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The Cancer Imaging Program (CIP) is one of four Programs in the NCI Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD) of the National Cancer Institute.  CIP fosters advances in in vivo medical imaging sciences through support of basic and applied research in cancer imaging as well as promotion of imaging in clinical trials in order to gain greater understanding of the pathways of cancer biology for the benefit of cancer patients and people at cancer risk.

Mission

The mission of the Cancer Imaging Program, National Cancer Institute, is to promote and support:

  • Cancer-related basic, translational and clinical research in imaging sciences and technology, and
  • Integration and application of these imaging discoveries and developments to the understanding of cancer biology and to the clinical management of cancer and cancer risk.

CIP Vision and Goals

Cancer Imaging: visualize the problem and direct the solution.

  1. Infrastructure and programs to support the discovery and development of molecular imaging for cancer care and understanding of cancer biology.
  2. A set of imaging methods validated as cancer biomarkers, some of which are surrogate endpoints.
  3. Infrastructure and programs to support the discovery, development and delivery of image-dependent interventions for cancer and pre-cancer.
  4. An implemented infrastructure based on standardized models for the design and conduct of clinical trials of, or using, imaging and image-guided interventions.
  5. Accelerated development and delivery of integrated imaging systems and methods for cancer care and research.
  6. Critical role in NIH and NCI activities in emerging technologies, such as nanotechnology, proteomics, and high-throughput screening technologies.
  7. An implemented informatics infrastructure to optimize the value of cancer imaging data.
  8. A strategy of imaging science and methods to detect, treat and monitor response to therapy in pre-cancer.