NCI Community Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP)

What is the NCI Community Cancer Centers Program?

The NCI Community Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP) is a pilot network of community cancer centers that is expanding cancer research and delivering the latest, most-advanced cancer care to more Americans in the communities where they live.

What are the goals of the NCCCP?

The NCCCP is a three-year pilot program that will extend the reach of NCI research into more U.S. states, cities, and towns, including rural areas and inner cities. By focusing on bringing more Americans into a system of high-quality cancer care, the NCCCP will help to:

• Increase participation in clinical trials
• Reduce cancer healthcare disparities
• Collect, store, and share blood and tissue samples needed for research
• Explore the utility of a national database of electronic medical records.

What are the accomplishments related to this program to date?

The 16 NCCCP hospitals have made considerable progress toward achieving the major goals of the program and are defining for NCI what it will take to build a national network of community cancer centers that are engaged in research and offer the latest evidence-based, multidisciplinary care.

For example:

• All sites are accruing more patients to clinical trials.
• Many have begun moving their decentralized, paper-based records systems into computerized data that will improve both cancer research and patient care.
• The hospitals are putting into place national standards for handling blood and tissue samples needed for research.
• The network is extending NCI's reach into underserved communities through collaborations with NCI-designated Cancer Centers located at major research institutions around the country and expanding relationships with local, private-medical-practice oncology physicians.
• Sites are increasing their use of evidence-based guidelines for improved quality of care endorsed by major cancer-research organizations, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), American College of Surgeons (ACoS), and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN).

How much funding did this program receive through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)?

The NCI received $1.3 billion through the ARRA, $80 M of which will be devoted to the NCCCP.

How is this program helping to stimulate the economy?

The NCCCP brings resources and jobs directly into communities across the country. Using ARRA stimulus funds to expand the NCCCP will help introduce new research programs in the existing 16 cancer centers, as well as increase the number of sites in the network - creating new jobs for research nurses, medical technicians, patient navigators, and outreach staff in communities where healthcare disparities exist. The existing NCCCP network enables NCI to quickly and effectively disburse stimulus funds to these communities.