The Case Comprehensive Cancer Center (Case CCC) has been awarded $25.5 million by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for continued cancer research and expanded clinical trials. The funding represents a 10 percent increase in NCI funding to the center, the only one of 40 designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation to receive an increase when many National Institutes of Health-related appropriations have been flat or declining. The $25.5 million accompanies the center’s NCI redesignation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center and an outstanding rating, and is to be allocated in the amount of $5.1 million each year for the next five years.
“On behalf of our more than 310 basic and clinical cancer physicians and research faculty at our member institutions – Case Western Reserve University, Ireland Cancer Center of University Hospitals Case Medical Center and the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center, I am proud of this level of support from the NCI as we continue our work to bring scientific discovery rapidly to clinical practice to improve the results for cancer patients,” said Stanton L. Gerson, M.D., director of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University.
Gerson, who also serves as director of the Ireland Cancer Center and the National Center for Regenerative Medicine, says the NCI encourages collaboration like that among Case CCC’s three institutions as the most effective means of advancing cancer knowledge. “That cooperation has strengthened the center in terms of scientific discovery and access to clinical advancements with more than 1,200 patients in and outside the region enrolled in over 300 innovative clinical trials,” Gerson added.
“The renewal of our Case Comprehensive Cancer Center designation and the increase in our basic NIH grant represents the continuation of a great tradition for excellent research and patient care,” said Pamela B. Davis, M.D., Ph.D., interim dean of the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. “Along with our partners at the Ireland Cancer Center of University Hospitals Case Medical Center and the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center, we continue to perform cutting edge research to fight cancer and help bring the best possible treatment and care to all Ohioans and to the rest of the world.”
The community benefits from the reputation of the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center by attracting gifted scientists who contribute to cancer research in a supportive environment, as well as by promoting and advancing training of health care professionals who bring disease prevention and wellness education directly to individuals, the underserved and other populations including the elderly.
“Having a Comprehensive Cancer Center in Northeast Ohio is a boon for this region and we at University Hospitals Case Medical Center are pleased by the NCI’s decision to increase funding to our center,” said Fred C. Rothstein, M.D., Ph.D., and president of University Hospitals Case Medical Center. “This means so much to our patients as well as our researchers to be able to continue to rapidly advance cancer research and treatment.”
“It has been a privilege and a pleasure to work with our colleagues at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals to advance cancer research in Ohio. This is a very elegant example of how the clinical and research resources of the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center have been added to those of our colleagues to create a research team that is greater than any of the individual components,” said Derek Raghavan, M.D., chair and director of the Taussig Cancer Center and a member of the executive team of the Case CCC. “Of greatest importance, we are making advances in the battle against cancer, for the benefit of all our patients and their families.”
One of only 40 NCI Comprehensive Cancer Centers nationwide to achieve NCI’s highest designation, the center is currently in its 19th year, beginning at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, and expanding to include the Cleveland Clinic in 2004.