Peter Greenwald
彼得·格林沃尔德
MD, DrPH
Former Director, Division of Cancer Prevention, NCI; Founder of the Modern Cancer Prevention Program前NCI癌症预防部主任；现代癌症预防计划创始人
👥Biography 个人简介
Peter Greenwald, MD, DrPH served as Director of the Division of Cancer Prevention at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) from 1982 to 2009, making him the longest-serving and most influential leader in the history of federal cancer prevention research. During his 27-year tenure, he built the NCI's chemoprevention program from the ground up, transforming it into a major scientific enterprise that launched more than 400 clinical trials and established cancer prevention as a legitimate and fundable biomedical discipline. Among his most consequential contributions were the design and execution of two of the largest cancer prevention trials ever conducted: the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT), which demonstrated that finasteride reduces prostate cancer incidence by 25%, and the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT), which, while ultimately showing no benefit of supplementation, provided crucial information that reshaped understanding of micronutrient cancer prevention. Dr. Greenwald also championed large-scale investment in dietary cancer prevention, funding definitive studies of dietary fat reduction, fiber supplementation, and micronutrient intervention across multiple cancer sites. He authored over 300 scientific publications and edited several foundational textbooks on cancer prevention. His legacy is the modern infrastructure of NCI-funded cancer prevention research that continues to generate landmark findings decades after his founding efforts.
🧪Research Fields 研究领域
🎓Key Contributions 主要贡献
Founding the NCI Division of Cancer Prevention
As founding director of the NCI's Division of Cancer Prevention (1982–2009), created the institutional architecture, grant mechanisms, and scientific priorities that transformed cancer prevention from a marginalized research area into a major federally supported discipline. Established the Chemoprevention Branch, the Community Oncology and Prevention Trials Research Group, and a network of chemoprevention agent repository and testing programs that continue to operate today.
Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial (PCPT)
Championed and oversaw the design and funding of the PCPT, a landmark randomized controlled trial of 18,882 men evaluating finasteride (a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor) for prostate cancer prevention. The trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2003, demonstrated that finasteride reduced overall prostate cancer incidence by 25%, while raising questions about a potential increase in high-grade disease that spurred years of follow-up research ultimately resolving in favor of the protective effect.
SELECT — Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial
Launched the SELECT trial, enrolling 35,533 men to evaluate selenium and vitamin E supplementation for prostate cancer prevention, based on promising observational and early trial data. The trial, reported in JAMA in 2009 and updated in 2011, found no benefit of supplementation and a non-significant increase in prostate cancer risk with vitamin E alone, providing definitive evidence that redirected micronutrient prevention research and highlighted the limitations of extrapolating epidemiological associations to interventional trials.
Diet and Cancer Prevention — Federal Research Investment
Oversaw NCI investment in large-scale dietary intervention trials examining the relationship between fat intake, fiber, antioxidant vitamins, carotenoids, and cancer incidence across multiple sites. Funded the Women's Health Initiative dietary modification trial, the Polyp Prevention Trial, and multiple NCI cooperative group studies, generating a robust evidence base on the role of diet in cancer prevention and the boundaries of what dietary modification alone can achieve.
Representative Works 代表性著作
Effect of Finasteride on the Prevalence of Prostate Cancer (PCPT)
New England Journal of Medicine (2003)
Landmark PCPT publication demonstrating finasteride reduces prostate cancer incidence by 25%, the first large randomized trial to show a pharmacological agent can prevent prostate cancer.
Vitamins E and C in the Prevention of Prostate and Total Cancer in Men: The Physicians' Health Study II Randomized Controlled Trial
JAMA (2009)
Large randomized trial finding no benefit of vitamins E or C in cancer prevention, contributing to the evidence base questioning micronutrient supplementation as a prevention strategy.
Cancer Chemoprevention
Journal of Clinical Oncology (2005)
Comprehensive review of cancer chemoprevention evidence and research priorities authored by Dr. Greenwald, serving as a definitive reference for the field he helped create.
Diet and Cancer Prevention: Contributions from the Epidemiology Program at the National Cancer Institute
Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention (2007)
Overview of NCI-funded dietary cancer prevention research portfolio, summarizing evidence from major trials and cohort studies and setting priorities for future investigation.
🏆Awards & Recognition 奖项与荣誉
📄Data Sources 数据来源
Last updated: 2026-04-06 | All information from publicly available academic sources
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