What “Comprehensive Cancer Center” should really mean

by: Dr. Andrew Thorburn, Interim Director, University of Colorado Cancer Center*

So, what should “comprehensive” actually mean?
For us it means tackling the full gamut of areas that are important if we are to succeed in solving the cancer problem.

•For a truly comprehensive approach, we need to understand as much as possible about all aspects of cancer so that we can eventually prevent the approximately 50 percent or so of tumors that current data suggest could be prevented.
•We need to detect tumors early enough that they are easily dealt with.
•For those tumors that we can’t prevent or detect early, we need to develop better treatment strategies while delivering the highest quality of clinical care to our patients.

We don’t stop there. For us “comprehensive” extends to better understanding how to improve the lives of cancer survivors and their families and friends. It also means providing high-quality education at all levels from training the next generation of researchers, physicians and other health care providers to ensuring that the general public has accurate information about all aspects of cancer.

Previously, I wrote about our ability to determine molecular structures—research at the atomic level that is just about as basic as one can get. This week, in keeping with the idea that for UCCC, comprehensive means what it says, I thought we would consider the other end of the spectrum: cancer survivorship.

There are 12 million cancer survivors in the United States today.
That fact is both a call for celebration and the reason why we need survivorship programs. People who just a few years ago might not have survived their disease are now being successfully treated. So, since we expect to continue to improve the numbers of people who survive cancer, we’d better work on improving how we deal with survivorship.

UCCC is well-known for its cancer survivorship work through our AMC Cancer Prevention and Control Program and for the leadership of program co-leader Dr. Al Marcus (SOM/Cancer Center), and UCCC deputy director and AD for Prevention and Control, Dr. Tim Byers (CSPH). One measure of this success: UCCC is one of just eight Lance Armstrong Foundation LIVESTRONG™ Centers of Survivorship Excellence. This grant supports our cancer survivorship clinics.


*for the complete article and more information on cancer survivorship clinics, please contact Frieda Sands at sandsf@amc.org