NCI CAM

National Cancer Institute

U.S. DEPARTMENT

OF HEALTH AND

HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes

of Health

News

Spring 2010

Vol. 5 - Issue 1

The Newsletter of the Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Patient Education at International CAM Research Meeting

Patient education took center stage as one of only five symposium topics 

selected for the International Congress on Complementary Medicine Research, 

which took place May 19-21, 2010, in Tromsø, Norway. The 90-minute 

symposium was designed to identify best practices in developing cancer patient 

education materials on the topic of complementary and alternative medicine 

(CAM).

The “What are Best Practices in Developing Cancer CAM Patient Education 

Materials?” symposium gathered subject matter experts from three of the top 

National Cancer Institute designated Cancer Centers in the United States. 

Symposium panelists included:

 Lorianne Classen, M.P.H., CHES; Senior Health Education 

Specialist, Patient Education Office, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center 

(www.mdanderson.org/education-and-research/departments-programsand-labs/programs-centers-institutes/integrative-medicine-program/index.

html); 

 K. Simon Yeung, M.B.A., PharmD, LAc., “AboutHerbs” Web Site 

Manager, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center 

(www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/11570.cfm); and

 Anne M. Doherty-Gilman, M.P.H., Associate Director, Leonard P. Zakim 

Center for Integrative Therapies, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute 

(www.dana-farber.org/pat/support/zakim/default.html). 

During the first portion of the symposium, the panelists shared their respective 

institutions’ definition of patient education and presented several examples of 

high-quality materials they developed. 

In this issue:

1

Feature

3

A Conversation with

4

News from the Field

6

Funding Opportunities

7

Reseach Resources

9

Research Highlights

12

CAM Information

14

Meetings

15

Featured Scientific 

Meetings

1

continued on next page

Panelists respond to audience questions. L-R Lorianne Classen, 

Anne M. Doherty-Gilman, and K. Simon Yeung. 
Panelists agreed that expert review, 

comprised of clinicians and other 

administrative personnel, and approval 

systems are mandatory for their 

organizations. 

While most decisions on what format 

patient education materials take (e.g. 

video, brochure, fact sheet) were cost 

driven, most panelists agreed that you 

should start with patient teaching 

sheets and list one topic at a time 

versus multiple topics. 

Panelists aimed to keep their materials 

at a sixth grade reading level and were 

careful not to include many medical 

jargon terms or acronyms, always 

allowing room for descriptive pictures 

and white space.

Another important component to 

best practices for patient education 

is creating policies and referral 

standards for materials. In the 

case of linking policies, all of the 

panelists’ institutions include links 

to government Web sites and other 

cancer related non-profits like the 

American Cancer Society, but some 

refused to link to commercials sites. 

Updating materials proved to be 

a point of difference among the 

panelists. While two of the centers 

agreed that three years was sufficient 

for videos and non-time sensitive 

topics, one institution aims to update 

their facts sheets yearly. 

The Communications and Outreach 

Program Manager at the Office 

of Cancer Complementary and 

Alternative Medicine (OCCAM) 

Shea Buckman, M.A., moderated the 

remainder of the symposium, which 

posed three main questions:

1. What is the best process for 

developing high-quality patient 

education materials?

2. What policies help ensure you 

develop materials that are highquality?

3. How important is the background 

of your personnel to the 

development process? 

The session tackled specific issues 

including literacy concerns, criteria 

for resources used in the creation 

of evidence-based information, and 

creating a patient education team with 

the preferred skills and backgrounds. 

Discussion amongst the panelists 

examined the development process for 

patient education materials. In deciding 

what topics on CAM to cover, panelists 

mentioned assessing clinical staff’s 

perspective on the information needs of 

patients, conducting focus groups and 

interviews with patients, and reacting 

to patients’ frequently asked questions. 

Panelists stated that patient education 

departments took the brunt of 

responsibility and onus for developing 

patient education materials, while other 

front line personnel – such as doctors 

and nurses – helped make decisions on 

what should be covered.

Resources commonly used when 

creating new materials included 

the Natural Standard database, the 

National Center for Complementary 

and Alternative Medicine and other 

National Institutes of Health Web 

sites and publications, peer-reviewed 

literature, and classical CAM textbooks 

on particular modalities. 

Lorianne Classen introduces her institution during the patient education panel.

2

from previous page

Finally, the panelists, who had varying 

educational backgrounds themselves, 

shared what skills, training, and 

credentials they thought patient 

education professionals should have to 

be effective. 

One panelist said, “The experts may 

not be good writers, and the medical 

writers need the experts. So it’s a team 

effort”. Since providers don’t always 

have a patient education background, 

it’s important to ensure that everyone 

is speaking to each other on what is 

best for the patient.

“The symposium was an incredible 

opportunity to discuss the importance 

of communication with patients about 

integrative therapies. I was pleased 

that ICCMR chose to highlight this 

topic, as how we reach out to patients 

and educate them on integrative 

therapies is an integral and necessary 

part of offering the most efficacious 

and comprehensive cancer care. I look 

forward to continuing this important 

work with NCI,” Anne DohertyGillman said. 

The ideas presented in the symposium 

are a first discourse on the topic of 

best practices in cancer CAM patient 

education. The content from the 

symposium will be summarized and 

submitted for publication to stimulate 

future discussion. ❧
cancer and all-cause mortality. Their 

conclusions caused a huge controversy 

in the U.S. and elsewhere. We’ve been 

giving all these women mammograms, 

and it doesn’t do a thing? The “gold 

standard” of evidence in medicine 

is randomized clinical trials, and 

we’d already done those studies for 

mammography. We probably weren’t 

going to do many, if any, more. We 

asked ourselves where do we go from 

here?

By coincidence, this controversy 

erupted just when CISNET was getting 

started. At that time, we had seven 

grantees for the new program doing 

breast cancer modeling. They were 

developing models to simulate the 

lives of women with respect to their 

“natural history” of breast cancer- i.e. 

women are born, some develop breast 

cancer, some of those breast cancers 

grow large enough to become screening 

detectable, and eventually large enough 

to cause symptoms. When the cancer is 

diagnosed, it is treated, and the woman 

eventually dies of either breast cancer 

or another cause. Because much of the 

natural history of breast cancer is never 

observed, it must be modeled based on 

indirect evidence, and there are many 

different approaches to doing this. 

One innovation of the approach 

employed in CISNET is the use of a 

comparative modeling approach, which 

explores differences between models 

in a systematic way. Comparative 

modeling produces a range of results 

order to answer questions that would 

be difficult to address otherwise. We 

utilize data from randomized controlled 

trials, meta-analyses, observational 

studies, national surveys, cancer 

registries, and studies of practice 

patterns to evaluate the past and 

potential future impact of cancer 

control interventions in prevention, 

screening, and treatment. 

Translational research is a priority 

at the National Cancer Institute. 

Can you give us an example of a 

successful CISNET translational 

project outcome?

Breast cancer mortality fell by around 

25% in the U.S. between 1989 and 

2000. Before that, the death rate 

had been very flat. One thing people 

wanted to know was what caused it to 

decline. The two major factors possibly 

responsible for the remarkable decline 

were the introduction of both screening 

mammography and adjuvant therapy 

(both multi-agent chemotherapy and 

hormonal therapy) for breast cancer 

during the period 1975-2000. 

At the time, there were eight 

randomized controlled studies of 

mammography screening. In 2000, the 

Cochrane Collaboration group in the 

United Kingdom performed a metaanalysis of these studies and threw out 

all of the studies they felt had flaws in 

their randomization. A meta-analysis 

of the two remaining trials showed 

no effect of screening on both breast 

A Conversation with:

Eric “Rocky” Feuer, Ph.D.

Chief

Statistical Research and Applications Branch

Surveillance Research Program

Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences

What are the main goals of 

the Cancer Intervention and 

Surveillance Modeling Network 

(CISNET)?

There are three main goals: 1) to 

understand the impact of cancer 

control interventions – that includes 

screening, treatment, and prevention 

– on current and future trends in 

U.S. cancer incidence and mortality; 

2) to extrapolate evidence from 

randomized, controlled trials and 

epidemiologic and observational 

studies in order to determine the most 

efficient and cost-effective strategies for 

implementing technologies in the U.S. 

population; and 3) to be responsive 

to the challenges due to the increased 

pace of new technology by helping to 

determine which new technologies are 

the most promising when scaled up to 

the population level. The cancer sites 

included so far are breast, prostate, 

colorectal, and lung.

 

What is simulation modeling and 

how is it utilized in cancer control 

and surveillance research?

Simulation modeling is synthesizing 

disparate bits of information to 

simulate real and hypothetical 

experiences in the U.S. population in 

3

Dr. Rocky Feuer 

continued on next page
not only have a potential beneficial 

impact on cancer mortality but also 

have a potential positive impact on 

other causes of mortality. Thus, these 

interventions infer a double benefit, 

which modeling can quantify.

Does CISNET have any current 

or upcoming projects related to 

CAM?

We don’t currently have any projects 

related to CAM in cancer. However, 

we are open to future collaborative 

opportunities. We’re in the midst of 

renewing the funding for CISNET, and 

there may be future opportunities for 

supplemental funding to facilitate these 

types of collaborations. CISNET can 

also work with OCCAM to develop 

what would be the right prototype 

opportunity to do some modeling in 

the CAM field. It would be nice to 

get one very good case example, like 

the researchers who studied diet and 

exercise interventions, who could team 

up with a CISNET group and model 

some of this. It might be a nice proofof-principle of what modeling could 

add to some of the CAM research 

being done.

More on CISNET can be found at 

http://cisnet.cancer.gov/ ❧

OCCAM (Office of Cancer 

Complementary and Alternative 

Medicine) Director Dr. Jeffrey White 

gave a presentation at the CISNET 

meeting in January 2010. I asked 

him to provide some examples of 

CAM interventions with the strongest 

evidence, which might get researchers 

and modelers in CISNET thinking 

about how they could take those CAM 

approaches and incorporate them into 

their models. The two examples Dr. 

White proposed were: 1) impact of diet 

and exercise on breast and colon cancer 

survival; and 2) impact of dietary 

antioxidants on lung cancer survival. 

Dr. White gave an overview of 

the results of the previous clinical 

trials. The studies didn’t find huge 

improvements in survival, but the 

results were statistically significant. The 

studies seem to have been done in a 

fairly rigorous way. 

Then, the question is what can 

CISNET do? These CAM interventions 

are things that can potentially be done 

fairly inexpensively. If their use was 

scaled up to the population level, how 

many person-years of life might be 

saved? What is the cost per personyear of life (or quality-adjusted person 

years of life) saved to put some of these 

CAM strategies on the same scale as 

other standard medical interventions 

used in cancer? We could see how 

cost-effective these CAM interventions 

might be. One unique aspect of 

some CAM interventions is that they 

across models and, when consensus 

can be reached, greatly enhances the 

credibility of modeling results by 

highlighting their reproducibility. The 

CISNET models shared common 

input with respect to the dissemination 

of mammography and adjuvant 

therapy in the U.S. population.

We can simulate through CISNET 

what happened in the U.S. population 

during the period when breast cancer 

deaths fell. We did and found that – 

across all seven models – it would’ve 

been very difficult to explain the entire 

decline in breast cancer mortality just 

by changes in treatment alone. On 

average, about half the decline was 

due to mammography and half due to 

adjuvant therapy. This is not definitive 

evidence, but it is strong evidence, 

using modeling and population data 

when we’d exhausted all other means. 

Our findings were published in the 

New England Journal of Medicine and 

were reported on the front page of the 

New York Times.

Do you see any potential 

opportunities for applying 

CISNET’s simulation 

modeling approaches to gain 

a better understanding of the 

phenomenon of complementary 

and alternative medicine (CAM) 

use by cancer patients? If so, can 

you describe a specific example?

A Time for Change

To better assist the people we serve and 

to more accurately describe program 

activities, the Office of Cancer 

Complementary and Alternative 

Medicine has officially changed the 

names of two of its programs. As of 

April 2010, the new name of the 

Research Development and Support 

Program is the Extramural Research 

Program or ERP. Likewise, the 

Practice Assessment Program is now 

the Case Review and Intramural 

Science Program or CRISP. Activities, 

staff, and organizational structure of 

each program remain the same. 

For more information about each 

program, visit www.cancer.gov/cam/

about_programs.html. ❧

News from the Field

4

from previous page
NCI’s Fourth CAM Annual Report Now Available

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) 

is pleased to announce the release of 

its fourth annual report on cancer 

complementary and alternative 

medicine (CAM) research. NCI’s 

Annual Report on Complementary 

and Alternative Medicine: Fiscal 

Year 2008 provides an overview 

of NCI-supported work in the 

field along with details on selected 

CAM projects relating to research, 

communication, and training 

between October 1, 2007 and 

September 30, 2008.

The report includes research project 

summaries, a portfolio analysis, and a 

selected list of peer-reviewed journal 

articles. New to this year’s report is 

a section that highlights NCI CAM 

training grant awards. 

Examples of articles in the report 

include:

 Physical Activity Levels Studied 

in China for Impact on Cancer 

Risk

 Green Tea Shows Promise in 

Preventing Pancreatic Cancer

 Ginger Extract to Be Tested for 

Lung Cancer Prevention

To provide an overview of NCI’s 

cancer CAM portfolio, the research 

projects selected for the report 

represent a variety of NCI Divisions, 

grant mechanisms, research types, 

CAM therapies, research institutions, 

and types of cancer.

NCI’s CAM Annual Report for fiscal 

year 2008 is available on the OCCAM 

Web site at www.cancer.gov/cam/cam_

annual_report.html. ❧

5

NCI Signs MOU with a Second Chinese Institution

On March 18, 2010, NCI signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Key Laboratory of 

Chemistry for Natural Products of Guizhou Province and China Academy of Sciences. This agreement, 

which will allow NCI to screen plant compounds for anti-cancer activity, is identical to another MOU 

signed with the Kunming Institute of Botany nearly a year and half earlier. For more details on this 

MOU, read about the previous MOU with Kunming Institute of Botany at www.cancer.gov/cam/

newsletter/2009-spring/rare_plant_compounds_at_NCI.html.
mechanistic links between psychosocial 

stress, corresponding biological 

mediators and signaling pathways, and 

processes related to tumor progression 

with subsequent consequences for 

disease related outcomes”. Both human 

and animal studies will be supported.

To meet the objectives of this PA, 

research should be generally focused in 

the following four areas:

1. aging and how neural mechanisms 

respond to psychosocial stress and 

affect other body systems;

2. characterizing the behavioral, 

psychological, and social 

mechanisms and pathways 

involved in transducing 

psychosocial stressors into health 

outcomes;

3. how stressors modulate 

physiological process underlying 

life-span, immune mechanisms, 

and metabolism; and

4. how psychosocial stress contributes 

to the development or progression 

of geriatric syndromes, chronic 

medical conditions, and disabilities 

in later life.

For more information on this PA, 

please visit http://grants.nih.gov/grants/

guide/pa-files/pa-09-216.html or 

contact 

Dr. Paige McDonald at 

Paige.McDonald@nih.gov. ❧

Funding Opportunities

Program Announcement Explores Stress, Disease, and Aging

Few research studies have fully explored 

the relationship between psychosocial 

stress, disease, and aging. In July 

2009, the National Cancer Institute 

(NCI) and the National Institute 

on Aging published the Program 

Announcement (PA) PA-09-216, 

“Mechanisms Underlying the Links 

between Psychosocial Stress, Aging, 

the Brain and the Body (R01).” This 

announcement encourages research 

that evaluates the “mechanisms and 

processes that link psychosocial 

stressors to health outcomes in older 

individuals”. The primary goals of this 

PA are to investigate the underlying 

mechanisms of aging and identify 

potential intervention targets. 

NCI participated in this PA to further 

explore cancer’s relationship to aging. 

Research is sought that explores “the 

6

Many pediatric cancer patients use 

complementary and alternative 

medicine (CAM), according to a 

systematic review published online 

March 22 in Pediatrics. The research 

team led by Dr. Felicity Bishop of the 

University of Southampton in the 

United Kingdom reviewed 28 studies 

that surveyed a total of 3,526 children 

from 14 countries between 1975 and 

2005. Twenty-three of the studies were 

performed between 2000 and 2005, 

and 10 were performed in the United 

States.

The researchers found that 2 to 48 

percent of surveyed children used 

herbal remedies (measured in 13 of the 

studies), 3 to 47 percent used dietary 

and nutritional interventions (measured 

in 13 of the studies), and 2 to 

19 percent used megavitamins 

(measured in 7 of the studies). 

Other CAM modalities used 

included faith healing, mindbody therapies, and massage 

therapies.

Those surveyed cited various reasons 

for the child’s CAM use, including to 

help cure or fight the child’s cancer 

and to provide symptom relief (both 

from the cancer itself and from side 

effects of standard treatment). CAM 

use did not appear to be associated 

with the gender, age, ethnicity, 

or family income of the pediatric 

patients, indicating wide use across 

demographic groups.

Because some commonly used herbs 

and supplements can negatively interact 

with standard cancer treatments, the 

authors cautioned that “pediatric 

oncologists need to be aware that 

their patients (and their patients’ 

parents) will be seeking and integrating 

other therapeutic approaches while 

undergoing conventional treatments.”❧

Complementary and Alternative Medicine Commonly Used by Pediatric Patients

Reprinted from the NCI Cancer Bulletin, vol. 7/no. 7, April 6, 2010

www.cancer.gov/ncicancerbulletin/040610/page3#c
NIH-Wide Consortium Tackles Pain Through Innovative Funding Opportunities

Research on cancer pain and its 

management, measurement and 

mechanisms is the topic of an 

exciting National Institutes of Health 

(NIH)-wide Pain Consortium 

funding opportunity announcement 

(FOA). Originally released on 

October 8, 2009, the purpose of the 

announcement: PA-10-006 titled 

“Mechanisms, Models, Measurement, 

& Management in Pain Research 

(R01)”, is to stimulate a wide range of 

basic, clinical, and translational studies 

on pain as it relates to the missions of 

the NIH Institutes and Centers that 

make up the NIH Pain Consortium. 

The lead funding agency, National 

Institute of Nursing Research, along 

with the National Cancer Institute 

and several others, seek to help fund 

research into new advances in every 

area of pain research from the microperspective of molecular sciences to the 

macro-perspective of behavioral and 

social sciences.

The NIH Pain Consortium, established 

in 1996 to enhance pain research 

and promote collaboration among 

researchers across NIH, realizes that 

while great scientific progress in pain 

research has been accomplished, the 

understanding and treatment of pain 

still remains incomplete. The NIH 

Pain Consortium supports research 

on all conditions in which pain is a 

prominent feature, including cancer 

and bone pain secondary to cancer. 

The consortium also encourages 

research into novel approaches to 

pain management from the field 

of complementary and alternative 

medicine (CAM). Research is 

encouraged in several broad categories 

including models of pain, genetics 

of pain, biobehavioral pain factors, 

and health disparities. CAM subset 

special interests within those categories 

include:

 Mechanisms and process 

variables that are responsible for 

the efficacy of behavioral and 

CAM interventions for pain. 

This research includes studies 

to better understand the effect 

of patients’ expectations and 

beliefs, psychophysiological states 

(e.g., anxiety, relaxation, stress), 

adherence, and specific cognitive 

(e.g., imagery) and sociocultural 

(e.g., support systems) 

components in behavioral and 

CAM interventions to treat pain.

 Interaction of biological 

markers; central nervous 

system mechanisms; and 

drug, behavioral, and CAM 

interventions.

Refer to the announcement for further 

guidelines on research and eligibility 

criteria at http://grants.nih.gov/

grants/guide/pa-files/PA-10-006.html. 

Interested researchers are encouraged 

to contact agency contacts according 

to inquiry type prior to submission. 

OCCAM also welcomes questions 

regarding funding opportunities. Please 

contact Extramural Research Program 

Director Dr. Isis Mikhail at mikhaili@

mail.nih.gov. 

Researchers should also take note of 

new NIH grant submission guidelines 

available at the following Web site: 

http://era.nih.gov/ElectronicReceipt/. ❧

7

Research Resources

January 25, 2010 marked the change 

to new restructured application forms 

and instructions, including shorter 

page limits. Those of you resubmitting 

applications may be wondering if the 

changes apply to you – and the answer 

is yes! All competing applications - 

including resubmissions - must use the 

new forms and follow the new page 

limits. (http://enhancing-peer-review.

nih.gov/restructured_applications.

html)

As a result, most of you will have 

to turn your original application’s 

Research Plan into a 6- or 12-page 

Research Strategy. (Don’t forget 

there is an extra page for Specific 

Aims.) Ordinarily, when submitting 

a resubmission application, changes 

should be marked throughout the 

text. However, if the changes are so 

extensive that essentially all of the 

text would be marked, the application 

guide instead directs you to explain 

your changes in the Introduction. 

During the first few application 

rounds with shortened page limits, 

the National Institutes of Health 

expects resubmission applications to 

have extensive changes that will not be 

marked in the text. If this is the case 

for you, be sure to summarize your 

changes in the Introduction (which is 

generally limited to one page 

[http://enhancing-peer-review.nih.

gov/page_limits.html]). For more 

information, refer to the application 

forms and instructions (http://grants.

nih.gov/grants/forms.htm) and the 

table of page limits, http://enhancingpeer-review.nih.gov/page_limits.html.

To make sure you are using the right 

forms, see Confirming the Correct 

Electronic Forms Choice (http://

enhancing-peer-review.nih.gov/docs/

confirming_the_correct_electronic_

forms_choice.pdf).

For more information on the shorter 

page limits, please visit http://

enhancing-peer-review.nih.gov/

restructured_applications.html. ❧

Resubmitting? Shorter Page Limits Apply To You, Too
8

New Notices for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Awards

Notice on the Proper Management 

of the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Spending 

to Promote Job Creation and Increase 

the Pace of Scientific Research; and 

Policy Limiting Second No-Cost 

Extensions to Recovery Act Grants –

NOT-OD-10-067:

The purposes of this Guide Notice are 

to: 

1. reaffirm to National Institutes of 

Health (NIH) grantees that the 

primary goals of all NIH ARRA 

awards are to create U.S. jobs and 

increase the tempo of biomedical 

research; 

2. remind Project Directors/Principal 

Investigators (PD/PIs) and grantee 

institutions that NIH fully expects 

ARRA grantees to expend funds in 

a timely and expeditious manner in 

accordance with the expected pace 

of research; 

3. remind grantees that all ARRA 

expenditures remain subject to 

terms and conditions on the 

Notice of Award, including the 

NIH-Department of Health and 

Human Service Standard Terms 

and Conditions for ARRA Awards 

(http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/

notice-files/NOT-OD-09-120.html)

and all referenced regulations and 

the Office of Management and 

Budget Circulars; and 

4. notify grantees that NIH expects 

all grant activities are to be 

completed consistent with the 

schedule of the approved project 

period. While the NIH Terms of 

Award provide for extending the 

final budget period of a project 

period for up to twelve months 

to allow for completion of the 

planned project; prior approval 

requests for additional extensions 

will only be considered in very 

limited circumstances.

Reminders on Annual Reporting 

Requirements and Notice of Revised 

Financial Closeout Requirements 

for ARRA funded Administrative 

Supplements and Competitive 

Revisions – NOT-OD-10-066:

The purposes of this Guide Notice are 

to: 

1. remind NIH grantees that 

information on ARRA-funded 

Administrative Supplements and 

Competitive Revisions must be 

included in the annual progress 

report of the parent grant; 

2. remind grantees of the special 

reporting requirements for 

administrative supplements 

providing summer experiences for 

students and science educators; 

and 

3. inform grantees of revised 

financial closeout requirements 

when multiple ARRA-funded 

Administrative Supplements and/

or Competitive Revisions are 

awarded to the same parent award.

Update on ARRA Quarterly 

Reporting Requirements for NonCompeting Continuation Awards and 

Relinquished Projects; and Guidance 

to Avoid Common Errors –

NOT-OD-10-065:

The purposes of this Guide Notice are 

to:

1. provide ARRA quarterly reporting 

guidance for NIH non-competing 

continuation awards; 

2. provide guidance on reporting 

requirements for relinquished/

transferred ARRA grants; and 

3. help grantees avoid some common 

errors identified in previous 

reporting periods. ❧

Using Vertebrate Animals in Your Research? New Update

Instructions for Completion and 

Peer Review of the Vertebrate 

Animal Section (VAS) in NIH 

Grant Applications and Cooperative 

Agreements – NOT-OD-10-027:

This Notice is to clarify the 

information that must be included in 

the Vertebrate Animal Section (VAS) 

of grant applications and cooperative 

agreements (subsequently referred to 

as applications) that use live vertebrate 

animals in research. It also explains 

how the VAS is evaluated as part of 

the NIH peer review process and 

is considered as part of the overall 

scoring. Distinction is made between 

the oversight role of the Institutional 

Animal Care and Use Committee 

and review responsibility of the NIH 

Scientific Review Group. ❧

Sign-up for OCCAM’s Listserv

Stay up-to-date on the latest cancer CAM news at NCI with OCCAM’s listserv, OCCAM Announcements. 

As a listserv subscriber, you will receive a monthly email about upcoming workshops and lectures, new 

funding opportunities, publications, and other resources. To subscribe, simply visit OCCAM’s Web site:

http://www.cancer.gov/cam/news_listserv.html.
9

continued on next page

Research Highlights

Menopausal hot flashes, whether 

induced by breast cancer treatment, 

surgery, or older age, can cause stress, 

sleep disturbances, and otherwise 

negatively affect the quality of life for 

many women. The current medications 

and hormone therapies used to alleviate 

hot flashes are sometimes not effective, 

have side effects, or may not be a 

medically appropriate option for some 

survivors. This has led to an increase in 

research of new interventions for hot 

flashes.

NCI is funding a pilot study* 

looking at a mind-body intervention 

involving hypnosis combined with 

a low-dose antidepressant to treat 

hot flashes. “We’ve done research for 

quite awhile on pharmacologic agents 

for hot flashes,” noted co-principal 

investigator (PI) Debra Barton, R.N., 

Ph.D., FAAN, associate professor of 

oncology at the Mayo Clinic. “Many 

of the things that work for hot flashes 

that are non-hormonal happen to be 

antidepressants that affect serotonin,” 

known as selective serotonin reuptake 

inhibitors or serotonin norepinephrine 

reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). 

However, side effects from the typical 

doses of antidepressants can lessen their 

value and appeal to cancer patients. 

Previous studies have shown these 

agents reduce hot flashes by only about 

50% - 60% for around half the women 

who try them.

NCI has funded previous research, 

which demonstrated beneficial effects 

on hot flashes in breast cancer patients 

using only hypnotherapy. One of the 

researchers studying hypnotherapy 

– Gary Elkins, Ph.D., of Baylor 

University – is supervising the hypnosis 

in the current pilot study as co-PI with 

Dr. Barton.

“In my career in nursing and research, 

I’ve come to really believe in the mindbody connection,” Dr. Barton stated. 

“It makes sense to me to approach 

symptom management from a multimodal perspective. What I’m hoping 

is we can use tiny doses of drug, just 

enough to do what needs to be done 

with the serotonin without side effects. 

Hypnosis could possibly enhance the 

drug effect and achieve greater control 

of hot flashes.”

Dr. Barton and her colleagues have 

begun the pilot study, which will enroll 

100 women. To be eligible for the 

study, the women must be currently 

healthy, experiencing hot flashes and 

have a history of breast cancer, have 

naturally induced menopause, or 

surgically induced menopause. The 

women will be randomly assigned into 

four treatment groups: 1) hypnosis 

plus the SNRI venlafaxine ER (75 

mg); 2) control (placebo) hypnosis 

technique using a “white noise” CD 

plus venlafaxine ER; 3) hypnosis plus 

a placebo drug; or 4) control hypnosis 

technique plus placebo drug. 

Individuals in the hypnosis arms 

of the study will initially have four 

weekly one-on-one sessions “where 

we introduce them to hypnosis,” Dr. 

Barton said. “We do an induction and 

Mind-Body Approach Studied to Ease Hot Flashes in Cancer

then start with two standard cooling 

suggestions: either a lake of cool 

water or snow on the mountain tops. 

From those suggestions, the women 

individualize to whatever is a good 

image for them so they can experience 

coolness. By the third session, we begin 

to teach them self-hypnosis.” 

After the training sessions, the women 

are given a hypnosis CD to use at 

home. “We ask them to listen to 

the CD at least four times a week, 

preferably every day,” she noted. The 

control groups have the same number 

of one-on-one sessions with a therapist 

and also listen to a “white noise” CD 

at home. “For these individuals, we 

ask them to just think about their hot 

flashes in any way that could be helpful 

for them,” Dr. Barton added.

If the pilot study demonstrates good 

results, “we’re planning to move ahead 

with a larger follow-up clinical trial,” 

she said. “The goal is to be able to 

teach the self-hypnosis technique in 

just a couple of sessions and eventually 

have most of it delivered through MP3-

type devices so that the intervention 

can be easily disseminated.” Dr. Barton 

hopes the mind-body intervention will 

reduce hot flashes by at least 70%-80%. 

Estrogen treatments are around 80%-

90% effective in reducing hot flashes. 

We don’t currently have any other 

treatments for hot flashes that are that 

good.” 

*Grant number: 5R21CA131795-02 ❧

Researchers Studying Dietary Combination in Breast Cancer

When Rafat Ali Siddiqui, Ph.D., was 

growing up in Karachi, Pakistan, he 

had no idea that one day his work 

as a cancer researcher in the United 

States would involve tumeric, a 

botanical staple of the diet and culture 

in his native country and south Asia. 

Curcumin is the active ingredient in 

tumeric and used in many curry dishes. 

At his lab at the Methodist Research 

Institute at the Indiana University 

School of Medicine in Indianapolis, 

Dr. Siddiqui is testing the combination 

of curcumin and docosahexaenoic 

acid (DHA) - the most unsaturated 

omega-3 fatty acid found in nature. 
10

from previous page

Many potential health benefits have 

been associated with increased DHA in 

the diet and recent laboratory research 

also has demonstrated anti-cancer 

effects. Both curcumin and DHA have 

shown activity against cancer cells and 

tumors in laboratory cell experiments 

and animal models.

The use of curcumin as a therapeutic 

in humans has one potential problem; 

curcumin is not well-absorbed when 

ingested alone. Curcumin does not 

accumulate in significant quantities in 

most human tissues, and the same is 

true of DHA (brain and eye cells are 

exceptions). As a result, their potential 

anti-cancer effects may be limited 

by basic human biology. The doses 

used in many of the promising lab 

experiments might not be achievable in 

humans.

“We think we may have a solution,” 

said Dr. Siddiqui. “We might be able 

to achieve the same effects with much 

less material if the molecular events 

from the curcumin and DHA actually 

influence each other.” 

NCI is supporting his research to 

demonstrate the synergistic effect of 

curcumin and DHA in breast cancer.* 

Early results from Dr. Siddiqui’s lab 

suggest that curcumin and DHA affect 

the p21 gene, a molecular pathway 

known to be important in apoptosis 

– the programmed death of the body’s 

cells, which can go awry in cancer. 

Curcumin and DHA affect p21 gene 

expression in different ways and using 

them in combination may have a larger 

effect than using either ingredient 

alone.

“We are starting to identify the 

specific genes that are most affected 

by the synergy between curcumin and 

DHA,” Dr. Siddiqui explained. Using 

microarray analysis in a breast cancer 

cell line, his research team found 19 

genes that responded at least twice 

as strongly when DHA was added to 

curcumin. Future work will delve more 

deeply into the molecular interactions 

that may be driven by these genes in 

this particular setting.

Dr. Siddiqui said it is too early to 

tell whether these molecular events 

will apply equally, or at all, to cancer 

prevention as well as to cancer 

treatment. While his current research 

targets actual cancer cells in the lab 

and in rodents, it may turn out that 

the curcumin-DHA combination also 

prevents potentially cancerous cells 

from transforming into cancer cells. If 

that preventive effect is demonstrated, 

this dietary combination could have a 

significant impact, particularly if, as Dr. 

Siddiqui suggests, “People may be more 

likely to change their diet than to take a 

drug to prevent cancer.” 

*Grant number: 1R03CA137765-01A1 

❧

Acupuncture Reduces Joint Pain in Some Women with Breast Cancer 

In a small randomized clinical trial, 

breast cancer patients experiencing 

joint pain and stiffness from aromatase 

inhibitor (AI) treatment reported 

an improvement in pain from 

acupuncture. Eighty percent of women 

receiving acupuncture reported at 

least a 2-point improvement on a 

10-point pain scale, compared with 

22 percent of women who received 

a sham treatment. These results were 

published January 25 in the Journal of 

Clinical Oncology. 

Researchers led by Katherine D. Crew, 

M.D., M.S., of Columbia University 

enrolled 51 women in the trial, 43 

of who were randomly assigned and 

38 of who completed the treatment. 

Scheduling difficulties accounted for 

most of the women who enrolled but 

did not begin or finish treatment.

All of the women were blinded to their 

treatment assignment, which consisted 

Adapted from the NCI Cancer Bulletin, vol. 7/no. 2, January 26, 2010 

www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/results/accupuncture-breast-cancer0210

of either 12 acupuncture sessions or 

12 sham treatments (in which needles 

were lightly inserted into the body at 

points thought to have no effect on 

pain) over the course of 6 weeks. The 

researchers used three different scales to 

measure changes in joint pain, stiffness, 

and knee and hand function.

At the beginning of the study, women 

in the acupuncture group reported a 

mean worst pain score of 6.7 (on a 

scale from 1 to 10), compared with 

a mean score of 5.6 in women in the 

sham group. After treatment, women 

in the acupuncture group reported 

a mean worst pain score of 3.0, 

compared to 5.5 in women in the sham 

group. These numbers corresponded 

to a 50 percent improvement in pain 

scores for the acupuncture group. 

“To our knowledge,” concluded 

the authors, “this report is the first 

randomized, placebo-controlled trial 

establishing the use of an intervention 

to control AI-related joint symptoms, 

which should be confirmed in a larger 

randomized trial.”

For more information, visit www.ncbi.

nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20100963. ❧
11

Diet May Protect Against Gene Changes in Smokers

www.cancer.gov/newscenter/pressreleases/Dietaryfactorslungcancer

Leafy green vegetables, folate, and 

some multivitamins could serve as 

protective factors against lung cancer in 

current and former smokers, according 

to a study that is a first step in 

understanding a complex association. 

The study was supported by the 

National Cancer Institute (NCI), part 

of the National Institutes of Health. 

The study appeared online January 12, 

2010, in Cancer Research. 

Researchers, led by Steven Belinsky, 

Ph.D., Lovelace Respiratory Research 

Institute, Albuquerque, N.M., 

examined cells that were coughed 

up by current and former smokers. 

Upon careful study of the cells and 

by comparing those cells with profiles 

of smokers’ dietary intake of leafy 

green vegetables, folate, and some 

multivitamins, they found that those 

particular substances could influence 

the prevalence of cellular gene 

methylation. Gene methylation is a 

chemical modification used by the cell 

to control gene expression. 

The addition of methyl groups, which 

are simple four atom molecules, to 

DNA can affect whether the gene 

is expressed, i.e., whether the gene’s 

signal to produce a protein is actually 

sent. Many genes involved in critical 

cell functions, including cell division, 

are methylated in lung tumors. Gene 

methylation is likely to be a major 

mechanism in lung cancer development 

and progression, as well as a potential 

marker for the early detection of lung 

cancer. 

In the study, slightly more than 1,100 

current and former smokers from the 

Lovelace Smokers Cohort submitted 

sputum samples and completed 

questionnaires regarding their dietary 

intake. Most (75 percent) of the 

participants were women who had been 

enrolled in the study since 2001. Men 

were not enrolled until 2004. 

The researchers analyzed cells in the 

sputum samples for the methylation 

status of eight genes that were linked 

to increased risk for lung cancer in 

previous studies. Two of the genes, 

p16 and MGMT, have been found 

to be highly associated with increased 

methylation rates. 

The researchers next investigated 

associations between 21 dietary 

variables and methylation. Both 

higher intake of leafy green vegetables 

and higher intake of folate were 

significantly associated with a reduced 

probability of high methylation. 

Current multivitamin users also had 

less DNA methylation, although 

there was no association between the 

duration of multivitamin use and 

methylation. 

“Aberrant gene methylation is a 

known mechanism in the development 

of cancer from cigarette smoke 

carcinogens,” said Jacob Kagan, Ph.D., 

of the Cancer Biomarkers Research 

Group in NCI’s Division of Cancer 

Prevention. 

There has been considerable debate 

regarding the relationship between 

diet and cancer prevention. Previous 

studies, such as the Alpha-Tocopherol, 

Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention 

Trial, showed an increased risk of lung 

cancer in smokers who took betacarotene supplements. In contrast, 

the current study shows reduced 

gene methylation with the intake of 

multivitamin supplements that are rich 

in phytochemicals, such as vitamin 

C, carotenoids, lutein, folic acid, and 

vitamins A and K--the same agents 

present in leafy greens. 

Previous studies have suggested an 

association between a low folate intake 

and increased lung cancer risk in 

current and former smokers. Higher 

folate intake has been associated 

with lower methylation of genes in 

colorectal tumors as well.

“Additional research is needed to 

independently validate the current 

observations and also to help resolve 

contradictions between varying 

studies. This particular study used 

a well-planned design and can serve 

as a basis for future identification 

of the mechanistic targets of these 

dietary factors. Such studies are 

important steps for the future success 

of chemopreventive strategies,” said 

Sudhir Srivastava, Ph.D., chief, 

Biomarkers Research Group, NCI. 

The authors of this study believe that 

since gene methylation is a promising 

marker for lung cancer, understanding 

the factors underlying methylation is 

a high priority and could be used for 

early detection and chemoprevention of 

lung cancer. They also recommend that 

lung cancer prevention interventions be 

developed that take into consideration 

the influence of dietary factors on 

cancer risk. ❧

Reference: Stidley CA, Picchi MA, Leng S, Willink R, Crowell R, Flores KG, Kang H, Byers T, Gilliland FD, and Belinsky SA. 

Multi-Vitamins, Folate, and Green Vegetables Protect Against Gene Promoter Methylation in the Aerodigestive Tract of Smokers. 

Online Jan. 12, 2010, Cancer Research. 
Shark Cartilage Extract Ineffective Against Lung Cancer

A clinical trial to rigorously evaluate 

a shark cartilage extract as a cancer 

treatment found no benefit for patients 

with non-small cell lung cancer. 

Patients who took the extract, AE-941 

or Neovastat, along with chemotherapy 

and radiation therapy lived no longer 

than patients who did not, according 

to a report published online May 

26 in the Journal of the National 

Cancer Institute. Negative results from 

the study were first reported at the 

American Society of Clinical Oncology 

annual meeting in 2007. (See www.

cancer.gov/cam/newsletter/2007-fall/5.

html for related story.)

The phase III randomized placebocontrolled clinical trial was 

cosponsored by NCI and the National 

Center for Complementary and 

Alternative Medicine. The study 

closed early because of slow patient 

accrual. Only 379 eligible patients were 

included in the final analysis. “It is, 

nevertheless, the largest phase III study 

ever conducted, to our knowledge, of a 

shark cartilage–derived agent, and the 

study outcome is unambiguous,” the 

researchers noted. The manufacturer 

of AE-941, Canadian pharmaceutical 

company Æterna Laboratories, worked 

closely with the investigators to ensure 

the purity of the extract used in the 

trial.

In a separate editorial about the 

study results, Dr. Jeffrey White, 

director of the NCI Office of Cancer 

Complementary and Alternative 

Medicine, noted, “This study was 

well designed and conducted and 

has generated important and useful 

findings with regard to one specific 

product, AE-941.” Dr. White 

cautioned against concluding that 

the study “completely disproved the 

efficacy of shark cartilage” or other 

natural materials for treating cancer. 

“The potential value of complex 

mixtures of natural materials in the 

anti-cancer armamentarium remains 

an open question for many and one 

that can only be answered one step at 

a time with high-quality research,” he 

wrote. ❧

12

Reprinted from the NCI Cancer Bulletin, vol. 7/no. 11, June 1, 2010 

www.cancer.gov/ncicancerbulletin/060110/page3#d

CAM Information

Social media applications are 

ubiquitous in our culture. Facebook, 

Twitter, YouTube, Second Life, 

countless blogs, and thousands of Web 

sites barrage us with up-to-the-second 

news about everything from what we 

ate for lunch, to politics and health 

care. According to the Pew Internet and 

American Life Project 6 out 10 people 

living with cancer have Internet access, 

and 1 in 5 Internet users that have 

cancer use social network sites1

. 

YouTube, an online video 

community, is a Web site where 

users can watch and upload videos 

24 hours a day. NCI, realizing 

the power of this medium to help 

spread information about cancer 

treatments and prevention, created 

its own YouTube channel. The NCI 

YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/

ncigov, launched in August 2009, is 

the NCI’s official conduit for cancer 

information videos. Videos include 

information for patients on how to 

participate in clinical trials, topic 

updates from NCI staff, and in-depth 

profiles of key cancer researchers. 

Dr. Jeffrey D. White, director of the 

Office of Cancer Complementary 

and Alternative Medicine, shares 

a message on complementary and 

alternative medicine (CAM) and 

cancer with viewers in a YouTube 

video. The video, available at 

www.youtube.com/ncigov, highlights 

the importance of talking to your 

doctor about your use of CAM, 

common concerns about CAM use, 

and resources to check for further 

information. This video is the first in 

what will eventually become a series 

of cancer CAM videos produced by 

NCI. Check back often for more 

videos on CAM as well as other 

cancer topics. ❧

OCCAM on the Web

1 Fox, S. (2009, Oct.5) Research on e-patients and the use of social media for health. Pew Research 

Center’s Internet and American Life Project. Retrieved, April 9, 2010 from http://www.pewinternet.

org/Presentations/2009/29--PatientCentered-Learning-and-the-Health-20-Movement.aspx.

New Federal Resources on CAM

Herbal Dietary Supplements: Examples of Deceptive or Questionable Marketing Practices and Potentially Dangerous 

Advice – Government Accountability Office (GAO)

Recent studies have shown that 

use of herbal dietary supplements--

chamomile, echinacea, garlic, ginkgo 

biloba, and ginseng--by the elderly 

within the United States has increased 

substantially. Sellers, such as retail 

stores, Web sites, and distributors, 

often claim these supplements help 

improve memory, circulation, and 
13

Guidance from an NIH Workshop on Designing, Implementing, and Reporting Clinical Studies of Soy 

Interventions – National Institutes of Health

The NIH-sponsored workshop, 

“Soy Protein/Isoflavone Research: 

Challenges in Designing and 

Evaluating Intervention Studies,” 

held on July 28-29, 2009, provided 

guidance for the next generation of 

soy protein/isoflavone human research. 

Session topics included population 

exposure to soy; the variability of 

the human response to soy; product 

composition; methods, tools, and 

resources available to estimate exposure 

and protocol adherence; and analytical 

methods to assess soy in foods and 

supplements and analytes in biologic 

fluids and other tissues. The intent 

of the workshop was to address 

the quality of soy studies, not the 

efficacy or safety of soy. Prior NIH 

workshops and an evidence-based 

review questioned the quality of data 

from human soy studies. If clinical 

studies are pursued, investigators need 

to ensure that the experimental designs 

are optimal and the studies properly 

executed. The workshop participants 

identified methodological issues that 

may confound study results and 

interpretation. Scientifically sound and 

useful options for dealing with these 

issues were discussed. The resulting 

guidance is presented in this Journal of 

Nutrition article with a brief rationale. 

The guidance is specific to soy clinical 

research and does not address nonsoyrelated factors that should also be 

considered in designing and reporting 

clinical studies. This guidance may be 

used by investigators, journal editors, 

study sponsors, and protocol reviewers 

for a variety of purposes including 

designing and implementing trials, 

reporting results, and interpreting 

published epidemiological and clinical 

studies.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

pubmed/2039288 ❧

other bodily functions. GAO was 

asked to determine (1) whether 

sellers of herbal dietary supplements 

are using deceptive or questionable 

marketing practices and (2) whether 

selected herbal dietary supplements 

are contaminated with harmful 

substances. The results of the GAO 

investigation are available in the 

following report: 

www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-

662T. ❧

Antioxidant Supplements for Health: An Introduction – National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine

This fact sheet provides a general overview of antioxidants – with a focus on dietary supplements – and suggests sources 

for additional information.

http://nccam.nih.gov/health/antioxidants/

Join Us for the Summer and Fall 2010 Lectures 

Antiangiogenic Properties of Sweet Tea

Dr. Zhijun Liu, Medicinal Plant Lab, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center

July 14, 2010

Melatonin and Breast Cancer

Dr. Stephen Hill, Department of Structural and Cellular Biology, Tulane University 

School of Medicine

August 11, 2010

Effect of GCS-100, a polysaccharide derived from citrus pectin, on Lymphoma Cells

Dr. Linda Baum, UCLA School of Medicine

September 8, 2010

Methylselenocysteine and Colon Cancer 

Dr. Youcef Rustum, Roswell Park Cancer Institute

October 13, 2010

Anti-inflammatory and Anticancer Activity of Vitamin E Forms and Their Metabolites

Dr. Qing Jiang, Purdue University

November 10, 2010

More information about past and future lectures is available on the OCCAM Web site: 

www.cancer.gov/cam/news_lectures.html. ❧

The OCCAM Monthly Lecture Series 

hosts engaging speakers such as Dr. 

Sandra M. Gaston in March 2010. 
OCCAM Staff Members Outreach with New Communities

The Office of Cancer Complementary 

and Alternative Medicine (OCCAM), 

for the first time, attended the 17th 

Annual International Symposium for 

Functional Medicine held May 20-23, 

2010 in Carlsbad, CA. The theme 

of this year’s symposium, hosted by 

the Institute of Functional Medicine 

(IFM), was “Confronting Cancer as a 

Chronic Disease: Primary Care Takes a 

360-degree View”. 

The IFM defines functional medicine 

as “patient-centered health care that 

addresses the unique interactions 

among genetic, environmental, and 

lifestyle factors influencing both 

health and complex chronic disease.” 

The symposium was offered to help 

attendees improve their “capacity to 

confidently assess and implement 

effective [functional medicine] 

strategies aimed at understanding 

and counseling your patients in the 

prevention, management, and survival 

of cancer”. 

OCCAM Director Dr. Jeffrey D. 

White, M.D. spoke at the symposium 

and delivered information about the 

National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) 

research portfolio and communication 

initiatives related to complementary 

and alternative medicine (CAM) and 

functional medicine. He encouraged 

researchers in attendance to apply 

for grant funding to help further the 

science of CAM. He also spoke about 

the NCI Best Case Series Program, 

encouraging researchers to gather and 

submit cases of cancer patients who 

have been treated with CAM and show 

tumor or disease regression. 

Dr. White noticed this of the attendees, 

“They are a community who embraces 

the expansion of their conventional 

practices to include evidence-based 

nutritional therapeutics. Many are 

interested in growing the body of 

research and applying the best concepts 

of CAM to the care of their cancer 

patients.” ❧

14

Meetings

17th Annual International Symposium for Functional Medicine

The 45th Annual U.S. Public Health 

Service Scientific and Training 

Symposium was held May 24-27, 

2010 in San Diego, California. The 

symposium drew more than 1,000 

attendees from Federal agencies such 

as the Indian Health Service, the 

Office of Public Health Emergency 

Preparedness, Bureau of Prisons, the 

Department of Homeland Security, 

the National Disaster Medical System, 

the Health Resources and Services 

Administration, the Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention, the 

U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 

the Medical Reserve Corps, and the 

National Institutes of Health.

The symposium offered a range of 

continuing education seminars on the 

latest trends and innovations in public 

health care delivery, administration, 

and research. Targeted training courses 

were offered that emphasized the 

maintenance of our nation’s security 

and public health infrastructure for 

disaster preparedness and readiness 

response.

Dr. Regina Benjamin, U.S. Surgeon 

General, moderated a panel at the 

symposium opening involving 

the three Department of Defense 

surgeon generals. Dr. Howard Koh, 

the assistant secretary for health for 

the U.S. Department of Health and 

Human Services delivered the opening 

keynote. Other central speakers were 

Mark Trahant, nationally-renowned 

expert on healthcare reform, and Rear 

Admiral Scott Deitchman, USPHS, 

who spoke on “Leadership: Lessons 

from the Arts.”

On Nurse Category Day, 

complementary and alternative 

medicine (CAM) was a new topic 

of interest to nurses. Dr. Josephine 

Briggs, director of the National Center 

for Complementary and Alternative 

Medicine, spoke along with the 

National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) 

Office of Cancer Complementary and 

Alternative Medicine’s (OCCAM) 

Commander Colleen Lee, M.S., 

CRNP, AOCN. The two presenters 

described CAM as it relates to its 

current patterns of use in the general 

and oncology populations, main 

indications, safety concerns, research 

perspectives, and trends. Commander 

Lee addressed the activities of 

OCCAM and the role of nursing in 

integrative oncology in the clinical 

practice, education, and research 

arenas. Commander Lee commented, 

“Nursing has the opportunity to claim 

a fundamental role in integrative 

oncology. It is imperative that we 

expand our knowledge, promote 

evidence-based practice, and conduct 

methodologically-sound research.” ❧

45th Annual U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Scientific and Training Symposium
15

Office of Cancer Complementary and 

Alternative Medicine

6116 Executive Boulevard, Suite 609

Bethesda, Maryland 20892

E-mail: ncioccam-r@mail.nih.gov

http://cancer.gov/cam

Contact Information

Featured Scientific Meetings

Date Meeting Location OCCAM Staff

Attending

April 12-15, 2010

April 17-21, 2010

April 20-23, 2010

May 13-16, 2010

May 19-21, 2010

May 20-23, 2010

May 21-26, 2010

9th Annual Oxford 

International Conference on 

the Science of Botanicals

101st American Association 

for Cancer Research Annual 

Meeting

National Cancer Registrars 

Association 36th Annual 

Education Conference 

35th Annual CongressOncology Nursing Society

5th International Congress on 

Complementary Medicine 

Research*

The 17th International 

Symposium on Functional 

Medicine

Medical Library Association 

Conference

Oxford, MS

Washington, D.C.

Palm Springs, CA

San Diego, CA

Tromsø, Norway

Carlsbad, CA

Washington, D.C.

Dr. Jeffrey D. White

Dr. Jeffrey D. White

Dr. Libin Jia

Dr. Dan Xi 

Dr. Farah Zia

Dr. Isis Mikhail

Commander Colleen Lee

Liz Austin

Shea Buckman

Dr. Isis Mikhail

Dr. Jeffrey D. White

Dr. Jeffrey D. White

continued on next page
To obtain a copy of this newsletter or for inquiries on 

cancer and CAM, please contact 

1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237).

NIH Publication No. 10-5854

June 2010

16

Date Meeting Location OCCAM Staff

Attending

*Indicates that an OCCAM staff member will be at the NCI or OCCAM exhibit booth.

**The NCI booth will host a Meet-the-Expert session with Dr. Farah Zia on June 7, 2010 at 11:00 a.m.

from previous page

USPHS Scientific and Training 

Symposium

American Society of Clinical 

Oncology-Annual Meeting 

2009**

25th Anniversary of the 

American Association of 

Naturopathic Physicians*

Cancer Control Society-38th

Annual Cancer Convention

138th American Public Health 

Association Annual Meeting

Society for Integrative 

Oncology*

May 24-27, 2010

June 4-8, 2010

August 11-15, 2010

September 4-6, 2010

November 6-10, 2010

November 13-14, 2010

San Diego, CA

Chicago, IL

Portland, OR

Universal City, CA

Denver, CO

New York City, NY

Commander Colleen Lee

Dr. Farah Zia

Liz Austin

Dr. Oluwadamilola 

Olaku 

Dr. Farah Zia

Dr. Isis Mikhail

Shea Buckman

Dr. Isis Mikhail

Dr. Dan Xi