History of the EDRN

In 1998, the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) convened a panel of outside experts to give advice on early cancer detection. This panel was created to address the major recommendations of the Cancer Prevention Program Group. These recommendations included:

In 1999, the NCI’s Board of Scientific Advisors reviewed the recommendations of the Early Detection Implementation Working Group and recommended the formation of the EDRN. Specifically, the objectives of the network were to include:

The EDRN was formally established in 2000, with a mission to lead development of a systematic strategy to implement rigorous criteria for biomarker discovery and validation. The EDRN has since been renewed by NCI in 2005, 2010, 2016 and 2022. While the basic structure of the EDRN has remained the same, there have been modifications in its goals to reflect progress in the field and recommendations from experts, such as an increased emphasis on biomarker validation, inclusion of imaging methods, and development of biomarkers to distinguish aggressive early stage cancers from indolent cancers to reduce overtreatment.