National Comprehensive Cancer Network

National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is an alliance of twenty-one cancer centers, most of which are designated by the National Cancer Institute (of the National Institutes of Health) as Comprehensive Cancer Centers. It is a non-profit organization with offices in Jenkintown, PA. All 21 of the cancer centers that belong to the NCCN are in the United States.

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Mission and main activities

The mission of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is "to improve care, with respect to cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up." The main activity of the organization is the development and publication of practice guidelines for oncology care. These guidelines are developed by oncology physicians at the member cancer centers and are based on research evidence from clinical trials and other studies. NCCN also develops guidelines for patients in conjunction with the American Cancer Society. According to the organization, the goal of developing these guidelines "is to improve the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of oncology care."

Publications

NCCN has several publications aimed at oncology practitioners:

• The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology are a set of practice guidelines for oncology developed by expert panels of oncologists. The guidelines published by NCCN cover 97% of cancers and are updated on a continual basis. The NCCN oncology guidelines are the most widely used guidelines in oncology practice and are used in over 115 countries. Information in the guidelines is based on a review of scientific evidence from oncology trials and studies.

And at patients:

• NCCN/ACS Treatment Guidelines for Patients are a version of the clinical practice guidelines for patients. These guidelines are produced jointly with the American Cancer Society (ACS), and are written to provide more understandable information for cancer patients and their families.

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 Ohio State University * Columbus, OH
• The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University * 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

References

• "The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)," reviewed by Elizabeth H. Wood, Journal of the Medical Library Association. 2004 July; 92(3): 382–383. PMC
• "New developments from National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) outlined recently" Physician Law Weekly August 1, 2007
• "New Guidelines Updates from National Comprehensive Cancer Network" Cancerwatch Online, Volume 13 Issue Number 3, March 2004
• "Integrative nonpharmacologic behavioral interventions for the management of cancer-related fatigue." Oncologist 2007;12 Suppl 1:52-67. ([1])
• NCCN and ACS Team Up to Provide Easy to Understand Information on Cancer Treatment Options. ([2])