National Cancer Institute

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is either one of the most respected and comprehensive sources of information on cancer treatments, or the control nexus of the cancer industry, depending on who you believe.

It's part of the National Institutes for Health (NIH), a US Government agency, and is tasked with coordinating the US National Cancer Program, an umbrella program that draws research, training and health information around the subject of cancer.

It was established in 1937 and made an operating division of NIH in 1944. A survey in 1995 suggested that the NCI's sponsorship of investigational new drugs research was responsible for two thirds of all new cancer treatments approved by the FDA.