title: The process of NCCN guidelines adaptation to the Middle East and North Africa region.
abstract: The NCCN developed clinical practice guidelines for oncology that set the standard of cancer care in the United States. Because of wide acceptance of, need for, and interest in standardized treatment practices across the world, NCCN launched initiatives to help international groups adapt these guidelines. This article describes the initiative in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. A group of oncology experts and key opinion leaders were assembled into 7 specific committees to develop treatment guidelines for breast cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, hepatobiliary cancer, lymphoma, and palliative care. The committees reviewed the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) to identify any modifications required for them to be more applicable to the MENA region based on available evidence and regional experience. These modifications were discussed with NCCN experts and summarized for each specific area. The development of these guidelines generated a strong interest in the region to develop more evidence-based practice and create further networking and collaboration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. jazieha@ngha.med.sa
authors.forename: Abdul-Rahman
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Jazieh
authors.forename: Hamdy A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Azim
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McClure
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jahanzeb
mesh_terms: D026683:Advisory Committees / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D000352:Africa, Northern; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005104:Expert Testimony; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D020407:Internet; D008495:Medical Oncology / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D008877:Middle East; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D010166:Palliative Care; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States