The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is part of the United States Federal government's National Institutes of Health. The NCI is a federally funded research and development center, one of eight agencies that compose the Public Health Service in the United States Department of Health and Human Services. As of September 2006, the current director of the NCI is Dr. John E. Niederhuber. The NCI coordinates the National Cancer Program.

The National Cancer Institute has large intramural research programs in Bethesda, Maryland and NCI-Frederick at Fort Detrick, in Frederick, Maryland. In addition, the NCI funds cancer researchers around the United States.

Legislative history

Congress established the NCI by the National Cancer Institute Act, August 5, 1937, as an independent research institute. Congress then made the NCI an operating division of the National Institutes of Health by the Public Health Service Act, July 1, 1944. Congress amended the Public Health Service Act with the National Cancer Act of 1971 to broaden the scope and responsibilities of the NCI "in order more effectively to carry out the national effort against cancer." Over the years, legislative amendments have maintained the NCI authorities and responsibilities and added new information dissemination mandates as well as a requirement to assess the incorporation of state-of-the-art cancer treatments into clinical practice.

Anti-cancer drug investigations

The NCI played an early role in the development of anti-cancer drugs in the U.S. According to a 1996 NCI analysis of drugs approved by the FDA, two-thirds of the anti-cancer drugs approved as of the end of 1995 were NCI-sponsored Investigational New Drugs:

Alkylating agents .

• Chlorambucil (Leukeran) (1957)
• Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan) (1959)
• Thiotepa (1959)
• Melphalan (Alkeran) (1959) (IV in 1993)
• Streptozotocin (Zanosar) (1982)
• Ifosfamide (Ifex) (1988)

Antimetabolites

• Mercaptopurine (1953)
• Methotrexate (1953)
• Thioguanine (1966)
• Cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C) (1969)
• Floxuridine (FUDR) (1970)
• Fludarabine phosphate (1991)
• Pentostatin (1991)
• Chlorodeoxyadenosine (1992)

Plant alkaloids and antibiotics

• Vincristine (Oncovin) (1963)
• Actinomycin D (Cosmegen) (1964)
• Mithramycin (Mithracin) (1970)
• Bleomycin (Blenoxane) (1973)
• Doxorubicin (Adriamycin) (1974)
• Mitomycin C (Mutamycin) (1974)
• L-Asparaginase (Elspar) (1978)
• Daunomycin (Cerubidine) (1979)
• VP-16-213 (Etoposide) (1983)
• VM-26 (Teniposide) (1992)
• Taxol (Paclitaxel) (1992)