Notice Number: NOT-CA-06-008

Key Dates
Release Date: January 20, 2006

Issued by
National Cancer Institute (NCI), (http://cancer.gov/)

The Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine (OCCAM) of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is seeking contract proposals that will enhance the state of science on cancer treatment. The NCI Best Case Series (BSC) Program is designed to seek out alternative approaches to cancer treatment. This Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) will support developmental support and prospective research projects as part of the BSC as well as additional research when warranted. This BAA is intended to provide funding opportunities that will support compilation of the documentation on patient cases to be submitted to NCI OCCAM and reviewed as part of the NCI BCS Program. It seeks to encourage researchers with expertise and experience in cancer treatment who might otherwise not be aware of the opportunity to apply their expertise to alternative cancer treatments. It is also intended to foster collaborative activities between Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM) practitioners and experienced cancer researchers. Specifically, topics eligible under this BAA are alternative cancer therapies for which documentation on patient cases is available and for which the intervention is available for prospective investigation. This BAA requests proposals for collaborative projects that involve pairing cancer investigators with CAM practitioners for conduct of the proposed efforts. Proposals submitted in response to this solicitation should be two-part contracts consisting of two distinct phases. The first phase (Phase I) of the contract provides support to document a series of patients that meet the NCI BCS Program criteria and to develop a prospective research project (pre-clinical, clinical, or both). At the completion of Phase I, the findings of the submitted case series and the final report detailing the developed research project will be used by the NCI to determine eligibility for Phase II support. It is anticipated that Phase II funding will result in a completed research project within 2 years. Phase II support of a project is not guaranteed and will be an option exercised on the basis of the success achieved in the Phase I portion. The detailed BAA (i.e., Request for Proposals, RFP No. N01-CO-57034-48, which was posted on the FedBizOpps web site on December 6, 2005) is available on the web site of the Office of Acquisitions, NCI, at the following URL: http://rcb.cancer.gov/rcb-internet/appl/rfp/published_rfps.jsp, with instructions for submission of proposals and evaluation criteria.

Inquiries

For further information, contact:

John R. Manouelian
Contract Specialist
Treatment, Biology, & Sciences Branch
Office of Acquisitions
6120 Executive Boulevard, EPS Room 6066, MSC 7193
Bethesda, MD 20892-7193 (for U.S. Postal Service express or regular mail)
Rockville, MD 20852 (for express/courier delivery)
Phone: 301-435-3813
Fax: 301-402-6699
Email: manouelj@mail.nih.gov