The National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service: A new generation of service and research to the nation

The National Cancer Institute (NCI), the nation's leading agency for cancer information and research, mandated by the U. S. Congress to provide accurate, up-to-date information about cancer to all segments of the U.S. population, established the Cancer Information Service (CIS) on July 1, 1975. Using a two-pronged approach, the telephone information service and education programs for the public and health professionals, the CIS was designed to maximize its reach. In 1982, the CIS implemented three tools: the Call Record Form to record data about each call to the service, a national user survey and a system of national test calls. These resulted in a rich data source and all infrastructure that allowed collaborative health communications research with the CIS to emerge later in the decade. As the CIS embarks on a new generation of service to the nation, it is now characterized by three vital components that advance the NCI's overall mission of cancer prevention and control: a Partnership Program, Multichannel Contact Centers, and a Health Communications Research Program.