The term "cancer center" is used to mean many different things. It can refer to offices or clinics where cancer physicians see their patients or give therapy. It can be a hospital where new and promising treatments for cancer are first evaluated. It can be a building containing research laboratories where scientists explore what causes cancer and design new treatments for cancer. It can be the offices where public health experts study why cancer is more common in some people than others and how this information can be used to prevent cancer.
Our federal government recognizes that each of these activities is critical in our fight against cancer. Indeed, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) seeks to identify and support the unique cancer centers which combine excellence in all these activities in a united effort that results in world-class cancer care, research, and education. When such a cancer center is identified, it can become an "NCI Designated Cancer Center". We are pleased that the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at The University of Iowa has been recognized as one of these unique cancer centers, joining less than 60 centers in the entire country (as of July 2000) that have received this honor in recognition of excellence in the areas of cancer care, research and education.
What does this recognition as an NCI Designated Cancer Center mean for all of us? It means that scientists, physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals working in the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at The University of Iowa will communicate regularly with experts at other NCI Designated Cancer Centers to discuss new advances in cancer care. It means our Cancer Center will receive additional financial support for cutting-edge research, which, when combined with support from private donations and other grants, will help draw the world's best cancer researchers and physicians to our Center. It means the Cancer Center is better able to train the next generation of cancer physicians and scientists who will join us in the fight against cancer. All these benefits mean even more excellence in the care of our patients, and in our cancer prevention efforts across the state.
For more information about the NCI Centers Program please visit the NCI website and review the news stories below.
More about Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center NCI Designation
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