March 2-3, 1996
Group refines its charge and begins to identify issues to be addressed and barriers to be overcome to enable the development and clinical application of molecular diagnostics for cancer. Support for the development of technology for the molecular characterization of cells is identified as a high priority.

May 15-16, 1996
Meeting focuses on technology development by academic laboratories and the biotechnology industry with potential applications to cancer diagnosis. Several innovative new technologies that may be useful in both discovery and diagnostics are described.

June 26, 1996
Subgroup meets to define strategies for promoting the construction of high- quality cDNA libraries for use by the entire cancer research community.

November 5-6, 1996
Meeting focuses on access to clinical specimens for research. First session examines existing resources (scientific questions, problems encountered, lessons learned). Second session spotlights technical and regulatory issues-especially confidentiality issues-that affect access to clinical specimens.

June 29-30, 1997
Working Group members are updated on recent activities initiated by the NCI, notably the Cancer Genome Anatomy Project. Participants outline the next series of actions to be taken. These include an emphasis on gene discovery, mapping of ESTs, and enhancing access to existing technologies.