NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology

Oncology has a set of guidelines for best practices and guidelines for the treatment of all kinds of cancer. These are developed by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), and are accepted as the standard in the medical and oncology communities. A multidisciplinary team of cancer professionals from cancer institutions across the country compiles the guidelines, which the NCCN says are the most comprehensive and frequently updated in medicine.

History

• In the mid-1990s, the NCCN began to compile a set of guidelines that would encompass diagnosis, treatment, and supportive care. The guidelines are composed by more than 40 panels and 800 oncology physicians and researchers and are based on the best information available at the time of development. The guidelines are updated as new information and techniques become available.

Sections

• The NCCN guidelines comprise several sections. There are guidelines for treatment of cancer by site, guidelines for detection, prevention, and risk reduction, and guidelines for supportive care. Each section includes algorithms, summaries and references.

For Patients

• In addition to guidelines for physicians, the NCCN also has a website for cancer patients and their families. This website has treatment summaries for people with cancer, which explain to patients the guidelines physicians follow. There are also resources for financial issues families living with cancer might face, and information for survivors of cancer victims.

Future Changes

• Panels on each type of cancer meet often to review new developments and review studies. Scientists can submit studies and data, request a review, and advocate for changes in the guidelines.

Other Publications

• The NCCN also offers he NCCN drugs and biologics compendium, the NCCN chemotherapy order templates, and a journal: JNCCN, the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.