US National Cancer Institute Press Release

[Mike Grissom <mikeg@SLAC.Stanford.EDU>]

Radsafers,

In the light of the extensive discussion regarding the
usefulness (or not) of epidemiological studies, the
following NCI press release may be of interest.  NCI
is a major source of statistical data used in many if
not most studies where cancer is an endpoint.  A Web
URL is included near the end of the meeting announcement.

Although this particular meeting is more treatment modality
related, the NCI Web site at URL:

http://rex.nci.nih.gov/INTRFCE_GIFS/MASSMED_INTR_DOC.htm

is an excellent source of basic information including
incidence rates, etc.

S.,

MikeG.

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Press Release
Note To Reporters And Editors:

Experts in electronic communications, cancer medicine, and
representatives from patient advocacy organizations will meet
Feb. 8-10, 1998 at the Westfields Conference Center in
Chantilly, Va., to discuss opportunities and options for
expanding and upgrading PDQ, the National Cancer Institute's
(NCI) comprehensive, public cancer database system.  The
conference center is located at 14750 Conference Center Drive,
Chantilly.

PDQ provides a variety of audiences with up-to-date information
about cancer medicine and cancer clinical research studies. At
the meeting, participants will provide information about how
they access and use cancer information and the ways in which
they would like to access such information in the future. The
results of these discussions will help the NCI create a roadmap
for upgrading the current PDQ system.

The meeting begins at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8 featuring reviews
of how the Internet is being used to provide health information,
including information on clinical research studies.  Speakers are
Robert Sikorski, M.D., Ph.D., chairman, Medsite Communications
Corporation, Judith Stein, M.A., associate director for Health
Education and Communication, National Eye Institute, and Nancy
Seybold, web editor, Clinical Research Promotion Branch, NCI.
Molly Mettler, vice president of Healthwise, Inc., will speak on
social issues affecting dissemination of health information.

On Monday, Feb. 9, beginning at 8:00 a.m., NCI leadership will
discuss the goals of the meeting, the charge to participants, and
give an overview of plans for upgrading PDQ. A plenary session at
8:30 a.m. will feature Clement Bezold of the Institute for
Alternative Futures.  Participants will work in break-out sessions
for the rest of the day.

On Tuesday, Feb. 10, plenary sessions from 8 a.m. - 12 p.m. will
feature presentation of preliminary recommendations from
participants and discussion of key issues for the planning and
implementation process. The steering committee will meet from 1-4
p.m. to review the results of the design meeting and plan the next
stage in the process of product development.

A special press registration table will be set up in the lobby
area of the Westfields Conference Center. For a complete copy of
the agenda, a list of steering committee members, and a map to the
Westfields Conference Center, access the NCI's CancerNet site on
the World Wide Web at:

	http://cancernet.nci.nih.gov/meeting

or telephone Monique Moore at (301) 435-4862.

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Michael P. Grissom
Asst Dir (ES&H)
SLAC MS-84
Phone: (650) 926-2346
Fax:   (650) 926-3030
E-mail: mikeg@slac.stanford.edu