NCCN History
On January 31, 1995, a press conference was held to announce the creation of a national alliance to develop and institute standards of care for the treatment of cancer and perform outcomes research – and so the NCCN was born. With 13 original NCCN Member Institutions, the goal was to ensure delivery of high-quality, cost-effective services to people with cancer across the country. NCCN became a developer and promoter of national programs to facilitate the fulfillment of NCCN Member Institution missions in education, research, and patient care. Now an alliance of 33 of the leading cancer centers, NCCN develops and communicates scientific, evaluative information to better inform the decision-making process between patients and physicians, ultimately improving patient outcomes.
November 1993 – NCCN is formally incorporated
January 1995 – NCCN is announced as a national alliance to develop and institute standards of care for the treatment of cancer and perform outcomes research
1995 – Bruce R. Ross leads NCCN as Chief Executive Officer
February 1996 – The NCCN 1st Annual Conference is held and attracts 321 attendees
November 1996 – The first NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) are published for the following disease types: Acute Leukemia and Breast, Colon, Lung, Ovarian, Pediatric, Prostate, and Rectal Cancers
January 1997 – William T. McGivney, PhD, leads NCCN as Chief Executive Officer
July 1997 – NCCN launches its first database, the NCCN Oncology Outcomes Database for Breast Cancer, at five NCCN Member Institutions
March 1998 – NCCN.org, NCCN's website for clinicians, launches
May 1998 – The NCCN Treatment Guidelines for Patients are first developed
March 1999 – NCCN establishes what is now known as the Oncology Research Program (ORP)
December 2001 – The first Complete Library of NCCN Guidelines® is made available
January 2003 – The first issue of JNCCN–Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network is published
November 2004 – The first NCCN Drugs & Biologics Compendium (NCCN Compendium®) chapter is available
September 2006 – The NCCN 1st Annual Congress: Hematologic Malignancies™ is held and attracts 365 attendees
May 2008 – NCCN Chemotherapy Order Templates (NCCN Templates®) for Bladder, Kidney, and Prostate Cancers and Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia are made available
April 2009 – NCCN launches its first patient site as NCCN.com
July 2009 – NCCN launches its first live webinar program, NCCN Oncology Case Management Program™: Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, attracting over 230 attendees
May 2010 – The NCCN Foundation® is created
September 2010 – The NCCN Guidelines for Patients® are published
September 2012 – NCCN launches the Virtual Library of NCCN Guidelines for tablet computers
December 2012 – NCCN Biomarkers Compendium® becomes available on NCCN.org
January 2013 – Robert W. Carlson, MD, joins NCCN as Chief Executive Officer
June 2013 – NCCN implements NCCN Core Values
July 2013 – NCCN International Educational Activities Program (NCCN IEAP) launches
August 2013 – NCCN launches NCCN Patient and Caregiver Resources at NCCN.org/patients
December 2013 – NCCN launches NCCN Guidelines apps for smartphones
May 2014 – NCCN Guidelines for Patients become available for purchase on Amazon.com
September - December 2014 – NCCN publishes 20th annual editions of original eight NCCN Guidelines
December 2014 – NCCN reaches a record high of more than six million PDF downloads of the NCCN Guidelines from NCCN.org and NCCN Virtual Library of NCCN Guidelines mobile apps.
January 2015 – NCCN celebrates 20th anniversary. View video
March 2015 – NCCN launches NCCN Framework for Resource Stratification of NCCN Guidelines (NCCN Framework™)
October 2015 – NCCN launches NCCN Guidelines with NCCN Evidence Blocks™
June 2016 – NCCN launches NCCN Imaging Appropriate Use Criteria (NCCN Imaging AUC™)
July 2016 – NCCN accepted as CMS-approved Provider Led-Entity for development of NCCN Imaging AUC™
November 2016 – NCCN launches Just Bag It: The NCCN Campaign for Safe Vincristine Handling
November 2016 – NCCN Guidelines for Patients become available in mobile app format
March 2017 – NCCN launches NCCN Radiation Therapy Compendium™
March 2017 – The launch of JNCCN 360 is announced during the NCCN 22nd Annual Conference
November 2017 – NCCN launches NCCN Harmonized Guidelines™ for Sub-Saharan Africa
February 2018 – NCCN and ASCO collaboratively develop guidelines to offer clinicians recommendations for assessment and management of side effects related to immune checkpoint inhibitors.
April 2018 – ORP broadens the free use of the Shared Resource Database to all U.S. cancer centers.
May 2018 – NCCN named Wui-Jin Koh, MD, as its first Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer
May 2018 – NCCN Begins Work on Guidelines to Improve Cancer Care in the Caribbean
August 2018 – JNCCN introduces new associate editors to continue focusing on original research to improve the quality of cancer care
October 2018 – NCCN moves Global Headquarters to Plymouth Meeting, PA
November 2018 – NCCN announces Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania as New Member Institution
January 2019 – NCCN Guidelines raise standards for cancer care worldwide by exceeding 10 million downloads — up 26% over 2017
May 2019 – NCCN returns to the publication of pediatric guidelines with the release of the NCCN Guidelines for Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
November 2019 – NCCN, together with American Cancer Society, Clinton Health Access Initiative, and IBM, announced the new alliance, Allied Against Cancer, to continue the efforts to improve access to high-quality cancer care and treatment in Sub-Saharan Africa
January 2020 – NCCN celebrates 25th anniversary
March 2020 – NCCN Announces UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and UT Southwestern Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center (SCCC) as New Member Institutions
Throughout 2020 – NCCN provided ongoing updates and recommendations due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and cancer care
March 2021 – NCCN Announces UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center as New Member Institution
April 2022 – NCCN Announces Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center as New Member Institution
April 2023 – NCCN Announces The UChicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center as New Member Institution
October 2023 – Crystal S. Denlinger, MD, becomes NCCN Chief Executive Officer
December 2023 – NCCN Guidelines surpass 15 million downloads for the year – with more than 1 million downloads each month
Spring 2024 – NCCN Oncology Research Program (ORP) celebrates its 25th anniversary. Read press release