Northern California Cancer Center becomes Cancer Prevention Institute of California

New Name Highlights Mission: To Prevent Cancer and to Reduce Its Burden Where It Cannot Yet Be Prevented

As the only organization in the country dedicated solely to cancer prevention research, the Northern California Cancer Center has changed its name to the Cancer Prevention Institute of California (CPIC).  The new name immediately communicates the organization's critical mission to prevent cancer and reflects its service to the entire state of California.

"We are proud to reintroduce ourselves to the public and our constituents as the Cancer Prevention Institute of California," said Samuel Bronfman II, Chairman of the Board of Trustees at CPIC. "Our new name provides an instant and powerful message about our critical work in cancer prevention, conveys our purpose clearly, and more accurately portrays our area of expertise."

The 35-year-old non-profit tracks patterns of cancer throughout the entire population and identifies those who are at risk for developing cancer. CPIC research scientists investigate the causes of cancers in large populations to provide information essential for knowing how to prevent cancers and for developing prevention-focused interventions. CPIC also is a partner in Stanford University's National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center, contributing cancer prevention research and outreach in the service of public health to this program.

"Current statistics indicate that the people in this country have a one-in-two chance of developing cancer in their lifetimes – that's half of the population," said CPIC's Chief Executive Officer, Sally Glaser, Ph.D. "Never getting cancer is vastly preferable to ever getting it, or even to detecting it early.  Researching the causes of specific cancers, which is our work, is the only way to know how to prevent cancer and to design prevention strategies.  We at CPIC believe that this work, coupled with cure-focused research, provides the best arsenal we have for defeating cancer. One without the other is not sufficient when the problem is so vast," Glaser said.  

There has been no change to the management of the organization consisting of 130 staff members.  Its scientists continue to study the causes of numerous cancers, with particularly deep expertise in breast, prostate, ovarian and colorectal cancers, and in lymphomas. CPIC manages statewide contracts providing outreach programs that refer low income and medically underserved women to free cancer screenings. Its longstanding educational program conducts a wide range of community seminars, sharing crucial information about how to prevent cancer and cancer recurrences, manage treatment and promote recovery.

CPIC'S PARTICIPATION IN STATE AND NATIONAL CANCER REGISTRIES

CPIC monitors the very latest patterns in cancer incidence, survival and mortality through its Greater Bay Area Cancer Registry. This state- and federally-supported registry tracks and records all cancer cases in nine counties of the Greater Bay Area. The regional information is reported to a nationwide cancer database and to the California Cancer Registry, where it both helps to provide an annual snapshot of how cancer affects all Californians and drives the state's cancer control policies and programs. The Greater Bay Area Cancer Registry data also combine with similar data from several other US regions to be part of the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results program of the National Cancer Institute. This program has been the foundation of understanding cancer trends in the US since 1973.

FOCUS ON UNDERSTUDIED COMMUNITIES

To address cancer prevention across all segments of the population, CPIC scientists rigorously examine the disparities in cancer occurrence across subsets of the population. They have produced groundbreaking findings on why there is a higher incidence of certain types of cancer among various racial, ethnic, cultural and social groups.

In 2007, CPIC scientists found a higher than expected prevalence of BRCA1 genetic mutations in Latina and young African American women, suggesting some women in those groups have a higher risk for breast cancer than others. CPIC's current work includes studies of vulnerabilities in Vietnamese populations including low colorectal cancer screening and potentially hazardous workplace exposures. CPIC scientists are among the first to study how our neighborhoods and other aspects of our built, or man-made, environment can contribute to cancer development.  

INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

The most recent CPIC findings about breast cancer have garnered international attention. In 2009, CPIC scientists demonstrated an increased risk of this common disease among women exposed to second-hand smoke over their lifetimes. The organization is recognized as the first to identify the markedly high rates of breast cancer in Marin County, California, in the 1990s.  It also tracked the subsequent dramatic decreases in breast cancer rates in this area and identified some of the individual lifestyle factors associated with these important improvements.

CPIC researchers figure prominently in a number of collaborative studies such as the international Breast Cancer Family Registry, the California Teachers Study, and the new ATHENA Breast Health Network, a system-wide program with the University of California system led by the University of California San Francisco (UCSF).