Activities of the Carcinogenesis Health Effects Innovation Program
Approximately one in three people will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lifetime. Despite tremendous progress in screening and treatment methods, cancer is still the second most common cause of death in the United States and the leading health concern of the American public.
The Carcinogenicity Health Effects Innovation Program (CarciHEI) is a program within the NIEHS Division of NTP. The CarciHEI is developing innovative approaches to quickly and efficiently assess the cancer risk posed by environmental exposures to help identify and mitigate the factors contributing to these increases. The program’s goal is to identify early molecular biomarkers of preneoplasia and neoplasia and develop in vitro screening assays that can predict a cancer hazard.
The CarciHEI is collaborating with the Murtha Cancer Center at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and the DoD Serum Repository to identify cohorts of service members diagnosed with cancer believed to be related to environmental exposures. Through an interagency agreement with the DOE Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the CarciHEI will conduct proteomic analysis of serum samples collected every 2 years from these service members with the hope of identifying biomarkers of preneoplastic and early neoplastic events that contribute to the subsequent development of cancer.