Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention, and cancer prevention research: two journals, a common goal.

Prevention and control are key components of cancer research and the effort to reduce cancer incidence and mortality. The National Cancer Policy Board of the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council (1) stated that a national strategy for cancer prevention and control (CPC) should be a central focus of cancer research. The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and other national or international organizations also have devoted substantial resources to the advancement of cancer prevention as a national and worldwide health priority. The National Cancer Institute has led the movement to promote CPC research by mandating a strong CPC program as a key component of a National Cancer Institute-designated “comprehensive cancer center.” As a result, academic institutions across the country have bolstered their CPC programs. The substantial commitment of the AACR to CPC includes its International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, which has become a major venue for presenting cutting-edge research in basic, clinical, epidemiologic, and behavioral science related to CPC. This conference fosters important transdisciplinary interactions that are vital to making critical discoveries in this field. In addition, the AACR has long published several journals including Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention (CEBP), that have focused on CPC research. Further, to emphasize the importance of AACR's CPC activities and research, the AACR launched the Cancer Prevention Journals Portalan online journal featuring CPC articles published under the auspices of the AACR. In recognition of the accomplishments, maturity, and promise of CPC in the 21st century, AACR expanded its publication portfolio in mid-2008 by founding a new journal, Cancer Prevention Research (CaPR). Paralleling the expansion of academic CPC programs, CaPR expands these activities of the AACR. CaPR complements, rather than competes, with CEBP in helping AACR to expand the horizons of CPC. The focus of this editorial is to outline the distinctions between the two journals to guide the academic community in submitting work and reading about specialized CPC interests and to emphasize the complementary and cooperative relationship between CEBP and CaPR.