OU cancer center announces $20M gift
A $20 million gift will allow the Stephenson Cancer Center at OU Medicine to expand research programs and enhance and solidify the center's reputation as one of the nation's leading cancer centers, officials said Friday.
The donation comes from the Stephenson Family Foundation and Peggy and Charles Stephenson, who are the center's namesakes and longtime supporters of the University of Oklahoma. The cancer center has committed to raising an additional $20 million to help discover new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer, officials said.
Dr. Robert Mannel, director of the center, said one in two Oklahoma men and one in three Oklahoma women will be diagnosed with cancer in their life.
"Thanks to gifts such as this, Stephenson Cancer Center's researchers are able to advance cancer care by continually unlocking cancer's most difficult questions," Mannel told a group of state and community leaders, doctors, patients and others who filled the lobby of the cancer center Friday morning for the announcement ."… Together, we' re working towards the day when our patients no longer have to hear the words 'You have cancer.'"
The gift will allow for the recruitment of world- class scientists, the creation of five new endowed chairs and the renovation of laboratory space, officials said. It also will help with the center's pursuit of "the next level of excellence" — "comprehensive status" from the National Cancer Institute, Mannel said.
Last year, the Stephenson Cancer Center became Oklahoma's only National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Center, a distinction officials said places it among the top 2% of cancer programs in the country. Achieving "comprehensive status" would build on that distinction.
OU Interim President Joseph Harroz Jr. said the Stephensons are heroes.
"A lot of folks would take the naming of a building and go with that, but that certainly isn't who the Stephensons are," Harroz said. "They keep giving and building and loving and caring."
The Stephen sons, who live in Tulsa, are high school sweethearts who have been married 62 years. Charles Stephenson earned a degree in petroleum engineering from OU. He has led multiple oil and gas companies. Peggy Stephenson is executive director of the Stephenson Family Foundation.
Like so many others, their lives have been impacted by cancer.
Peggy Stephenson was diagnosed 22 years ago with breast cancer. She went through treatment in Florida and has been cancer-free since. Her mother died from melanoma. Charles Stephenson's parents died from complications of lung cancer.
"We' ve been extremely pleased as we have watched what has transpired here … the growth in not only the facility but the researchers that we have, the doctors we have, the support staff," Charles Stephenson said.
Dr. Camille Gunderson, medical director of the gynecological oncology clinic at the Stephenson Cancer Center, said patients at the cancer center have opportunities to participate in phase 1, 2 and 3 clinical trials that they otherwise might not be able to access anywhere in the state, region or country.
"Access to clinical trials can mean a new chance at life or at least an improved quality of life," Gunderson said. "This can mean everything to a patient."
Susan Laurence ,71, of Edmond, came to the cancer center for treatment after she was diagnosed with Stage 4 uterine cancer in 2015.
On Friday, she recalled the first day she came to the center to discuss what kind of treatment she would receive. A stranger who noticed the "deer in the headlights" look on her face put a hand on Laurence's shoulder and reassured her.
"This place really takes care of you," the woman said.
During the past four years, Laurence has under gone numerous treatments. The cancer spread to her spine and brain. The tumor in her brain was treated successfully, Laurence said, but lesions that spread to her spine caused her to lose the ability to walk. They were successfully shrunk by radiation, and she spent many months learning to walk again.
Laurence was referred to a Phase 1 clinical trial, which tests drugs for the first time in humans. She said the idea of the trial excited her. Knowing participating could not only better her future but could help countless others was incredibly powerful, she said. Today, she has completed more than 20 cycles of treatment.
She said she's grateful for the generosity of the Stephensons and full of hope for her future, so much so that she just got a puppy.
"My gratitude toward the center is boundless," Laurence said. " ... They have been compassionate and l oving, and everybody here has the attitude that the patient comes first and they will love you through it all."