Welcome to the 2012 Accomplishments Report of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James).
The Ohio State University’s cancer program, embodied in both our OSUCCC and The James, is working to create a cancer-free world, one person, one discovery at a time. We strive to eradicate cancer by integrating groundbreaking research with personalized patient care and excellence in education.
This report offers a look at some of our most notable achievements and activities of 2012 in our continuing pursuit of a world without cancer.
From the Director/CEO
Because cancer isn’t just one disease but has multiple causes that will require many cures, effective treatment strategies are possible only through teamwork.
That’s why excitement continues to grow within Ohio State’s cancer program as we recruit more and more of the brightest minds in oncology to conduct scientific research that translates to innovative care. In the past year, we have added some 45 multidisciplinary faculty to our team. Our Comprehensive Cancer Center now has more than 300 scientists who collectively represent 11 of the 14 colleges at Ohio State and whose groundbreaking research is often published in leading scientific journals as they probe the molecular and genomic mechanisms of cancer and seek new ways to treat or prevent it.
Among the major attractions at Ohio State for our new recruits are our outstanding facilities, including the new James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute that is under construction and targeted for completion in 2014. The design of this visionary hospital will allow for much closer interaction among researchers, clinicians and educators, accelerating discovery and science-based cancer treatment.
The new James, which is the centerpiece of a $1.1 billion expansion of Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center, will contain 276 private patient rooms that will help us meet a projected 21-percent increase in patient admissions over the next 10 years. One tremendously valuable aspect of our expanding facilities and caseload is that even more patients will be able to contribute to curing cancer by participating in clinical trials – a hallmark of our cancer program.
In the past year, more than 6,400 patients (about 25 percent) at The James participated in clinical trials, well above the national average of 3-5 percent and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) benchmark of 10 percent. When patients aren’t enrolled in clinical trials, the field stands still – both in their treatment and in the treatment of future cancer patients. For that reason, we keep setting our sights higher for clinical trials; our participation goal for fiscal 2013 is 30 percent.
No accomplishments report would be complete without acknowledging the support we enjoy from our central Ohio community and from our advocates throughout the country. In the past fiscal year, the OSUCCC – James received a record $52.2 million from more than 111,000 donors. Our Pelotonia grassroots bicycle tour has raised more than $42 million in four years for cancer research.
In February 2012, the University’s Board of Trustees renamed our academic medical center as The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in honor of a $100 million gift that Leslie and Abigail Wexner and their Limited Brands Foundation gave to Ohio State in February 2011. Much of that gift benefits Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center and our cancer program.
With this combination of community support and our own resolve to cure cancer, we are never content to rest on our laurels, which include being named a “top hospital” by the Leapfrog Group for the fourth consecutive year and receiving the NCI’s highest rating, “exceptional,” during our most recent NCI redesignation as a comprehensive cancer center. The latter earned us an NCI support grant of $23 million – 16 percent more than our previous support grant. This money is vital to administering our operation and providing shared resources for our researchers.
This 2012 Accomplishments Report highlights some of our work over the past year, including: discoveries and advancements in cancer care; establishment of a drug-development institute to create a pipeline for taking new compounds through phase II clinical trials; and notable awards that reflect international acknowledgment of our quest to create a cancer-free world.
Michael A. Caligiuri, MD
Director, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center
CEO, The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute