By: SUSANNE M. SCHAFER - Associated Press Writer
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The Hollings Cancer Center in Charleston has been named one of the nation's top institutes for cancer research, opening the way to more federal dollars and increasing the number of South Carolinians with access to cutting-edge cancer treatments, officials said Monday.
The distinction, bestowed by the federally funded National Cancer Institute, was announced Monday at the Medical University of South Carolina, where the Hollings Center is located.
That makes it one of 64 in the country and the only one in the Palmetto State.
"We hope this designation will increase the number of patients involved in our cancer studies," said the director of the Hollings Center, Dr. Andrew S. Kraft. "There's a lot of excitement here over this."
Kraft said the recognition means the center will obtain a startup grant of $7 million, which can be renewed every five years.
The application was more than 1,000 pages long and involved 10 years of effort. It required lengthy, onsite inspections by National Cancer Institute officials of the Hollings Center's research studies, also known as clinical trials, that may pave the way to innovative treatments of disease, Kraft said in a telephone interview.
"When they give their imprimatur, the ultimate goal is for them to encourage us to take it to the next level, and that is to better understand and cure cancer," Kraft said.
The center records about 80,000 patient visits annually, and nearly 2,000 patients were diagnosed with cancer last year, said a spokeswoman for the Center, Vicki Agnew. The center has about 170 researchers, physicians and medical specialists dealing with cancer.
Of the 2,000 cancer patients, the center has been able to place 11 percent to 14 percent in its clinical trials. The influx of federal money means that number could double, the director said.
"A clear goal is to take that to 20 or 25 percent," Kraft said.
Kraft said patients with all types of cancer are seen at the center, but its staff specializes in cancers of the head, neck and blood, as well as gastric and pediatric cancers.
Among its many studies, researchers are looking into new drugs for cancer treatments; what role the immune system might play in cancer treatment and researching the role of genetics, the director said.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a statement that the step means "the Hollings Center will now take its place among an elite group of institutions in the major leagues of cancer research."
2 comments:
It's great to see these efforts being made, however, research is usless without achieving any results. Billions of dollars are going to waste every year. In order to receive funding, an institution should be publicly posting what it is working on and what progress they have accomplished. Otherwise, all that is occuring are peoples lives going to waste as the cancer industry eats those wasted billions on pharmiceutial companies living large on usless, antiquated and barbaric drugs like chemotherapy and radiation.
Thank you for your comments, ChrisWT. It is so very extremely important to note, however, that without research, a cure is not foreseen. I would urge you to view the video at the top of our blog entitled "This is Lung Cancer." "When President Nixon and Congress declared War on Cancer 35 years ago, lung cancer was the leading cause of cancer death. It still is. " from the Joan Gaeta Lung Cancer Foundation For specific statistics, please go to: http://jglcf.org/research.aspx
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