The Cancer Centers Program of the NCI supports major academic and research institutions throughout the United States to sustain broad based, coordinated, interdisciplinary programs in cancer research.  These institutions are characterized by scientific excellence and capability to integrate a diversity of research approaches to focus on the problem of cancer.  The NCI and its Cancer Centers Program are dedicated to the advancement of cancer research to ultimately impact on the reduction of cancer incidence, morbidity, and mortality.

Requests from eligible institutions for cancer center support are subjected to a competitive peer review process that evaluates and ranks applications according to scientific merit.  Successful applicants are awarded a P30 Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) to fund the scientific infrastructure of the cancer center, including such elements as scientific leadership and administration; research resources that give ready access to the state-of-the art technologies; and flexible funds that help the center pursue its planned objectives and take immediate advantage of new research opportunities.  The CCSG does not support individual research projects; rather, such projects are funded through individual R01s and other competitive, externally peer-reviewed grants awarded to cancer center investigators.

Each institution receiving a CCSG award is recognized as an NCI-designated Cancer Center.  There are two types of designations: Cancer centers have a scientific agenda that is primarily focused on basic, population sciences, or clinical research, or any two of the three components. Comprehensive cancer centers integrate research activities across three major areas: laboratory, clinical and population-based research. Although the CCSG is mainly limited to support of research infrastructure, a majority of centers also provide clinical care and service for cancer patients.  In addition, comprehensive cancer centers have extensive ancillary cancer-related activities such as outreach, education and information dissemination.  Through all of these activities combined, cancer centers play an important role in their communities and regions and serve to influence standards of cancer prevention and treatment.  Importantly, all NCI-designated Cancer Centers make significant contributions to advances in cancer research that are key to understanding, preventing, and treating this disease.