Stephenson Cancer Center gets national designation
Even before Stephenson Cancer Center joined the top 2 percent of cancer hospitals nationwide, its researchers were making a name for themselves to the point of throwing off other scientists' calculations.
Dr. Ned Sharpless, director of the National Cancer Institute, was in Oklahoma City on Wednesday morning to announce Stephenson had become only the 70th hospital to become an NCI designated
cancer center. Stephenson enrolled more patients in clinical trials than any other center last year, he said, and in one trial conducted at multiple centers, the researchers had to run some additional calculations to make sure the “Oklahoma effect” of so many Stephenson patients participating wouldn’t mess up the results.
The head scientist in that trial noted the “dedication and hard work of a few clinical trial enthusiasts” in Oklahoma, Sharpless said.
“People who write cancer papers are not romantics” in the language they choose, he said. “I can’t imagine higher praise.”
The announcement that Stephenson had gotten the NCI designation came nearly 17 years after Gov. Frank Keating signed a bill authorizing OU to create a cancer center that could compete for it.
“In some ways, that challenge had our name on it,” said outgoing OU President David Boren. “We wanted to make it so (patients) wouldn’t have to leave Oklahoma and leave their families and be far from their support networks.”
Oklahomans have a higher risk of getting cancer and a higher risk of dying than Americans overall. About half of Oklahoma men and one-third of Oklahoma women will develop cancer over the course of their lifetime, if current trends continue.
Three of Oklahoma’s five members of Congress were present and spoke Wednesday. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Tulsa praised Boren’s tenacity in raising funds for the $400 million publicprivate partnership that created Stephenson. Rep. Tom Cole, R-Moore, said legislators also deserved some credit for funding the center, and Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma City, reminded attendees that significant work still lies ahead in the fight against cancer.
Staff at Stephenson had to submit about 1,200 pages of information to the NCI about the clinical services and research they perform, said Dr. Robert Mannel, director of the cancer center. A significant part of the application involves building the case that a center’s work is advancing knowledge about cancer, he said.
“If all we were doing is the best care we’ve ever done, 35 percent of our patients are still going to die,” he said. “If we
find a drug that improves survival in ovarian cancer by 20 percent, that doesn’t just help us, that helps every woman in the world.”
In five years, the center will have to reapply and show that its work is making a difference in how cancer is treated in Oklahoma, Mannel said.
“While NCI designation is a tremendous accomplishment, it’s not the end,” he said.
As part of the designation, Stephenson will have access to $2 million in new funding for cancer research, Sharpless said. The designation itself can be more valuable than the money, though. Other federal agencies, drug companies and top researchers know how difficult it is to get the designation, so they want to work with centers that have it, he said.
Designated centers have an important role in advancing knowledge about how to treat cancer, because they both conduct research and care for patients, Sharpless said. Stephenson will be able to make a particularly important contribution because it serves large numbers of American Indians and rural residents, both of whom are at a heightened risk of dying of cancer, he said.
The centers “are really the backbone by which we take new ideas and move them into patient care,” he said.
Karen Hanna, who was diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer in April 2013, credited two trials she participated in at Stephenson for saving her life. One involved an existing drug that hadn’t been tried against ovarian cancer, and the other involved a new medication. In August, she’ll have been in remission for four years.
Hanna said she hopes the designation means that more Oklahomans will be able to participate in clinical trials.
“Hopefully one day, they will be standing before an audience like this and say, ‘I’m a survivor,’” she said.
If all we were doing is the best care we’ve ever done, 35 percent of our patients are still going to die. If we find a drug that improves survival in ovarian cancer by 20 percent, that doesn’t just help us, that helps every woman in the world.” Dr. Robert Mannel director of the cancer center