The University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center is a matrix center that works with other departments in the medical school in planning and implementing cancer programs, fostering recruitments of key faculty, and providing space and resources for faculty in center programs. The UWCCC has as its major mission the development of fundamental knowledge and fostering interactive laboratory and clinical research. The research is aimed at improving our basic understanding of neoplastic diseases and ways to prevent the disease or improve the outcomes for patients with cancer. The cancer center programs all have a spectrum of activities that range from basic laboratory studies to clinical or control applications. The center programs reach out into 31 different departments and 7 colleges and involve 144 members. The center impacts on clinical care by fostering research in major diseases, such as urologic, breast, and pediatric cancers, or offering our patients new experimental therapies, stressing the appropriate application of pain control and emphasizing research in cancer prevention. Coordination is achieved by providing support for senior and program leaders, excellent shared services, adequate space for both clinical and lab research, a strong biostatistics and computer resource, and administrative support. The UWCCC investigators have been key players in developing many new cancer drugs, biologic response modifiers and chemoprevention agents. The basic research programs all include activities that relate to human cancers such as bladder, prostate and breast cancers, focussed on finding out why these cancers start, how to treat them or prevent their occurrence. Recently an increasing emphasis has been on prevention. UW investigators have been in the forefront of prevention research with the introduction and safety testing of tamoxifen as a chemopreventive agent for breast cancer. The UWCCC impacts on clinical research in the community through a variety of mechanisms. These include the affiliate programs of ECOG and the regional council of cancer organizations who work through the council to implement cancer control research. The UWCCC collaborates with the state Division of Health developing statewide programs in pain control, smoking cessation, tumor reporting, and breast screening. UWCCC intends to strengthen its current fundamental research efforts. The disciplines of nursing and surgical oncology require nurturing. The UWCCC sees prevention as an important area of expanded effort The UWCCC will continue to look for strategies in the lab and take these to the clinic. The CCSG proposal requests support for these current and developmental research thrusts, the program leaders and essential research shared resources.
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