The region’s only NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center honors patients, physicians, staff and supporters
For more than three decades, researchers and clinicians at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have led the way in cutting-edge cancer research and patient care. On Saturday, January 22, 2011, they will celebrate five years of delivering comprehensive outpatient cancer care and dedicated research in a single location as the Moores Cancer Center hosts an open house.
The free public event will be held at the Moores Cancer Center at 3855 Health Sciences Drive in La Jolla from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The open house provides the community with an opportunity to learn about the future of cancer care, the role family genes may play in cancer treatments, and the importance of nutrition in preventing cancer. Tours of the facility and research labs are open to all visitors. Experts will be on hand to talk about clinical trials and patient support programs.
Founded in 1979, the Moores Cancer Center achieved its ranking as a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in 2001 – the only one in San Diego County and one of only 40 in the nation. The title signifies that Moores Cancer Center covers a full range of cancer research activities, including basic and clinical science, population studies, community outreach programs and cancer-prevention activities.
Combining these resources under one roof in 2005 provided San Diego patients with a beautiful new home for central, comprehensive cancer care. The 270,000 square foot glass and metal building houses all necessary functions – from research laboratories and outpatient treatment facilities, to meeting rooms and a healthy foods kitchen – providing an environment where basic discoveries are quickly translated into promising new therapies.
In laying the foundation for the building, Center Director Dennis A. Carson, MD, noted that the new building would provide “an environment where basic discoveries can quickly be translated into promising new therapies, advancing our constant goal – to provide the best cancer care available.”
Five Notable Achievements, 2005 - 2010
Lighting a Path to Cancer: Roger Tsien, PhD, professor of pharmacology, chemistry and biochemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, and Moores Cancer Center researcher shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) and efforts in designing glowing molecules that can light up the inner workings of cells.
Comprehensive SDSU-UC San Diego Cancer Center Partnership: In 2008, UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center and San Diego State University (SDSU) joined forces to help explain and eliminate cancer disparities. A five-year $15 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health funds research, education and community outreach programs in the San Diego region with the goal of reducing differences in cancer incidence and deaths in the population. The partnership is the only such program in California and supports programs ranging from studies of the potential differences in basic biology of cancers in certain populations, including specific ethnic and minority groups, to outreach, training, education and prevention.
A New Way of Treating Ovarian Cancer: Moores Cancer Center researchers pioneered a method of delivering high doses of anti-cancer drugs directly to ovarian tumors. The technique, known as intraperitoneal (or IP) chemotherapy, makes it possible to deliver extremely high doses of drugs, yet produces fewer side effects than the standard approach. In 2006, following new studies that proved the technique’s effectiveness, the federal government announced IP chemotherapy as the new standard of treatment for ovarian cancer.
Leading the Way in Smoking Cessation: The Center’s Cancer Prevention and Control Program is known internationally as the group that, in 2007, exposed the effectiveness of cigarette advertising in encouraging adolescents to smoke. Research by this group is regarded as a major contributor to the ultimate withdrawal of the Joe Camel advertising campaign.
Bench to Bedside in One Year: In a unique partnership between industry and academia, research led by Catriona H.M. Jamieson, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine and Director for Stem Cell Research at Moores Cancer Center, moved from identification of a promising therapeutic candidate to clinical trials for a new drug in just one year’s time. The drug is among the first developed to treat a rare class of blood diseases called myeloproliferative disorders.
For more information, please visit: http://cancer.ucsd.edu
# # #
Media Contact: Kim Edwards, 619-543-6163, kedwards@ucsd.edu