[Grand Rapids, MI] April 21, 2010 –The Lacks Cancer Center at Saint Mary’s Health Care is among 14 new sites chosen by the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, to join a national network of community cancer centers offering expanded research opportunities and state-of-the-art cancer care at hospitals serving largely rural, suburban, small-town, and underserved urban populations.

The NCI Community Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP) is using $40 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to expand its number of community hospital-based sites from 16 to 30. The Lacks Cancer Center has been awarded a $2.38 million contract from the NCCCP program to be used for cancer research and cancer care improvement.

NCCCP is designed to create new research opportunities across the cancer continuum from screening and treatment to follow-up care, with an emphasis on minority and underserved populations. Expanding the NCCCP network will provide access to more patients in community cancer centers to support these research efforts.

In addition, the program is studying ways for patients to have access to the latest, evidence-based care close to where they live. For a variety of reasons, many cancer patients cannot commute to major academic medical centers for treatment. In fact, 85 percent of patients are diagnosed, and receive at least their first course of treatment, at a community hospital.                           

NCCCP centers are addressing ways to reduce healthcare disparities, improve access to clinical trials, improve overall quality of care, promote an infrastructure to collect high-quality biospecimens such as blood and tissue samples for research, and link with national computer networks that support research. The centers also work to improve survivorship, palliative care services, and patient advocacy.

The Lacks Cancer Center is one of only two Michigan hospitals achieving this distinction. The other is St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, which is also a Trinity Health hospital. Both hospitals are members of the Mercy Cancer Network.

Commented Laurence McCahill, MD, medical director of Surgical Oncology for The Lacks Cancer Center: “The Lacks Cancer Center has distinguished itself as a regional leader with a teamwork approach to personalized cancer care. Dedicated, specially trained staff coordinates complex cancer care, and newly diagnosed patients with breast cancer or gastrointestinal cancer are evaluated by cancer surgeons, radiation oncologists, and medical oncologists in a single day. Patients are offered access to state of the art cancer research trials as well as the latest techniques in cancer surgery and newer radiation technologies. 

“The Lacks Cancer Center is the region’s only medical center offering robotic surgery for lung cancer, ovarian and uterine cancers, and prostate cancer. Collaborations with the Van Andel Research Institute are aimed at personalized therapies which will target a patient’s specific tumor type.

“The National Cancer Institute has recognized the importance of delivering the highest quality cancer care to patients in all areas of the country, and has chosen specific well-developed cancer centers to move this vision toward reality. The Lacks Cancer Center at Saint Mary’s is unique in West Michigan for both its philosophy of treating the whole cancer patient, its teamwork approach, and the vision to combine subspecialty trained cancer physicians with the latest treatment technology. I believe the National Cancer Institute has recognized this vision, as well as the unique collaborations with internationally recognized cancer researchers at the Van Andel Research Institute.

“Not only is this a unique infrastructure for Grand Rapids, but it also holds incredible promise of better things to come in cancer research and cancer treatment for our Grand Rapids community and all of West Michigan.”

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The Lacks Cancer Center at Saint Mary's is West Michigan’s only comprehensive, dedicated cancer hospital bringing together elite oncology specialists, the latest protocols, state-of-the-art technology, a unique therapeutic environment and essential mind, body, spirit care necessary to treat the whole patient. All this is offered under one roof for maximum physician collaboration and comfort and convenience of our patients. The result: a better way to deliver cancer care.                                               

The Lacks Cancer Center is a member of the Mercy Cancer Network, a group of Trinity Health hospitals that have come together to provide comprehensive, community-based cancer related services linking the expertise of local hospitals in Michigan and coordinating the collective resources across the state. The benefit to patients is that as much care as possible is delivered close to home. . The hospitals of the Mercy Cancer Network collectively provide the most experienced and talented cancer care physician teams available. Board certified, multidisciplinary physician teams provide world-class cancer care accredited by the American College of Surgeons – many with commendation -- from diagnosis, to treatment through follow-up care and support.

The complete list of new sites:

·        Northside Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia (Northside Hospital Cancer Care Program)

·        The Queen’s Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii (The Queen’s Cancer Center)

·        St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center, Boise, Idaho (Mountain State Tumor Institute)

·        Mercy Medical Center, Des Moines, Iowa (Mercy Cancer Center)

·        Norton Suburban Hospital, Louisville, Kentucky (Norton Cancer Institute)

·        Maine Medical Center, Portland, Maine (Maine Medical Center Cancer Institute)

·        St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, Ann Arbor, Michigan (St. Joseph Mercy Cancer Care Center)

·        Saint Mary's Health Care, Grand Rapids, Michigan (The Lacks Cancer Center)

·        Providence Portland Medical Center, Portland, Oregon (Providence Cancer Center)

·        Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown, Pennsylvania (John and Dorothy Morgan Cancer Center)

·        Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, Pennsylvania (Geisinger Medical Center Cancer Institute)

·        Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Einstein Cancer Center and Einstein Center One)

·        Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center, La Crosse, Wisconsin (Gundersen Lutheran Center for Cancer & Blood Disorders)

·        Waukesha Memorial Hospital, Waukesha, Wisconsin (Waukesha Care Regional Cancer Center)

For a list of all sites in the network, visit ncccp.cancer.gov.