The biennial World Cancer Congress, organized by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), is the leading international conference on cancer control, bringing together researchers, clinicians, advocates, policymakers, and people with lived experience from more than 120 countries. Two members of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Global Policy team—Matt Izzo, MPP, Senior Specialist, Global Policy & Strategic Alliances, and Stephanie Montesino, MPH, Global Policy/Advocacy Fellow—presented original research abstracts as part of the 3-day event.
National Cancer Control Plans (NCCPs)
The first abstract from NCCN is titled “The Inclusion of Clinical Practice Guidelines in National Cancer Control Plans.” NCCPs are government-led public health initiatives that include clearly defined processes for cancer prevention, screening, and treatment. According to the findings, 61% of active NCCPs include references to existing national or international cancer treatment guidelines, with another 19% including strategies for their development. While the vast majority (86%) feature plans for implementing the use of guidelines more broadly, most overlook systems for measuring implementation to ensure equity and quality. The research also found significant room for growth when it comes to incorporating guidance on disease staging, which is critical to identify trends and design interventions.
Tailoring Guidelines for Regional Realities
The second abstract, “Enhancing Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Care in China Through Adapted Clinical Guidelines” was authored jointly with doctors Jun Ma, MD, and Ying Sun, MD, who are both Chief Physicians and Radiation Oncologists at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center in Guangzhou, China.
This abstract explains how NCCN worked with local experts in China to create the Chinese Editorial Committee (CEC), which then adapted the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) for Head and Neck Cancers into the NCCN Guidelines for China: Head and Neck Cancers (Cancer of the Nasopharynx). By tailoring recommendations to regional clinical practice and resource availability, the guidelines provide a practical, context-specific framework to elevate the management of nasopharyngeal cancers across diverse clinical settings in China.
“The NCCN Guidelines are the gold standard; they have been shown to improve the quality, effectiveness, equitability, and accessibility of cancer care around the world,” said Dr. Ma. “Nasopharyngeal cancer is substantially more common in China than in the United States, reflecting a combination of [Epstein-Barr virus]-related, genetic, and environmental factors. This higher disease burden has also led to extensive local clinical experience and some differences in practice. Our local experts were able to suggest several adaptations to the original guidelines, based on clinical data in China, including the addition of medications available in China, plus expanding some systemic and radiation therapy recommendations. The resulting guidelines are based on NCCN’s time-tested methods, optimized for people in China.”
Nearly half of all registered users of the NCCN Guidelines are international professionals, with most located in China, India, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Thailand, Canada, Spain, and Italy. There are more than 90 international adaptations of the NCCN Guidelines and more than 180 different translations across numerous languages.
