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Review
. 2022 Sep 9;114(9):1228-1237.
doi: 10.1093/jnci/djac104.

The Development of Global Cancer Research at the United States National Cancer Institute

Mark Parascandola  1 , Paul C Pearlman  1 , Linsey Eldridge  1 , Satish Gopal  1
Affiliations
Review

The Development of Global Cancer Research at the United States National Cancer Institute

Mark Parascandola et al. J Natl Cancer Inst. .

Abstract

International research and collaboration has been a part of the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) mission since its creation in 1937. Early on, efforts were limited to international exchange of information to ensure that US cancer patients could benefit from advances in other countries. As NCI's research grant portfolio grew in the 1950s, it included a modest number of grants to foreign institutions, primarily in the United Kingdom and Europe. In the 1960s, the development of geographic pathology, which aimed to study cancer etiology through variations in cancer incidence and risk factors, led to an increase in NCI-funded international research, including research in low- and middle-income countries. In this paper, we review key international research programs, focusing particularly on the first 50 years of NCI history. The first NCI-led overseas research programs, established in the 1960s in Ghana and Uganda, generated influential research but also struggled with logistical challenges and political instability. The 1971 National Cancer Act was followed by the creation of a number of bilateral agreements with foreign governments, including China, Japan, and Russia, to support cooperation in technology and medicine. Although these agreements were broad without specific scientific goals, they provided an important mechanism for sustained collaborations in specific areas. With the creation of the NCI Center for Global Health in 2011, NCI's global cancer research efforts gained sustained focus. Because the global cancer burden has evolved over time, increasingly impacting low- and middle-income countries, NCI's role in global cancer research remains more important than ever.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Esophagus, male. Figure from Dunham and Bailar’s 1968 World Maps of Cancer Mortality Rates and Frequency Ratios. Reproduced with permission from Dunham and Bailer. (15).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Gerald F. Meyer and family leave for Ghana. Surgeon General’s Bulletin, July 1962.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
National Cancer Institute Office of International Affairs organizational chart, 1977. Reproduced with permission from O’Conor (33).
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
USSR representatives visit the National Institutes of Health, 1972. Courtesy of the National Cancer Institute.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Linxian study team, 1985. Courtesy of Philip Taylor.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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