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HIt- 0716058 H 2 6058 P.O. Box 2370 Re.on, Virginia 22~0 Telephone 703~2046~ " [ SEER GETS EXTRA $500,000 TO PERMIT ADDITION OF ONE REGISTRY TO BROADEN COVERAGE OF BLACKS. HISPANICS The Board of Scientific Counselors of NCI's Div. of Cancer Cause & Prevention cleared the way for the division to add a new registry for (Continued to page 2) In Brief NO INTENTION OF RETIRING, DEVITA SAYS; BRESNICK TO HEAD EPPLEY; BALCH ACTING DIRECTOR AT ALABAMA RUMORS TO THE contrary, Vincent DeVita said he has, no inten- tion of giving up kis job as NCI director and retiring when he completes 20 years with the Public Health Service next year. "I am not leaving until I see the job finished," he told The Cancer Letter. He has b.is new staff pretty much in place and functioning well under his tight manage- ment, and "you couldn't ask for more exciting times, scientifically".... EDWARD BRESNI..CK, chairman of the Dept. of Biochemistry at the Univ. of Vermont College of Medicine, will be the new director of Epp- Icy Cancer Research Institute, starting next May 1. NORMAN CROM- WELL, interim director since 1979, will continue until Bresnick's arrival and then will return to Un'iv. of Nebraska .... CHARLES BALCH, asso- ciate director for clhnical program,s at Univ. of Alabama Comprehensive Cancer Center, is now acting director with the departure of JOHN DURANT, new president of Fox Chase Cancer Center .... DONALD PI3NKEL will g/re the annual C/owes Lecture Oct. 27 at RoswelI Park, entitled "Treatment of Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia".... BIOQUAL I~NC., Rockville, Md., has acquired the assets of Cot Bel Laboratories, also of RockviIle. Assets included contracts for animal support, breed- ~ing and holding for NIH. Bioquai is headed by JOHN LANDON, former president of EG&G Mason Research Institute .... RICHARD BURGESS, Univ. of Wisconsin Medical School professor of onco/ogy, has recieved the 1982 Pfizer Award.in enzyme chemistry for research on the genetic mechanisms of enzyme production .... BERNARD SCHWETZ, former director of the Dow Chemical Toxicology Research Laboratory, has been appointed chief of the Systemic Toxicology Branch of the National Toxicology Program .... SAMUEL BRODER, who has been acting director of the Clinical Oncology Program ~n NCI's Div. of Cancer Treatment, now has the job on a permanent basis. He also is deputy clinical director of the Institute. Other DCT staff changes: ARTHUR I..EVINE, who has been special assistant to DCT Director Bruce Chabner, has been appointed scientific director of the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development. DANIEL HOTH is acting'director of the Cancer Therapy EvaJuation Program. EDWIN JACOBS is the new acting chief of the Clinical Investigations Branch. RICHARD SMALLEY has been named chief of the Biological Resources Branch. Vol; 8 No. 41 Oct. 22, 1982 c(~Copyr ight lg82 The C.,anc~', Letter - SoDscriphon $~,25 year North Research Contracts Branch Reorganized, Graalman On "Detail" •.. Page 4 GAO Probes NCI Intramural Program, Finds All Is Well, But Won't Report It •.. Page 4 Commerce DePt. Socks NCI For Cancergram Paid Subscri pti ons; NCAB Committee OKs OD Concept Requests •.. Page 5 DCCP Board Defers Two Concept Requests, Approves Sole Sources ... Page 7 \ Four New Program Announcements For BRMP Trials Issued ... Page7 RFPs Available •.. Page 8 c:'r7;;:

0,716059 ~EER CEILING LIFTED; COST COMMITTEE FINDS DEFICIENCIES, ASKS CHANGES fContinued from page 1) the.Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program by voting to .lift the $10 million. LL, nit it had previously p!aced on the program. SEER funds l 0 registries to collect incidence and sr.wv/val data at geographically dispersed locations around the cruntry, covering about 10 percent of the papular.ion. A review of the program b~, a committee cb.aired by former'Board member Seymour Jablon last year reported a number of deficiencies, among them a finding that blacks andhispanics were not adequately represented in areas covered by SEER. Populations in those areas include only seven percent blacks wlfile the blacks total 10 percent of the U.S. population, and there is a matdistribution of hispan- ic~ among the existing registries.. The Board last year gave concept approval to the addition of a new registry, to be located in an area where nm, nbers of hispanics aiad blacks would lift the total of those groups to their proportionate levels and would bring in more urban area hispanics. New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and some areas of Texas were mentioned as possibilities. The Board also had called for a new committee to conduct a coordinated review of SEER registrie~ to determine costs in a uniform way~ to identify areas in which savings might be made, and to develop a uniform set of cost accounting procedures. Among that committee's recommendations was that a ceiling of $10 million a year be placed o~a the program, and the Board concurred. Ear! Pollack, chief of the Biometry Branch in DCCP's Field Studies & Statistics Program, told the Board at its recent meeting that it appears now a new regis~5,.would push the annual cost of SEER Over the $10 minion ce.il.ing despite an estimated $500,000 cost reduction brought about by efficiencies resulting from the two reviews. It will take "at .least $500,000 more" to get a new registry into operation, Pollack said, although he anticipates that furthur savings will be made. Board member Gilbert Omenn asked if any con- sideration had been given to phasing out one of the smaller existing registries, "one with limited value." The smaller ones "are not of/imited value," Pol- Iack stud. "They still operate effecti~'ely. The sinai-. lest, Hawaii, includes import~int population groups. With San Francisco, it gives us a large percentage of ~ur Chinese population, much of our Filipino popu- hation, and all of our Hawaiians: Utah has the large Mormon population, and New Mexico has a large his- .panic and American Indian population." Omenn noted that existingSEER registries in Puerto Pdco and Neff Mexico bring in large numbers of hispamcs, wt-file those in Atlanta and Detroit cover large black populations. "Yes, but those numbers are relatively small,"' Pollack said. And, although there are 300,000 hispan- ics in New Mexico, "we have a hard time discussing that with Mexican groups, giving New Mexicorep- • resentation of all U.S. hispanics." "'By no means can you consider New Mexico res- idents with Spanish surnames representative of the U.S. Mexican population," Board member William Haenszel said, DCCP Director Richard Adamson said that lifting the ceiling wouldbe accomplished by reprogramming the extra $500,000 from elsewhere in the Field Studies & Statistics budget. Board membrr Pelayo Correa, supported by Carl Shy, offered a motion removing the limit entirely. "'The concept of putting any cap on the program is bothersome," Shy said. However, Board Chairman Peter Magee said, "Those who object to caps can save that policy issue for later." Correa agreed to changing his motion to the $500,000 addition, and it passed unanimously. DCCP is preparing a reques~ for proposal, and the new registry will be selected competiti.vely. The SEER cost study attempted to determine why costs per newly diagnosed case per year ranged from $70 to $255 among the 10 registries. Members of the cost study committee were Frank Starmer, professor of computer science at Duke Univ. and chairman of NCI's Biometry & Epidemiology Contract Review Committee; Marie Swanson, direc- tor of the cancer registry at the Michigan Cancer Foundation; Calvin Zippin, professor of epidemiolo- gy at the Univ. of California (San Francisco); Lilia O'Connor, accountant and former chief of abstract- ing and coding at the California Tumor Registry; Nancy McGinness, an NIH CPA and auditor on many SEER contracts; John Young, chief of the Demo- graphic Analysis Section ofNCI's Biometry Branch and SEER project officer; and Pollack. Following are the committee's recommendations: "The basic issues confronting the survey team that have implications for cost of the SEER operations • were: I) What changes should be made in each regis- try in order to improve the efficiency of the opera- tion, and at the same time reduce costs? 2) What overall procedures should be introduced for all regis- tries to establish a :'miform way of specifying budgets and monitoring costs on an ongoing basis? The survey team considered these questions as they analyzed the data.., in order to arrive at a series of specific rec- ommendations that are presented below;, first for the individual registries and finally for the overall opera- tion of the SEER Program. "San Francisco: In terms of personnel, this registry was relatively high in full time equivalents for editing, T~e P_.at~=er- Let;l;er- . P-~ 2 / Oct. 22, 1982

quality control, data'processing, da'ta entry and data retrieval. Its computer costs were among the highest in the SEER Program. The following is a specific .set of recommendations: "l. Computer programs for adding death certific- ate only cases to the registry should be built into the computer system. "2. The two stage procedure now used for ab- stracting information from medical records should be .combined into a single operation. "'3. Com.puter storage costs must be reduced as soon as possible. This could result in a reduction of $25,000 annually. "4. Eliminate two full time equivalents or a com- parable amount of mo~ey in-computer costs. "5. For the 1983-84 contract year, the registry must be held to its estimate of $10,500 per month for computer costs. "Connecticut: The recommendations made here will pertain to two contracts-that with Yale Univ. and that with the Connecticut State Dept..of Health Services: "1. Steps must be taken immediately to improve communcation between the Connecticut Cancer Epidemiology Unit (CCEU) at Yale and the Connec- ticut Tumor Registry since the CCEU is supposed to be functioning as though it were the research com- ponent of the registry. The contract proposals and the operations of these two units should reflect that fact. "2. The staff of the CCEU must be reduced and in particu!ar the position for the full time adminis- trator cannot be justified. "3. The CCEU and the Dept. of Health Services need to work together to improve the quality of the data. This includes using the data in sufficient detail to identify problems that need corrections. "Since the visit by the site team, these two con- tracts have come up for renegotiation, These recom- mendations were taken into account in the negotia- tmns and it is expected that the staff reductions will have taken place by the time the negotiations are completed. Because of an increase in the indirect cost rate at Y. ale, this will not result in a reduction in cost. "Detroit: No recommendations were made for Detroit other than that the staff be reduced by three full time equivalents. This has already been d0nd by the elimination of full time positions in administra- tion, abstracting, and followup. By the end of calen- dar year 1982, the gtaff will be reduced by two more full time personnel in the area of data processing. "Hawaii: The entire Hawaii registry operation was a nightmare. The number of forms used was astro- nomica.1, the complexity of the basic abstract form was unbelievable and no one individual knew the total operation of the registry. Furthermore, Hawaii was among the highest in the number of full time equivalents per 1,000 admissions in the area of qua!- ity control, research, and administration. The follow- ing specific recommendations were made: "l. The registry must immediately take steps to improve the procedures for its basic operation. This includes reducing the number of forms, simplifying the basic abstract form So that it can be used easily for data processing, and improve the communication among those carrying out the various registry, func- tions so that it is clear to the staff how the. registry is supposed to .operate. !'2. Reduce the staff for quality control by one - half FTE. "3. Reduce research staff by moving .8 FTE for secretary to administration and removing .8 FTE sys- tems analyst. This leaves the amount of staff devoted to administration relatively high, but on the other hand Hawaii has an extremely low overhead rate. "Iowa: Staff'mg for the Iowa registry is about at the level of the SEER average for almost ever3., categ- Ory. Therefore, the only recommendation is to elim- inate one.position for an assistant director that was vacated when the incumbent was promo{ed to direc- tor of the registry. "New Mexico: New Mexico has the highest numb- er of full time equivalent personnel per 1,000 admis- sions f6r each of the registry functions and overall their ratio was over twice that of the next hagliest registry. Thus, it was clear that the registry is over- staffed but it was not possible to identify how the operation of the registry should be modified to bring the staffing more into line with that of the other reg- istries, Therefore, the recommendations are as lows: "1. Eliminate most of the data items from the ab- stract form that are not required by SEER. "2. Change the registry procedures such that by the end of the next contract year the annualized cost for the New Mexico SEER cohtract gSll be about one half its current level. "'Seattle: The registry, operation is efficient and effective and no recommendations for change are proposed. "Utah: The following recommendations are made: "i. Reduce one half FTE for data entry.. "2. Remove .65 FTE for the secretary in the ad- ministrative category. "Atlanta: The following recommendations are made: "1. No change in personnel is recommended. "2. Some of the non-SEER data elements should be removed from the abstract form. "3. Because the indirect cost rate of 50 per.cent ~s the second b_ighest in the SEER Program. it is recom- mended that some way be found to reduce this cost. "Puerto Rico: No reductions in staff were recom- mended. The extent of active followup must be im- proved substantially. We analyzed th.e repoyt of the committee that recommended the purchase of a Data The I~ance~ Lette~ r.'.7"T'F:;t

General computer for the registry and essentially con- cuffed in the decision. We also recommended the transfer of a systems analyst position to the SEER contract to optimize the use of thecomputer." RCB SHAKEUP: GRAALMAN "'DETAILED" TO NEW JOB, TWO SECTIONS EI~IMINATED NCI's Research Contracts Branch has been reorgan- ized followqng the "detailing" of Branch Chief James Graalman to a different assignment, a step which has prompted him tO file a grievance with NCI manage- ment. -- Graalman now is on "special assignment" involving training and policy within the branch. Robert Namo- vicz, NCI deputy executive officer, is acting branch chief. David Keefer remains as deputy chief of the "branch. Graalman was appointed branch chief in 1975 by then NCI director Frank Rauscher, coming to the In- stitute from N~%SA. The reorganization resulted in reducing the number of sections frDm fiv~ to three, coinciding with the impending retirement of George Summer~, chief of the Treatment Contracts Section, and departure of Daniel Longen, chief of the Carcinogenesis Contracts Section. Summers plans to retire in March Or April of 1983, and has moved to the office of Carl Fretts, director of the NIH Div. of Contracts & Grants. Longen i~ leaving to join the Indian Health Service where he will head the district office of procurement in Billings. Montana. The Biology & Diagnosis and Control & Rehabil- itation sections have been combined into a Control & P~:evention Section. It handles contracts for the INv. of Cancer Biology & Diagnosis, the Div. of Resources, -Centers & Cdmmunity Activities, and the Office of Director. Hugh Mahanes, who was chief of the Biolo- gy & Diagnosis section, heads the new section. Gary Kelley, who was chief of the Control & Re- habiIitation Section, has replaced Summers as chief of the Treatment Section. This section will continue ' to handle contracts for the Div. of Cancer Treatment. The Carcinogenesis Section has been combined with the Biological Carcinogenesis & Field Studies Section, headed by .Charles Fafard, who is chief of the new combined Cause & Prevention Section. It is responsible for Div. of Cancer Cause & Prevention COrl ira cts. Addresses and phone numbers of the sectior~s in the new alignment are: -Cause & Prevention Contracts Sectib~, Blair Bldg. Rm. 114A, Chai'les Fafard, chief, 301-427- 8888. -Control & Prevention Contracts Section, Blair Bldg. Rm. 2A07A, Hugh Mahanes, chief, 301-42% 85'45. -Treatment Contracts Section, BLair Bldg. Rm. 228B, Gary Kelley, chief, 301-427-8"237. Address of the Blair Building is 8300 C01esville Rd., Silver Spring, Md.. 20910. Namovicz and Keefer may be reached at 301-427- 8810. GAO PROBE OF NC| INTRAMURAL PROGRAM: NO PROBLEMS, NO REPORT, HAWKINS MUM The General Accounting Office was established by Congress as its "watchdog" over the Executive Branch. Individual senators and congressmen request investigations of particular agencies when they have -. - reason to feel a problem exists (and, sometimes, when they recognize an opportunity for some media coverage). GAO'also initiates investigations on its own. ----- It is a rare instance when the GAO sleuths cannot find something wrong, or come up with some recom- mendations for improvements, especially when a con- gressman has his knife sharpened and is anxious to call in the TV cameras. NCIhas been one of the fa- vorite targets of such congressionally inspired probes in recent years. Sen. Paula Hawkin~ last year asked GAO to inves- tigate the administration, operations and accompkish- merits of NCI's intramural program. Two investiga- tors spent months looking at every aspect of NCI's intramural research, a~.d guess what? They couldn't find anything wrong. When GAO does come up with some Scandal or evidence of inefficiencies or poor administration, it publishes booklets describing the wrongdoings in de- tail, and the lucky legislator who initiated that inves- tigation produces stacks of press r, eleases, all of ~:hich are widely distributed. But when the investigation finds that an agency is running smoothly and doing its job well, the world almost never hears about it. GAO's policy is that it will not make a report if nO action is required of the agency it has investigated. So far, nothing has come out of Hawkins' office about the investigation. NCI Director Vincent DeVita, elated by the GAO's conclusion, distributed a memo describing the inves- tigation and its findings as-related in a briefing by GAO of NCI executives and staff members of Hawk- ins' Subcommittee on Investigatidns 8: General Over- sight: . The review done by GAO was comprehensive ~nd included the review of numerous documents and interview~, with not onl>' member~ of immediate staff of the Office of the DirectoL NCI, but a broad spectrum of the personnel who cornpnse our intramural program in the Div. of CancerBioiog? &Diagnosts. the Div. of Cancer Cause & Prevention, and the D~. of Cance~ Treaiment. Investi~tors from GAO attended and learned hand of the site visit process used by our intramural labs and branches and were also in attendance a[ meetin~ of out major advisory councils, including the National Cance~ Advisory tMard, the President's Cancer Panel and the ,-hvisional boards The Cancer Letter Pa~e 4 / Oct. 22, 1982 C:"!"F;-:: 1"'11",.1

0716062 of scientific counselors. For comparison, although not at the same level of detail, the investigators also reviewed the opera- tlons of ~he Veterans Admmislration and the Dept. of the Army's intramural program as well as eight of the nine other NIH intramural programs. The major findings of this stud>' are as follows: I. The application of uniforndty in the management of the intramural programs of the National Cancer institute in recent years has strengthened the overall program. GAO was particu~ Larly impressed with the comprehensive site visit process we have established which ~ncludes aperiodic review by the div- isional board of scientific counselors through the use of site visit teams, of each laboratory's scientific achievements and future plansT, as well as the laboratory's total resources. The documents prepared inadvanced for site visitors and the de- tailed discussion of budget and the actions resulting from the site vicits gave .assurance to the investigators the advice given bv our boards was soundly based, and is being heeded. The ~AO also [isted the consolidation of our intramural operations and an overall change of direction to a more comprehensive program as substantial improvements.. 2. The GAO noted the variances in the peer review systems of NIH intramural programs seemed unnecessary and recom- mended to the subcommittee that the management of the other institutes be reviewed so the NCI review would be one of comparison and not in isolation. 3. Our stringent system of evaluating our employees, their promotion and, when appropriate(turnover ~atisfied this • group of investigators thai top level, dedicated people predom- • inate in the intramural programs of NCl. 4. GAO reached no conclucion ivith regard to the appro- priate ratio 6f expenditures that ~ould be made when con- sidering the NCI intramural and extramural program. GAO did note the NCI intramural program continues to comprise 15- 18 percent of the overall NCI budget. In this regard, GAO also recommended that the NIH re-examine the formulas upon which each Institute's management fund assessment is calcu- Lated. They noted tt~t NIH has responded to this recommen- dation and has established a committee to address this issue. 5. The investigators found it difficult to measure the true impact of increasing or decreasing funds to an intramural pro- gram. 6. GAO expressed concern that the f'mancial gains to the scientists in ttie privafe sector would erode the NCI and NIH of its best scientists. 7. The investigators did not think it possible for them to evaluate Cost of research in a fashion that could predict ultim- ate value or accomplishment. Under these circumstances, these are indeed high marks t~or the intramural program, particularly one as large and complex ~h~ ours. COMMERCE DEPT, SOCKS IT TO NCI FOR PAID CANCERGRAM SUBSCRIPTIONS Cancergrar~s, the monthly ~urrent awareness bul- letins, containing abstract~ of recently published articles selected from 1,300 biomedical journals, a~'e published by NCI's International Cancer Research Data Bank. The total cost to NCI is $870,000 a year. Abstracts are selected and categorized by research- ers active in the field and channeled into 66 different monthly Cancergrams. Complimentary subscriptions to two Cancergrams are offered on a quid pro .club . basis to principal investigators who submit descrip- tions of their ongoing research projects or clinical protocols to the ICRDB Program. Caneergrams also may be purchased at a price of $30 for domestic and $45 foreign, per year, per title. The National Technical Information Service, an agency of the Dept. of Commerce, handles publica- tion and distribution of Cancergrams. NTIS is the sole entity authorized by Congress to publish and distribute scientific and technical information com- piled by the government. NTIS by law must collect enough money for its services to break even, either from sales to the public or from sponsoring agencies. The agency presently_ charges NCI $7.I9 ($21.84 foreignt for each of the 24,163 co'mplimentary Cancergram subscriptions it is distributing, which cover~ printing, mailing and handling costs. So the $30 a U.S. subscriber pays t6 NTIS for a Cancergram should pay the full cost of his subscrip- tion and relieve NCI of that burden, right? Wrong. For each Of the 2,196 paid Cancert~ram subscriptions, NCI continues to pay NTIS $7.19 or $2i.84 because NTIS insists, incredibly, that the extra $30 is "totally consumed" by the cost of main- raining the subscription. "These charges to subscri- bers cover only order processing, subscr'/ptidn file maintenance, computer operations, aria accounting maintenanc~e," Joseph Caponio, acting director of NTIS, said in a letter to John Schneider, ICRDB director. Caponio even said that the 530 cost was "less than full cost recovery for NTIS, in keeping with our pol- icy to keep prices as low as possible for documents of a more 'humanitarian' nature." A survey of publishers in the private sector would find that NTIS is charging five times more for sub- scription maintenance than iI should cost. The horrendous overcharge became a factor when the Reagan Administration put pressure on federal agencies to recover costs of publications distrit~uted to the public. ICRDB was required to develop cost and income figures for converting Cancergrams to en- tirely paid subscriptions or to reducing the number complimentary subscriptions by half. Because of NTIS' funny figures, the government (theoretically) would not realize any reduction in the cost of producing and distributing Cancergrams if tiae entire list of 24,163 free subscriptions was converted to paid. What's more, the 5810,000 such a conversion would cost the scientific community probabl.v ~ ouid come out of research funds, and most probably funds supplied by NCI to grantees. When the dilemma was presented to the National Cancer Advisory Board Committee for Rev~e~ of Contracts & Budget of the Office of Director. com- mittee members quickly voted to maintain the quo. The committee gave concept approval to the re~ competition dan 1CRDB contract and to continua- The I.~ancer" Letter` Vol. 8 No. 4"I / Page 5 C:'T'R MI'..I

H I 0716063 r_ion Of an intra-agency agreement in support of ICRDB. "'The ICRDB has done more good for the United States with other countries than the Dept. of De- fense or any other agency," committee member Rose Kustmer said in supporting the concepts. The contract being recompeted, for computer sup- port for cancer information dissemination, currently B held by IIT Research Institute. It will expire in June, 1984. ICRDB staff estimated a four year re- newaI would cost almost $3 million, starting at $679,000 for the-first year. Staff description of the project: This project provide~ computer processing services re- quired for major products and services of the ICRDB Program, mctudmg computer steps required for database builrling/up- dating, regeneration and for photocomposition of ICRDB pub- Li~tions. Most of the complex and extensive data processing, error checking, and record keeping operations }elated to input of abstracts to the ICRDB databases (previously carried by other contractors) will be transferred to this contract. This si~ificant shift toward increased centralization of data proc- essing"MIl result in better quality control and significantly re- duce computer related costs for contractors that screen and prepare abstracts for ICRDB databses. Major computer ser~- ices activities Of this contract are: • 1) Convert input dala received from other contractors into the format required for entry into the PDQ, Cancerexpress and Caneertit databases; 2) Use computer program~ to check errors (including.spelling errors) in the citation, text, and index terms of input records; 3) Identify and correct errors in the Cancertit. Cancerexpress and PDQ update tapes and in the annual regeneration of Cancerlit; 4) Search input tapes for data needed to prepare 66 monthly current, awareness bullet- ins called Cancergrams; 5) Interact with Cancer Information D~emination &,Analysis (CIDAC) staff and ICRDB staff to select and organize abstracts for each Cancergram, for literat- ttre review publications called Oncology Over,clews, and for special publications, and prepare tapes needed for pho!ocom- position of these publications: 6) Gather, process, reformat, tabulate and print other data (some 125 separate special ac- trctr.ies each year) needed for the ICRDB Program, including operation, contract monitoring, report preparation, optimiza- tion of databases and publications, distribution of publica- ttorts and promou0nal materials, interaction wzth users of ICRDB services. The agreement with the National Library of Med- icine, costing $340,000 a year, assists ICRDB in building, updating, and regenerating online databases created by the program. The committee approved a concept it had tabled last May for a contract to conduct a national survey ofpubiic knowledge, attitudes, and behavior related to cancer. The project, by the Office of Cancer Com- munications, would cost an estimated total of $277,- 000; but only $15,000 of that would come from NCI. T'ne balance would be taken from depa~mental funds coting:ted from all HHS agencies. Thomas Kean, project officer, said the purpose of the su~ey is to "obtain a data base which will permit us to effectively plan our future information and communication strategies; examine our existing com, munications programs and their basic assumptions, objectives and content in light of the study findings: have a baseline against which ~o measure progress in public understanding in the' future; and assist infor- .mat.ion and communication, program planners and evaluators throughout the country by widely dis- .seminating the results." The committee had tabled the project previously when members questioned whether the proposed pri- mary sample size of 2,000 interviews was sufficient; whether telephone interviews, as proposed, was an acceptable method to conduct the survey; and whether media coverage of cancer would affect re- suits of the study. Kean presented figures demonstrating that a 2,000 sample was adequate, andreferred to various studies CONCEPT REVIEW FIGURES ARE ESTIMATES ONLY; RFPs, RFA~ NOT YET AVAI LABLE The dollar estimates listed with each concept re- view brought before the various boards of scientific counselors are not intended to represent maxin~um or exact amounts which will be spent on those proj- ects. They are intended only as guides for board members to help in determining the value of the proj- ects in relation to resources available to the entire program or division. Responses should be based on the workscope and description of goals and methods included in the RFPs (contracts) and RE'As (grantsl. Availability of RFPs and RFAs will be announced when the Institute is ready to release them. showing that telephone surveys could be accurate and effective. He agreed that media coverage might affect the results but at_reded that interpretation of results could take that into account. The committee voted first to approve the concept, and'then to recommend proc.eeding with it even if the HHS Set aside money is not available. Gale Kat- terhagen cast the only vote against approval, saying, "I'm not convinced that spending $275,000 of public. money is going to give us any idea how to change attitudes." "It won't do ~hat, but it wilitell Us where we are today, and how far we need to go tomorrow,'" Kean said. Description of the project: This project is a national survey to determine: (l) current levels of public knowledge, attitudes, and beha~5or related to cancer; (2) variations in these levels between odpulauon sub- groups (e.g., minorities, blue-collar workers):'(3) those com- munication Channels most frequently used channelsmost fro- - quently used by the public for cancer relatec informauon and the degree of credibility attributed to each; (4) current myths and misconceptions about cancer; (5) the pubhc's percemion of the need for cancer information and its relanve impo~'tan'ce in .terms of other issues in their lives; and (6) public percep- taons of the cancer "establishment" and the degree of prog- res~ being made in solving the cancer problem. Oct. 22, 1982 C:'T'|::-": 1""11",.1

H 1 0716064 Tkis study is a three part project. Phase 1 (already com- pleted) consisted of an in depth literature review and assess- ment and l o focus group interview with various population subgroups, out of welch the major hypotheses to be tested have been defined. This concept review is for phase 2 (instru- ment design and pretesting) and phase 3 (the actual field sur- vey using a national probability sample). This sutwey is modeled on the nationa} survey of public knowledge, attitudes and behavior relat*d to breast cancer that was completed in 1981. It will prgvide scientifically valid and reliable data against which to examine the objectives of the NCP's current information/education programs and with which to plan over- all strategy and futuredirections for such programs through the next thxee to five years. DCCP BOARD DEFERS TWO CONCEPT APPROVALS, OKAYS 10 SOLE SOURCES Two projects proposed by NCI's Div. of Cancer Cause & Prevention submitted to the division's Board of Scientific Counselors were deferred by the Board at its recent meeting. The Board refused concept approval at this time for a competitive RFP to obtain particulate materials for respiratory carcinogenesis. The contract would support research in the Laboratory of Experimental Pathology, for two years at an estimated cost of $75,000 a year. The Board deferred f'mal action to its February meeting, with the suggestion that the - contract should be written to support extramural in- vestigators as well as the NCI lab. Also deferred was concept approval of a compet- itive contract for a case control study of the relation- ship between chromosomal alterations and o~cupa- tionally related carcinogenesis. Board members said the staff proposal needed "more focus" and asked that it be rewritten and submitted in February. The Board gave concept approval to seven new projects to be suported through noncompeting con- tracts or interagency agreements and to the noncom- • petiti~e renewal of three others. The new procure- ments are: "Pathology review for brain tumor studies in pet- rochemical areas, $75,000 a year, two years, with existing collaborators in an ongoing NCI study in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Louisiaria and Texas. . -Hepatitis B virus and liver cancer in Array veter- ans of WWII, $150,000 a year, four years, with.the National Academy of Sciences. -International colloquium on hexachlorabenzene, $25,000, one year, with the Environmental Protec- tion Agency and International Agency for Research on Cancer. -Dermal absorption and metabolism of azo com- pounds, $150,000, one year, with the Dept. of Energy, Lawrence Li~ermore Laboratory and Food & Drug Administration. --Development and use of a human teratoma cell cultur6 system for the prescreening of environmental chemicals which may initiate or promote" tumor for- mation, $120,995, one year, with EPA and Argonne National Laboratory. Staff had asked for a two year program but Board members reduced it to one with the suggestion that it needs to be determined if this model is useable for detection of environmen chemicals. -Development of a predictive model for fiber c~r- cinogenicity, $125,000, one year, with the Univ. of Minnesota. • -Cytogenetic assays and analysis of occupational- ly exposed workers, 5150,000 a year, two years, with the Dept. of Energy. Noncompetitive renev,;als approved were: -Etiologic studies of cancer in New Jersey, 5600.- 000; one year, New Jersey Dept. of Health. -Laboratory support for processing and storage of biological specimens from persons at high risk of cancer, $280,000 first year, five years, with Biotech Research Laboratories Inc. -Epidemiologic study of population previ'ously exposed to hexachlorobenzene, $218,000, one year, Univ. of Wisconsin. The Board's concept approvals for competitive new projects and p.rocurements were reported in The Cancer Letter Oct. 15. FOUR NEW PROGRAM. ANNOUNCEMENTS IN BRMP PRECLINICAL TRIALS ISSUED NCI's Div. of Cancer Treatment has issued four new program announcements, seeking to expand its support of clinical treatment research in the Biologic. al Response Modifiers Program through investigator initiated (R01 ) grants. Applications will be accepted in accordance with the usual NIH receipt dates for new applications with deadlines of March I, July 1, and Nov. 1. They wil-I be reyiewed by NIH study sections for scientific and technical merit, and by the National Cancer Advisor, Board for program relevance. Applications should be submitted on form PHS 398, which is available in the grants and contracts business office at most academic and research institutions, or from the NIH Div. of Re- search Grants. Applications and a brief covering letter sho~Jrd be sent to the Application Receipt Office, Div. of Re- search Grants, N1H, Westwood Bldg. Rm. 240. Beth- esda, Md. 20205. A copy of the cpvering letter should be sent to Dr. Cedric W. Long. Program Direc- tor-for Preclinical Trials, BRB, BRMP, Bldg. 421 Rm.. 1, Frederick Cancer Research Facility, .Frederick. Md. 21701. The new announcements are: Use of growth factors, maturation factors and anti-growth factors in animal tumor models The program is seeking applications for research grants Concerned with the therapeutic effects of growth factors, maturation factors, and monoc.lonal antibody to growth factors on the growth and metas- tasis of cancer in animal tumor models. In making The Gancer" Let;t;er" Vol. 8 No. 41 / Page 7

0716065 these program announcements, it is not the intent of NCI to make or imply any delimitation related to biological response modifiers research, but rather to stimulate investig~tor initiated research in biological response modifiers. Development of genetically engineered cell products The program is seeking applications for research grants concerned With the development of genetically eaTgineered cell products for therapeutic application ~s biologicaI response modifiers. This announcement ~5Ji support diverse approaches into the use of genet- ic engineering to ~anspose genes coding for biological response modifiers such as interferons, lymphokines, growth factors and other gene products into micro- bial organisms for large scale production, isolation, purification and characterization of these factors for therapeutic application as biological response mod- ifiers. Use of tumor associated antigens as immunogens Tla.e. program is seeking applications for research grants concerned with the development of methods ofirnmurtiz.ation that evoke effective in vivo anti- tumor immunity using purified tumor associated an- tigens as immunogens. Isolation of tumor associated ~ntigens is now possible using mdnoclonal antibodies. There is considerable uncertainty, however, how best to administer purified antigens in vivo to evoke effec- tive antitumor immunity. Certain antigens may fac- ilitate and others may inhibit tumorgrowth and met- astases. The proposed studies should investigate this is~sue in both normal and tumor bearing animals using purified antigens as therapeutic agents. Preference will be given to nonviral tumor asSo- ciated antigens on recently derived spontaneous or chemically induced fully syngeneic tumors although consideration will be given to viral coded tumor an- tigens and even normal cell surface alloantigens as model antigens. The use of various immunization schedules and adjuvants in therapy models with de- tailed monitoring of the host cellular and immune re- sponses vdll be ~r~quiredl These studies must be directed toward optimizing the therapeutic effects of thes~ antigens in vivo as demonstrated by protection studies, against subsequent tumor growth. -Proposals to investigate monoclonal antibody purified tumor associated antigens as therapeutic re- agents in man may also be submitted. Development of cell lines producing Iy~mphokines and cytokines The program is seeking applications for research grants concerned with the development of cell fines producing lymphokines and cyt0kines with ther- apautic effects as biological response moditqer~. This announcement Will encourage research in the develop- ment of such cell lines and the development of meth- ods to isolate, purify and characterize the therapeutic potentia! of the various products of these cell lines in appropriate test systems. These products may have a potential longterm usefulness in the treatment of cancer and/or in the alteri~tion of biological responses :in the course of cancer. RFPs AVAI LAB LE Requests for propose/described here pertain to con rracr~ planned for award by the Nadonal Cancer Institute unles~ otherwise no~ed. Write to the Contracting Officer or Contract Specialist for copies of ~he RFP, citing l~e R FP number. /isting~ will show the phone number of the Contacting Officer or Contract Specialist who v~ll re.~oond to question~. Addre~ requests for NCI RFPs to the individual named, the Blair Building room number shown, Nadonal Cancer Institute, 8300 Colesvil/e R ~, Silver Spring, Md. 20910. R FP announce-. ments from other agencies reported here will include the com- plete mailing addre~ at ~he end of each. R FP NCI-CP-FS-31009-53 Title: Biomedical computing services iJz support of the Clinical andDiaghostic Trials Section Deadline: Dec. 20 NCI has a requirement for computer related sup- port services to the Clinical & Diagnostic Trials Sec- tion, Biometry Branch, Field Studies & Statistics Program. The purpose of this request for proposal is to initiate the recompetition for computer support services which include the analysis of large sets of medical data often involving complex statistical analysis£ and requires the contractor to use sophistic- ated data handling and analytic techniques. Prospective contractors must have experience and . expertise in all phases of software sere'ices ~n support of biomedical research activities. The contractor must have or be willing to establish, at the time of submis- sion of a proposal, permanent established offices wit_h.i_n 35 miles of the NIH off Campus Landow Build- ing, 7910 Woodmont Ave., Bethesda Md. 20205. In accordance v~qth Section 15 of the Small Busin- ess Act, it is hereby determined that 100 percent of this procurement will be a small business set aside. In order to qualify as a small business for this 'pro- curement, a prospective contractor's annual receipts for its preceding three fiscal years musi not ex,ceed $4 million, Contract Specialist: Eileen Webster RCB, Blair Bldg, Rrn. 122 301-427-8888 .. The Ctancer-Letle~- _Editor Jerry D. Boyd F'=DltstleO (orI'~'-elght times a year by The CancE, r Letter, Inc.. P.O. Box 2370. Reslon, Virginia 22~0. AI~ pubhsher of The Chni~{ ~ncer