5 days ago
UPMC Hillman is an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center: What this means for patients
A cancer diagnosis changes someone's life—and so can the cancer center they choose for treatment. UPMC Hillman Cancer Center is western Pennsylvania's only National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, a distinction held by just 57 centers around the country. The NCI is our nation's leading cancer authority, and its Comprehensive Cancer Center program recognizes centers that are conducting groundbreaking research to develop new and better ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer.
For patients, treatment at an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center can mean better outcomes, according to a 2015 study of individuals with newly diagnosed adult-onset cancer.
'The advances that have been made of the past 10-plus years have really changed the landscape of cancer care,' says Stanley M. Marks, MD, UPMC Hillman's chairman. 'We can successfully treat difficult cancers now that 10 or 15 years ago, we never dreamt that we could. But in addition to better outcomes, the quality of life has improved.'
NCI designation is earned, not paid for or determined by peer nomination. Centers must demonstrate excellence in research across multiple branches of science and among a multidisciplinary team. Every five to seven years, UPMC Hillman undergoes a rigorous evaluation—including an extensive grant application and assessments of its research activities—to maintain its status.
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From Bench to Bedside
More than 300 UPMC Hillman scientists work together to investigate all aspects of cancer, from how it develops and behaves at the molecular level to how genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors influence someone's cancer likelihood. The team engages in bench-to-bedside practices, working collaboratively with physicians to translate promising laboratory findings into new and better therapies, diagnostic tools, and prevention strategies.
UPMC Hillman experts have made groundbreaking discoveries and pioneered new treatments to improve patient care, including:
Discovering two of the seven known cancer-causing viruses
Being the first to use natural killer cells, a type of immune cell, against cancer
Demonstrating that changing the gut microbiome through fecal transplant can enable patients with melanoma who did not previously respond to immunotherapy to successfully respond
Being the first to use a synthetic vaccine called MUC-1 against cancer
Creating national guidelines for exercise as a means to reduce the severity of chemotherapy symptoms
Developing the first vaccine targeting ductal carcinoma in situ, a type of pre-invasive breast cancer
Nationally Recognized Care in Local Communities
UPMC Hillman's NCI designation extends throughout its entire network, which includes nearly 80 locations in communities throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, and Maryland, well beyond its flagship facility in Pittsburgh. This means that patients can receive the latest evidence-based care and ongoing support with little or no need to travel.
'We strive for all our locations to deliver the same care the patients would receive if they came to Pittsburgh,' Dr. Marks says. 'For the most part, 90% of cancer care can be delivered in the community, and we want patients to be treated closer to home.'
At UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, we understand the complexity of cancer. Learn more about our research and clinical trials here.
UPMC Hillman Cancer Center is a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and is harnessing the expertise of physicians, scientists and allied health care professionals who deliver comprehensive clinical care, lead cutting-edge research, train future generations of cancer experts and engage with our communities to detect, treat and prevent cancer.
