Information on University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center
The University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center was established in 1986 as a Center of Excellence at the University of Michigan (U-M) Medical Center. That same year it received its “comprehensive” designation by the National Cancer Institute. The Center is committed to the conquest of cancer through innovation and collaboration between scientists and clinicians to achieve: superior and compassionate patient care; scientific and technological innovation in cancer research; prevention, control and treatment; and excellence in training cancer researchers and health care providers.
The opening of the nine-story Cancer Center building in May 1997 on the U-M Medical Center campus placed patient care and research side by side in the same building facilitating communication between specialists and the quick transfer of research findings into the clinic. The building offers diagnostic, treatment and support services dedicated to cancer patients under one roof, along with convenient parking.
Multidisciplinary clinics bring together in one setting all the experts needed to develop comprehensive diagnosis and treatment plans. In fact, the U-M Cancer Center has received national attention as a model for its tumor-based team approach to optimize coordination of care for both adult and pediatric patients. Working in teams and with colleagues in local communities throughout Michigan and at other leading centers in the country, Cancer Center physicians use an array of advanced methods to detect cancer early and treat it aggressively.
The Center offers a comprehensive array of supportive services, including a Patient Education Resource Center, Complimentary Therapies, Nutrition Counseling, Child and Family Life Services, Art Therapy, Social Work Services and more. Dedicated, highly trained professionals promote healing through these support services and are assisted by a team of volunteers, including many cancer survivors.
The Center has over 300 physicians/researchers who receive over $80 million in annual total grant funding. In 2005 the UMCCC ranked among the top 10 cancer centers nationally for its research funding from the National Cancer Institute.
The Urologic Oncology Program follows a team approach to diagnosing and treating those with prostate cancer. Our patients have their situation discussed not only by our urologic oncologists and surgeons, but also by experts in radiation oncology and pathology. By having everyone involved, a personalized treatment plan is developed. All of this takes place in our Multidisciplinary Urologic Oncology Clinic.
In addition, we recognize the important needs of men diagnosed with high-risk or advanced cancer and offer advanced cancer care, individual genetic analysis and precise treatment.
The Urologic Oncology Program is the recipient of a $6.5 million Specialized Program of Research Excellence grant in prostate cancer, a George M. O’Brien Urology Research Center grant, a PO1 in prostate cancer metastasis to bone, and two T32 Urology Training Grants. Active laboratory programs include work in the areas of prostate cancer genetics, gene discovery, metastasis, biomarker discovery, therapeutic development, and prostate and bladder cell biology. Recently, research has expanded broadly into specific evaluation of quality-of-life outcomes analyses for localized and metastatic bladder and prostate cancers. Clinical trials involving gene therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and targeted agents are available for prostate, bladder and renal-cell cancers.
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