National Cancer Institute - NCI Division of Cancer Treatment and ...

Strategic Partnering to
Evaluate Cancer Signatures
Contacts:
James W. Jacobson, Ph.D.
301-402-4185, jacobsoj@mail.nih.gov
Tracy Lively, Ph.D.
301-496-1591, livelyt@mail.nih.gov
The Strategic Partnering to Evaluate
Cancer Signatures (SPECS) program
consists of six grants that support
multi-institutional, multidisciplinary
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The Strategic Partnering to Evaluate Cancer Signatures
program supports research that bridges the gap
between the discovery of molecular signatures
and their integration into clinical practice.
research teams. The SPECS program
leverages NCI’s investment in cancer
clinical trials, cancer centers, NCI intramural
programs, and the Specialized
Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE)
program. The projects include collaborations
with biotechnology companies,
community hospitals, national laboratories,
and academic institutions in the
United States, Canada, and Europe.
The SPECS initiative supports six large
collaborative research groups that are
exploring how information derived from
comprehensive molecular analyses can be
used to impact the care of cancer patients
and ultimately improve outcomes. SPECS
supports research that bridges the gap
between the discovery of molecular signatures
and their integration into clinical
practice. Investigators are refining and
confirming both genomic and proteomic
signatures that have already been shown
to address clinical needs or questions.
They are defining the critical components
of the signatures and developing robust
assays for measuring those components in
the clinical setting. They will confirm that
the modified signatures provide reproducible,
reliable information that can potentially
inform clinical decision-making. It is
anticipated that the signatures developed
in SPECS will lead to assays that are ready
for validation in prospective clinical trials.