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

P A R T N E R S H I P S A N D C O L L A B O R A T I O N S
European Organisation for
Research and Treatment of Cancer
http://www.eortc.be
CDP has led an NCI collaboration with
EORTC to convene the NCI/EORTC biannual
meetings on molecular diagnostics.
At the first meeting, held in Denmark in
2000, four international working groups
were established. One of the working
groups focused on development of
guidelines for information that should be
included in all publications about tumor
markers. These recommendations were
recently published simultaneously in
several major scientific journals.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
http://www.fda.gov
Through an agreement with the FDA, a
CDP staff member has a joint appointment
with NCI and FDA. This person has primary
responsibility as a program director
managing a portfolio of technology
development and proteomics grants in
the CDP Diagnostic Biomarkers and Technology
Branch. At FDA, the staff person
runs a laboratory that is carrying out
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research on microarray methods (a powerful
technology that allows simultaneous
measurement of expression levels for up
to tens of thousands of genes) for detecting
food-borne pathogens. The technology
used at FDA is complementary to
the technologies being used to detect
molecular changes in cancer at NCI.
The staff person also serves as a liaison
between NCI and FDA on issues related
to technology applications.
National Institute of Standards
and Technology, FDA, and College
of American Pathologists
http://www.nist.gov
http://www.fda.gov
http://cap.org
Overexpression of the Her2 gene plays a
pivotal role in oncogenesis, progression,
and metastasis of breast cancer tumors.
Her2 testing is used to decide whether a
patient with breast cancer is likely to benefit
from treatment with trastuzumab after
her surgery. CDP cosponsored a workshop
on the need for reference material to
ensure the reliability of Her2 testing.