Formed in 2000 by the DCCPS Surveillance Research Program, CISNET is a consortium of NCI-sponsored investigators who use simulation modeling to improve our understanding of cancer control interventions in prevention, screening, and treatment and their effects on population trends in incidence and mortality. These models are used to guide public health research, policy, advocacy, and priorities. They also aid in the development of optimal cancer control strategies.
CISNET includes 10 cancer sites, with over 200 members at more than 30 different institutions. It has significantly influenced US Preventive Services Task Force screening recommendations for colorectal, breast, lung, and cervical cancers. Modeling by CISNET investigators has contributed to major changes in task force guidelines, including the following:
- Changing mammography recommendations from every 1 or 2 years to every 2 years
- Evaluating the different methods of colorectal cancer screening and lowering the age to start screening to 45
- Lowering the age to start lung cancer screening to 50 or for those who had smoked a pack a day for more than 20 years
- Changing cervical cancer screening by adding the recommendation of HPV testing every 5 years in women ages 30–65