On Jul. 1, 1944, the United States Congress passed the Public Health Service Act, which officially reorganized the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and designated it as an operating division under the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The limit of $700,000 annual appropriation was removed.

In 1971, President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act, broadening the NCI’s scope, authorities, and funding to spearhead a massive national effort against cancer.

Today, the NCI remains part of the NIH, which is one of 11 agencies that compose the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).