NCCN commemorates 20 years of advancing high-quality, high-value cancer care

On January 31, 2015, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) celebrates its 20th anniversary. Originally announced as an alliance of 13 leading cancer centers in 1995, NCCN has grown to a network of 25 academic cancer centers; the NCCN mission as an alliance of leading academic cancer centers devoted to patient care, research, and education, is to improve the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of cancer care so that patients can live better lives.

"NCCN is thrilled to commemorate 20 years of defining and advancing high-quality, high-value cancer care and we are both honored and humbled by the opportunity to serve our Member Institutions and patients," said Robert W. Carlson, MD, Chief Executive Officer, NCCN. "For two decades, the NCCN Guidelines have been recognized as the standard of cancer care in the United States, combining evidence, experience, and choice so that multidisciplinary cancer treatment teams—including patients—are empowered to make informed decisions about cancer care."

Core to the advancement of the NCCN mission is the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) Program. In November 1996, NCCN published the first NCCN Guidelines®, covering eight cancer types. Today, NCCN publishes 60 NCCN Guidelines that are a comprehensive set of guidelines detailing the sequential management decisions and interventions that currently apply to 97 percent of cancers affecting patients in the United States. In addition, separate guidelines provide recommendations for some of the key cancer prevention and screening topics, as well as supportive care and age-related considerations. The NCCN Guidelines are continuously updated and are available free-of-charge to clinicians and patients on NCCN.org, as well as through the NCCN Virtual Library of NCCN Guidelines mobile app; in 2014, more than six million copies of the NCCN Guidelines were downloaded from these NCCN resources.

Derived from the NCCN Guidelines, the NCCN Drugs & Biologics Compendium (NCCN Compendium®), the NCCN Chemotherapy Order Templates (NCCN Templates®), and the NCCN Biomarkers Compendium®, are clinical resources formatted for ease-of-use for multiple stakeholders. The NCCN Compendium® is officially recognized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Cigna, and UnitedHealthcare as a mandated reference in creation of coverage policy and coverage decisions. Further, NCCN collaborates with Health Information Technology organizations to ensure that NCCN clinical resources are contained in these tools and are available to clinicians, payers, and other health care professionals.

To enhance its commitment to patients, NCCN, with the support of the NCCN Foundation®, published the first NCCN Guidelines for Patients® in 2010, providing a patient-friendly translation of the NCCN Guidelines for Breast Cancer. Since then, the library of NCCN Guidelines for Patients has grown to include 14 disease types that are available free-of-charge on NCCN.org/patients.

In recognition of the essential role of research in advancing cancer therapies in order to improve the quality of life for patients and reduce cancer-related deaths, the NCCN Oncology Research Program (ORP), was established in 1999. The NCCN ORP supports oncology preclinical, translational, and clinical research at NCCN Member Institutions; to date, more than $50 million in research grants have been secured and distributed to investigators from the NCCN. It is NCCN's vision to have the NCCN ORP become a Center for Excellence in the United States for providing outstanding research and research services.

NCCN has also enriched an already well established education program with an online learning management platform, providing oncology clinicians with expanded and easy-to-access continuing education opportunities based upon NCCN Content. Each year more than 175 NCCN continuing education programs are conducted for medical professionals around the world. Moreover, NCCN offers a certificate program—NCCN International Educational Activities Program (IEAP)—that recognizes physicians outside the United States for completion of NCCN educational content hours.

On March 12 - 14, 2015, NCCN will host its 20th Annual Conference: Advancing the Standard of Cancer Care™ at The Diplomat in Hollywood, Florida. In recognition of its 20th anniversary, NCCN will host a special live roundtable during the conference comprised of NCCN leadership—past and present—as well as other stakeholders who have had a significant impact on the development, progression, and success of NCCN over the years. Noteworthy historical NCCN accomplishments and events will be discussed, as well as the impact NCCN has had and continues to have on the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of cancer care so that patients can live better lives.