The National Cancer Policy Forum: a strong voice for improving cancer care and outcomes

The National Cancer Policy Forum (NCPF) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine was founded in 2006 to serve as a trusted venue for identifying and addressing high-priority policy issues in cancer research and care. NPCF takes a comprehensive, multisectoral, and multidisciplinary approach to strategically consider the entire continuum of cancer research and cancer care. Over the past two decades, the Forum has served a uniquely important role in examining both long-standing and emerging policy issues that are relevant to reducing the burden of cancer, both through prevention and by improving the care and outcomes for those diagnosed with cancer, and exploring solutions from multiple perspectives. The Forum has fostered actionable dialogue among a broad range of participants, including patient advocacy organizations, federal agencies, academia, professional organizations, nonprofits, and industry. NCPF activities inform the cancer community and the general public about a wide range of scientific, clinical, and policy issues through workshops, webinars, and the proceedings published after these convenings. Forum activities have influenced policy through the resulting publications and by providing input to National Academies consensus studies, which provide consensus recommendations. This commentary summarizes the breadth of topics addressed by the Forum over the years and examples of the impact of the Forum activities on policies and procedures, programs and practices, and participants and people around the globe.