The Center for Cancer Research (CCR), as a major focus of basic research and the exclusive entity for cancer treatment within the Intramural Program of the NCI, is uniquely positioned to help NCI successfully achieve its goal of reducing the burden of cancer. Researchers here are able to interact across disciplines in a translational research approach—communicating across different fields. In the CCR, both basic and clinical researchers are represented and are able to interact intimately, allowing information to flow freely between the clinic and the laboratory.

Below are some facts and frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the CCR:

The CCR is the largest basic and clinical cancer research facility in the world.
The CCR is an NCI intramural research center.
What does the CCR do?
What is the history of the CCR?
What is the mission of the CCR?
What is translational research?

The CCR is the largest basic and clinical cancer research facility in the world.
The Center for Cancer Research is an NCI intramural organization of approximately 3500 people, including 329 principal investigators, as well as postdoctoral fellows, technical support staff, trainees, and students who do research in its laboratories and conduct clinical trials. As the largest organization of its kind, the people who work here are dedicated to conducting basic and clinical research on the discovery of the causes and mechanisms of cancer. The Director of the CCR is J. Carl Barrett, Ph.D.

The CCR is an NCI Intramural Research Center.
CCR contains a large portion of the intramural scientists at NCI, who conduct research in NCI laboratories located on campuses in Bethesda, Frederick, Rockville, and Gaithersburg, Maryland.

What does the CCR do?
The CCR provides opportunities to translate fundamental research into pioneering clinical research and molecular medicine; enhances and enables collaborations, interdisciplinary research, and translational science; and emphasizes the training and support of young investigators in basic and clinical cancer research. The CCR contributes to the NCI's mission by integrating and coordinating CCR activities with the intramural and extramural activities of the Institute. Finally, the CCR provides patient care, patient treatment, and education to the community.

What is the history of the CCR?
The CCR was created on January 12, 2001 when Dr. Richard Klausner, Director of the National Cancer Institute, announced the merger of two intramural divisions at NCI—the Division of Basic Sciences and the Division of Clinical Sciences—closely linking the basic researcher with the clinic. Among the approximately 3500 staff members at CCR, of which 329 are principal investigators, there is a broad spectrum of scientists doing innovative research in many disciplines. The merger of the two divisions significantly broadens the range of intramural cancer research activities at the NCI and offers an opportunity to encourage translational research.

What is the mission of the CCR?
The mission of the CCR is to reduce the burden of cancer through exploration, discovery, and translation. The Center is doing this by conducting outstanding, cutting-edge, basic and clinical research on cancer and translating these discoveries into treatment and prevention that will reduce the burden of cancer in humans. The overall goal is to have a highly interactive, interdisciplinary group of researchers who have access to technology and the ability to participate in clinical investigations while maintaining a foundation of investigator-initiated, independent research. The Center represents a new forum for cancer research without scientific, institutional, or administrative barriers. Our scientists will conduct innovative basic and clinical research aimed at discovering the causes and mechanisms of cancer to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer and other diseases.

What is translational research?
The interdisciplinary research that is conducted at the CCR creates an ideal environment for translational research, which is the clinical application of knowledge gained through basic research. Historically, translational research has been slow because bridges have not been built between basic and clinical researchers. Basic laboratory research was conducted, published, and then followed by clinical investigation and application—a unidirectional model. This is a model that works, but works slowly. Translational research is especially challenging in the current age of scientific discovery in which the rapid development of technology and the ability to generate vast amounts of data makes staying abreast of progress difficult for scientists.

The CCR will facilitate dynamic translational research by fostering close collaboration between basic and clinical scientists. Close collaboration promotes the use of an iterative process of cancer research—a highly interactive process that produces clinically successful results more quickly because observations in the basic research laboratory and the clinic are constantly shared. By increasing the flow of information between basic and clinical investigators, clinical treatments are more likely to work and are created more quickly. All of this requires an open environment, where collaboration is encouraged, and communication is valued. The newly created Center for Cancer Research provides such an environment.