National Cancer Institute - NCI Division of Cancer Treatment and ...

C A N C E R D I A G N O S I S P R O G R A M
The Cancer Diagnosis Program strives to improve the
diagnosis and assessment of cancer by effectively moving
new scientific advances into clinical practice.
The Cancer Diagnosis Program (CDP)
strives to improve the diagnosis and
assessment of cancer by effectively
moving new scientific advances into
clinical practice. The program stimulates,
coordinates, and funds resources and
research on diagnostics and improved
technologies to better characterize cancers
in order to develop information that can
aid cancer patients and their physicians in
clinical decision-making.
CDP supports research at medical centers,
hospitals, businesses, and universities
throughout the United States, Canada,
and other countries.
CDP is divided into three branches:
■ Diagnostic Biomarkers and Technology
Branch
■ Resources Development Branch
■ Diagnostics Evaluation Branch
CDP, often in cooperation with other programs
of the National Cancer Institute
(NCI), offers a range of initiatives that
encourage and support research in cancer
diagnostics and related development
of technology and specimen resources.
CDP administered approximately 400
funded grants in 2005.
O V E R V I E W
Dr. Sheila Taube, Associate Director
Sheila Taube, Ph.D., has served as Associate Director of the
DCTD Cancer Diagnosis Program (CDP) since 1997. Under
Dr. Taube’s leadership, CDP has launched the Program for
the Assessment of Clinical Cancer Tests (PACCT), which is
designed to ensure efficient and effective translation of
new knowledge and technology related to cancer diagnosis
into clinical practice. The first prospective trial of a molecular
signature for risk of recurrence in early stage breast cancer,
the TAILORx trial, was developed as part of PACCT and
opened in 2006.
Prior to serving as Associate Director of CDP, Dr. Taube was program director for
biochemistry and then Chief of the NCI Cancer Diagnosis Branch, the predecessor of
the Cancer Diagnosis Program. In the Cancer Diagnosis Branch, Dr. Taube was instrumental
in developing programs to use molecular technologies for cancer diagnosis.
Dr. Taube serves on the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Expert Panel to
develop practice guidelines for the use of tumor markers for breast and colorectal
cancer. She also contributed to a seminal paper in the Journal of the National Cancer
Institute on the methodology of evaluating prognostic markers and co-edited a
special issue of Seminars in Oncology devoted to tumor marker development.
Dr. Taube collaborated with the Receptor and Biomarkers Group of the European
Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) to launch the biannual
series of international meetings called “Molecular Markers for Cancer: From Discovery
to Clinical Practice.” In 2004, Dr. Taube and colleagues developed the syllabus for a
short course for industry, “From Hypothesis to Product: An EORTC-NCI Diagnostics
Development Tutorial.” In 2005, Dr. Taube and colleagues published three separate
articles about PACCT and personalized medicine.
Dr. Taube received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Brandeis University and
her doctorate in microbiology from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Following postdoctoral work at Yale University, she joined the faculty of the University
of Connecticut Medical School, where she used a viral system to investigate cell
membrane protein processing.
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