National Cancer Institute
at the National Institutes of Health
Introductory Information
- What Is Cancer?
Definition of cancer, a brief explanation of the origins of cancer in cells, basic cancer statistics, and links to other NCI cancer-related resources. - Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Cancer
Sets of questions, organized by topic, that cancer patients may want to ask their doctors or other members of their health care team to learn more about their cancer and what to expect.
NCI Publications
- What You Need To Know About™ Cancer Index
This booklet series has information on many types of cancer. Each booklet tells about possible risks, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment, and each has lists of questions to ask the doctor. - NCI Fact Sheets
Nearly 200 frequently updated fact sheets on a wide array of cancer topics. Fact sheets address risk factors, prevention, support, treatment, and more. - Chemotherapy Side Effects Sheets
Chemotherapy fact sheets with clear medical advice from doctors and nurses, and practical tips from patients to help you manage side effects. - Radiation Therapy Side Effects Sheets
Radiation therapy fact sheets that help patients understand their treatment and manage side effects. The fact sheets (also available in audio) have tips from patients and healthcare providers, and questions to ask providers. - NCI Publications Locator
An online system for finding, viewing, and ordering NCI reports, publications, and other materials. Can be searched by topic, audience, and language.
NCI Health Communications Publications
- Making Data Talk: A Workbook
This workbook provides key information, practical suggestions, and examples on how to effectively communicate health-related scientific data to the public, policy makers, and the media. - Pink Book - Making Health Communication Programs Work
This book, a revision of the original 1989 Making Health Communication Programs Work, is a guide to creating successful health communications programs using tested strategies and methods. - Theory at a Glance: A Guide for Health Promotion Practice
This monograph describes influential theories of health-related behaviors, the processes of shaping behaviors, and the effects of community and environmental factors on behavior. It makes health behavior theory accessible and provides tools to solve problems and assess the effectiveness of health promotion programs. - Clear & Simple: Developing Effective Print Materials for Low-Literate Readers
This guide outlines a process for developing publications for people with limited-literacy skills. It features proven principles and a discussion of the real-life issues faced in developing low-literacy materials. NIH Publication 95-3594
Cancer Literature in PubMed
Other Resources
- Education and Training for Health Professionals
This is a collection of cancer education and training offerings from NCI and NIH for health professionals. Courses are available in a variety of formats such as online self-study, video, webinars, and animated tutorials. - Understanding Cancer Series
This Web site contains graphic-rich tutorials for educational use by life science teachers, medical professionals, and the interested public. Each tutorial is also available in PDF and PowerPoint formats that may be downloaded from the Web. - Inside Cancer: Multimedia Guide to Cancer Biology
This Web site uses animations, narration, and interviews to explain how cancer develops and to discuss cancer causes, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. - Visuals Online
An NCI database of cancer-specific scientific and patient care-related images, as well as general biomedical and science-related images and portraits of NCI directors and staff. - CancerSPACE
CancerSPACE (Cancer: Simulating Practice and Collaborative Education) is a unique educational tool created to help clinics improve their process for cancer screening. It is designed for use in training the staff of community health centers. - PDQ®
An NCI database that contains the latest information about cancer treatment, screening, prevention, genetics, supportive care, and complementary and alternative medicine, plus clinical trials. - NCI Dictionary of Genetics Terms
A dictionary of more than 150 genetics-related terms written for healthcare professionals. This resource was developed to support the comprehensive, evidence-based, peer-reviewed PDQ cancer genetics information summaries. - Professional Resources for Cancer Patient Education
Information about the Cancer Patient Education Network, the cancer education grants program, and a listserv for cancer patient educators. - EPEC™-O | Education in Palliative and End-of-Life Care for Oncology
EPEC™-O (Education in Palliative and End-of-Life Care for Oncology) and EPEC™-O with American Indian and Alaska Native Cultural Considerations are free comprehensive multimedia curricula for health professionals caring for persons with cancer. The curricula is available as an online Self-Study Section of 3 plenary sessions and 15 content modules and as a CD-ROM you can order. - Evaluating Online Sources of Health Information
Information to help people evaluate the source and credibility of health information that they find online. - Library of Resources for Cancer
The Effective Health Care Program of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality produces reports and other materials on evidence-based, patient-centered outcomes research on cancer. - ASCO® Abstracts
Search ASCO's comprehensive database of abstracts to find the results of the latest clinical cancer research. - Links to Other Web Sites
Links to other federal government Web sites and to NCI partners.
