Where can patients find the NCCN guidelines used to guide cancer treatment?

NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology are widely used professional guidelines that help inform cancer care. NCCN also publishes NCCN Guidelines for Patients, which translate that guidance into a more accessible format.

NCCN stands for the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Its clinical guidelines are a major reference used by oncology professionals to inform cancer screening, diagnosis, testing, treatment, supportive care, and follow up. NCCN also provides free resources created specifically for people with cancer and care partners.

The guidelines behind cancer care

The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology are developed by multidisciplinary experts from NCCN member cancer centers and are updated as evidence and treatment options change.

These professional guidelines address individual cancers as well as areas such as screening, supportive care, survivorship, and other aspects of cancer care.

NCCN Guidelines help clinicians evaluate which tests and treatment options may be appropriate, which treatment options are supported by current evidence, when additional testing may be important, and how care may change as a cancer changes. NCCN also offers patient-friendly versions of many guidelines. The professional versions are more detailed and written for health care professionals.

NCCN Guidelines for Patients

NCCN Guidelines for Patients translate information from the clinical guidelines into resources designed for people with cancer and those supporting them.

Many are organized by cancer type. Others address issues that cross cancer types, including supportive care, distress, survivorship, and specific patient populations.

The guides can help someone understand terminology, testing, treatment approaches, supportive care, and questions that may be worth discussing with the care team.

That makes them useful before an appointment and equally useful afterward, when there is time to revisit information that may have been difficult to absorb in the room.

Biomarkers are part of the treatment guidelines

For many cancers, biomarker testing is part of understanding the cancer and determining which treatment options may be relevant.

NCCN clinical guidelines include biomarker recommendations when testing can affect diagnosis, treatment selection, prognosis, monitoring, or surveillance.

NCCN also maintains a professional Biomarkers Compendium, which brings together biomarker testing recommendations found throughout its clinical guidelines. The resource is designed to help clinicians, payers, and health care organizations identify biomarker testing supported by NCCN recommendations.

For people with cancer, the important point is this:

Biomarker testing is a key part of the treatment conversation. In many cancers, guideline based care includes biomarker testing to help identify the most relevant treatment options.

For the KRAS community, this is especially relevant. Knowing that a cancer has a KRAS alteration is one piece of the picture. The specific KRAS variant, other relevant biomarkers, the cancer type, prior treatment, and other clinical factors can all influence what information and options need to be discussed.

Ask what biomarker testing is recommended for your cancer, what has already been tested, whether additional testing is appropriate, and how to obtain a copy of the complete report.

More than cancer specific treatment

NCCN patient resources extend beyond treatment recommendations. A recent example is the NCCN Guidelines for Patients: Older Adults with Cancer, released in September 2026.

The guide addresses factors that can matter when planning cancer care for an older adult, including physical function, cognition, medications, other health conditions, available support, personal priorities, and treatment goals.

That is only one example of why the broader NCCN patient library is worth exploring. The most useful resource may relate to a cancer diagnosis, a treatment decision, a side effect, survivorship, or another question that comes up along the way.

How to use NCCN resources

Start with the cancer type or the question currently in front of you.

Look for the relevant NCCN Guidelines for Patients.

For cancers influenced by molecular findings, pay particular attention to sections addressing testing, biomarkers, targeted therapies, and treatment selection.

Use the information to identify what needs clarification. Bring those questions, along with copies of pathology and biomarker reports when relevant, into conversations with the care team.

Individual treatment decisions should be made in consultation with the clinical care team. Reliable information provides context for those conversations.

Start with what matters to you today

Explore the NCCN Guidelines for Patients library and start with what is most relevant today. That may be your cancer type, age or stage of life, where you are in treatment, survivorship, side effects, supportive care, biomarker testing, or a specific question you are trying to understand.

Save the resource that fits. Review the section connected to the next decision or appointment. Bring the questions that deserve a clearer answer.

KRAS Kickers can help

Finding the information is sometimes the first challenge.

KRAS Kickers can help people locate credible resources, understand unfamiliar cancer and biomarker terminology, and identify questions to bring back to their oncology team. Our role is to help connect the dots so people can participate more fully in their care.

Questions are welcome. Reach out to KRAS Kickers or bring them into the community. Someone else may be looking for the same answer.

Please share this resource with someone who may never have been told it exists.

At KRAS Kickers, Knowledge, Research, Advocacy, and Survivorship begin with access to information people can understand and use.

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