Issues

The cover image is adapted from Figure 1 in the article “A National Map of NCI-Designated Cancer Center Catchment Areas on the 50th Anniversary of the Cancer Centers Program,” by DelNero and colleagues. The original figure shows a visualization of the catchment areas for clinical and comprehensive NCI404 designated Cancer Centers. In 1971, the National Cancer Act created a process to recognize the leadership, facilities, and research efforts at cancer centers throughout the United States. Toward this goal, each National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Cancer Center defines and describes a catchment area to which they tailor specific scientific and community engagement activities. Coinciding with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the NCA, this effort presents a national map of NCI-designated Cancer Center catchment areas, representing actively funded comprehensive and clinical cancer centers. Standardized geographic codes were used to link each catchment area with population-based datasets to visualize social, behavioral, or environmental factors in communities served by NCI-designated Cancer Centers. For the first time, the present effort compiled a national map that offers a convenient, precise, and easily accessible portrait of the size, shape, and locations for 63 catchment areas of the 71 NCI-designated Cancer Centers. The collation and geographic presentation of the distinct, but complementary, NCI-designated Cancer Center catchment areas are intended to support future research and community outreach activities among NCI-designated Cancer Centers. For more information, see the article beginning on page 965.