report, Spending to Survive: Cancer Patients Confront Holes in the Health Insurance System, is based on an analysis of individual calls to the American Cancer Society’s Health Insurance Assistance Service (HIAS), a program that connects cancer patients with ACS health insurance specialists. It features the stories of 20 people who have contacted the service, and highlights five major gaps in the current health care coverage system.
download the report to read the stories

ICC Educational Forum Highlighted in CCC LINK
(February 4, 2009) Today's issue of the Comprehensive Cancer Control National Partners' electronic newsletter CCC LINK highlights the educational forum presented last September in Houston by the Intercultural Cancer Council and the American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) Advisory Group for Comprehensive Cancer Control.
see the newsletter article

Study Seeks Input from Americans on Use of Internet Cancer Support Groups
(January 15, 2009) Eun-Ok Im, MPH, PhD, FAAN, School of Nursing, University of Texas at Austin and her colleagues are conducting a study titled "The use of Internet Cancer Support Groups Among Americans Living with Cancer (CASAA)." In this study, they are conducting an Internet survey and online forum via a website to collect information on the use of Internet Cancer Support Groups of American cancer patients. Their study is funded by the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Reasearch in Underserved Populations (CHPR) and the Expedited Proposal-Enhancement Grants (EP-EG). They are seeking American cancer patients aged 18 years or older, who can read and write English. Involvement in the study will consist of: (a) an Internet survey of approx 30 minutes and (b) an optional online forum discussion with 9 topics for 1 month. Reimbursement for each participant includes a 10 dollar gift certificate for the survey and a 50 dollar gift certificate for the online forum.
learn more about this project and participate in the survey or forum

CancerPlan.org Publishes Report on the Comprehensive Cancer Control Movement
(January 13, 2009) CancerPlan.org publishes a report on the ten year history of collaboration between the National Partners for Comprehensive Cancer Control. These partners include the American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Cancer Institute, the Intercultural Cancer Council and eight other organizations working to assist states, tribes, territories, and communities with the development and implemention of comprehensive cancer control plans that will ultimately have a significant impact on reducing cancer incidence and mortality and improve the quality of life of cancer survivors and their caregivers.
download this report on our work together

ICC Hosts Virtual Living Room Online Get-Together
(December 29, 2008) In response to President-Elect Obama's call for community discussion of health care concerns, the Intercultural Cancer Council hosted a series of online discussions focusing upon cancer control topics identified as important by subscribers to its national network mailing list.The concerns expressed in these discussions will be shared with the new administration.
Thank you to all who participated.

NCI Provides Updated Online Resource with Information on State Insurance Coverage Laws for Patients in Clinical Trials
(December 16, 2008) The National Cancer Institute recently updated its list of states that require health plans to cover patient care costs in clinical trials. The online feature, found at http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/ctlaws-home, is a useful resource for those who work to increase enrollment in cancer clinical trials. In the wake of new legislation, the Ohio entry was updated and a new entry for Washington, DC, was added. In addition, the interactive map was enlarged for easier use. Some health plans don't cover routine care costs once a person joins a clinical trial, posing a barrier to enrollment. The NCI State Cancer Legislative Database Program tracks laws and voluntary agreements that require health plans to cover such costs. The Cancer.gov feature provides user-friendly links to current laws or agreements and their key provisions, as well as links to related resources.

Annual Report to the Nation by Leading Cancer Organizations Indicates Decreasing Incidence and Death Rates from All Cancers
(November 25, 2008) A new report from the nation's leading cancer organizations published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute shows that, for the first time since the report was first issued in 1998, both incidence and death rates for all cancers combined are decreasing for both men and women, driven largely by declines in some of the most common types of cancer.
For more information see the NCI news release, access the full report, and read the Houston Chronicle news story.

Lamar McGinnis President-Elect of American College of Surgeons
(November 14, 2008) Former ICC governing board member and treasurer, Lamar McGinnis, MD, is chosen president-elect of the American College of Surgeons.
For more information see the press release and the story in Clinical Congress NEWS.

Diversity in Medical Education: Facts and Figures 2008
The Association of American Medical Colleges has released Diversity in Medical Education: Facts and Figures 2008. This is the 15th data book in its Facts & Figures Data Series. This publication provides students, medical educators and administrators, researchers, policy makers, and the general public with a compendium of detailed statistical information on race, ethnicity, and gender in medical education in the United States for the 2007 academic year. This publication also includes data related to the pre-college component of the education pipeline leading to the M.D. degree and other health sciences and health professions careers.
Order a print copy or download the free PDF file

AAMC Herbert W. Nickens Faculty Fellowship Awarded to Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Herbert W. Nickens Faculty Fellowship has been awarded to Marcella Nunez-Smith, M.D., assistant professor of general internal medicine at Yale University School of Medicine. The fellowship recognizes an outstanding junior faculty member who demonstrates leadership in addressing inequities in medical education and health care; who works to address the educational, societal, and health care needs of minorities; and who is committed to a career in academic medicine. Dr. Nunez-Smith will be presented with her award--a $15,000 grant to support her academic and professional activities--at the association's Annual Meeting in San Antonio later this week.
For more information about AAMC Grants and Awards see . . . http://www.aamc.org/about/awards/start.htm

HRSA Awards $2.4 Million for Patient Navigator Demonstration
(October 2, 2008) The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announces six awards totaling nearly $2.4 million for two-year projects to assess how individuals known as "patient navigators" can improve patients’ chances of beating and managing chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and asthma. Grants from the Patient Navigator Outreach and Chronic Disease Prevention Demonstration Program will be used to recruit, train and employ patient navigators, who can be nurses, social workers, community health workers or anyone with first-hand knowledge of the communities they serve.
read the HRSA news release