Cancer patients in South Florida will benefit from a prestigious designation earned by the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at University of Miami that comes with access to more clinical trials, cancer research and experimental therapies.
Sylvester announced on Monday that the National Cancer Institute has recognized the hospital for its research efforts and cutting-edge cancer treatments. By becoming an NCI-Designated Cancer Center, Sylvester receives new perks and funding to deliver cutting-edge cancer treatment to patients. The National Cancer Institute is the federal government’s primary agency to address research and training needs for cancer treatment.
Until now, the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa had been the only Florida representative of the 70 cancer centers in the nation with the designation. To earn the designation, Sylvester submitted a 1,300-page application that detailed its research and expertise in multiple scientific areas and disciplines to treat common and complex cancers.
“This puts us into an elite category of cancer centers in the U.S.” said Dr. Stephen D. Nimer, director of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. “Only 3 percent of cancer centers are designated. We have spent seven years aspiring to be a world-class cancer center. This means we’ve achieved our goal.”
Nimer said Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center can now get more money from the government for cancer research and access to new therapies and cancer treatments given only to NCI-designated centers. Initially, Sylvester will receive a $2.1 million grant. In addition,the Miami cancer center also can participate in clinical trials going on at other NCI centers where thousands of patients are receiving experimental cancer-fighting therapies.
“Cancer remains a difficult problem which has a huge impact on people’s lives,” Nimer said. “We don’t want people to travel to another major city like New York, or Houston, or Boston when we have treatments and expertise right here, and they can get access to world-class physicians scientists and experimental treatments.”
Nimer said Sylvester’s outreach efforts to prevent cancer in specific local communities impressed NCI. For example, Sylvester has a prevention program in little Haiti to reduce advanced cervical cancer after the community showed an unusually high incidence of the disease. Also, in South Florida, Sylvester has the only Phase 1 Clinical Trials Program—the first step in evaluating how patients respond to new investigational treatments.
NCI Acting Director Dr. Douglas R. Lowy said Sylvester serves as a local and regional resource in reducing the burden of cancer, a requirement of federally designated centers. “Sylvester has demonstrated extensive outreach and engagement activities serving its community, including the most vulnerable and underrepresented populations,” he said
Luis Demetrio Martinez, a Miami engineer, participates in a clinical trial underway at Sylvester and hopes to tap into future trials that come as a result of the new designation. When Martinez’s urological cancer returned after 21/2 years in remission, he signed up for an experimental drug that Sylvester doctors are studying. His doctor at Sylvester is a specialist in genital urological cancer.
“The cancer is aggressive and these drugs are targeted,” he explained.
The treatment is working for Martinez. “My quality of life is good,” he said.
Martinez believes the Sylvester’s new NCI designation offers more hope for the current and future cancer patients in this community. “It will bring Sylvester new patients, more specialists and more money to fund research. That’s what we need. The hope is that more cancers are moving in the direction of becoming a chronic-type disease that people can live with for many years.”
On Monday, political leaders including U.S. Sen. Rick Scott and U.S. Rep. Donna Shalala participated in Sylvester’s news conference in Miami to announce the NCI recognition. Along with the new funding and research opportunities come high expectations of NCI-designated centers. Sylvester is expected to share its research and to serve as major sources of discovery of the nature of cancer and of development of more effective approaches to prevention, diagnosis, and therapy.
Nimer said getting funding from NCI is particularly important for researching complex cancers that require “multi-disciplinary approaches.”
“While there is no cure for cancer, there may be cures for each sub-type of cancer,” Nimer said. “If you are wondering where the experts are in your type of cancer, they are at NCI-designated centers.”
Cindy Krischer Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4661, Twitter and Instagram @cindykgoodman
