The Hollings Cancer Center (HCC) at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) is the one of the nation’s newest NCI designated cancer centers, receiving its Cancer Center Support Grant in April 2009. Located in Charleston, South Carolina, the HCC was founded in 1993 and serves the state as a leader in cancer research, patient care and public and professional education. Since its opening in 1993, the Center has had significant growth in clinical and research facilities, patient care volume, research funding and in its clinical trials portfolio and accrual. Last year, the HCC had more than 80,000 outpatient visits, $33M in cancer research extramural funding, and more than 1,100 patients enrolled in cancer research studies. To accommodate the expanding clinical activities and provide additional space for the growth of basic and translational research, MUSC added a 7–story tower annex to its original HCC Building in 2006, bringing total dedicated MUSC cancer space to more than 200,000 ft2 (including 98,000 ft2 of research laboratories).
The goals of the HCC are to: 1) create an environment where cancer research will be fostered from basic concept to clinical/community intervention; 2) develop epidemiologic, environmental, and behavioral research to reduce the cancer burden and disparities in a rural, underserved population; 3) train the next generation of basic clinical and prevention researchers; 4) lead the coordination of state–wide efforts in research, education and clinical care; and 5) obtain National Cancer Institute “comprehensive” status. Toward these goals, the HCC has committed significant resources to: 1) recruiting and supporting basic, clinical and population–based investigators who can obtain and maintain investigator–initiated research grants from the NCI; 2) developing shared research resources to provide access to critical instrumentation and technologies; and 3) enhancing laboratory and other types of space dedicated to cancer–related activities.
HCC research membership includes more than 100 faculty researchers representing 23 departments in multiple colleges. Formal research programs include Lipid Signaling in Cancer, Cancer Genes & Molecular Regulation, Developmental Cancer Therapeutics, Cancer Immunology, and Cancer Prevention & Control. Future recruitments will be housed in two new buildings, the Drug Discovery Building and the Cancer Genomics and Bioengineering Building, to be completed in 2011 and 2012 respectively. HCC supports a robust array of shared research resources including: Biostatistics, Clinical Trials, Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting, Lipidomics, Cell and Molecular Imaging, Tissue Biorepository, Gene Knockout, Small Animal Imaging, Drug Discovery/Screening, Cellular Therapy/Immunology Monitoring, and Drug Metabolism and Clinical Pharmacology.
The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) has grown from a small private medical school in 1824 into one of the nation’s top academic health science centers, with a 700-bed medical center (MUSC Health) and six colleges that train approximately 2600 health care professionals per year.
As an academic medical center or teaching hospital, MUSC Health is at the forefront of the latest advances in medicine, with world-class physicians, groundbreaking research and technology that is often among the first of its kind in the world. Patients also benefit from a multidisciplinary, team approach to care that involves the close collaboration of specialists from many different areas.
MUSC Health annually records more than one million patient encounters, and is highly regarded in many disease areas including neurosciences,cancer care, rheumatology, digestive disorders,heart and vascular care, transplant, women’s health,pediatric medicine, musculoskeletal disorders, psychiatry, eye care, otolaryngology, and respiratory medicine.
In 2013, U.S. News & World Report recognized MUSC Health as “One of America’s Best Hospitals” with six specialty areas ranked in the top 50 in the nation (3 adult specialties and 3 pediatric). MUSC Health also was the only hospital in the Charleston area to be graded “A” by Leapfrog in the spring 2013 Hospital Safety Score. Other milestones include National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation for MUSC Hollings Cancer Center and the completion of a new, state-of-the-art hospital dedicated to the treatment of cardiovascular and digestive diseases.
Learn more facts about MUSC and our award-winning service lines:
Find a doctor
Make an appointment
To request an appointment with an MUSC Physician, please complete the form here (
https://www.muschealth.com/appointmentrequest/index.htm).
An MUSC representative will contact you within one business day. If you need
immediate assistance,
please call our representatives at 843-792-1414.
If you are having a medical emergency – please call 911.
*Source: National Cancer Institute; Hollings Cancer Center Medical University of South Carolina
Leave a Comment