The University of Kansas Cancer Center's quest for NCI designation
The University of Kansas Cancer Center submitted its application for National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation the week of September 19, 2011. The application is possible only through unprecedented support from individuals, businesses and communities throughout the region.
Background | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | September 2011
Background
The University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC) has been working to eliminate the burden of cancer for decades. Its cancer program was started in 1969, with its first American Cancer Society Professor of Clinical Oncology and support from the Kansas Masonic Foundation. In the early 1970s, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) awarded KUMC funding to investigate the feasibility of establishing a clinical cancer research center in Kansas. By the 1990s, the cancer center was experiencing steady growth in research funding and discoveries.
Since 2002, it has been KUMC’s goal to achieve NCI Cancer Center designation, the gold standard for cancer institutes across the country. NCI-designated Cancer Centers are recognized for their scientific excellence and are awarded federal funding through a rigorous peer review process. They are a major source of discovery and development of more effective approaches to cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment. NCI Cancer Centers also educate health care professionals and deliver medical advances to patients and their families.
In 2004, KUMC renamed its cancer research organization the Kansas Masonic Cancer Research Institute, reflecting a commitment of $20 million by the Kansas Masonic Foundation to support cancer research on the KUMC campus. The gift allowed KUMC to recruit the cancer center’s first full-time director, Roy A. Jensen, MD, a nationally recognized breast cancer researcher and pathologist from the NCI-designated Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.
In 2005, attaining NCI designation was named KU's top research priority. Since then, The University of Kansas Cancer Center has become a leader in research and patient care, while generating significant economic development. This report focuses on highlights in the quest to attain NCI designation.