Fifty years later, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James) remains focused on creating a cancer-free world. In 2021, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the National Cancer Act, the OSUCCC – James published major articles on the new Ohio State Health & Discovery website and in other cancer program publications that review in detail some of the major gains that have been made globally and at Ohio State in the war on cancer, which is far from over.
Among other things, the National Cancer Act provided for the establishment of National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer centers that meet rigorous standards for transdisciplinary, state-ofthe-art research focused on developing better approaches to preventing, diagnosing and treating this disease in its many forms. By the time the act was signed, more than 100 professional cancer investigators representing seven colleges at Ohio State had expressed interest in starting a formal cancer center at the university. Their efforts came to fruition in April 1976 when the NCI designated Ohio State as a comprehensive cancer center (CCC), one of only 18 at the time. The university has maintained that designation ever since and is today one of 52 NCI-designated CCCs in the United States.
The articles on the Ohio State Health & Discovery website, in Frontiers and in a “Half a Century of Cancer Science at Ohio State” special supplement chronicle not only these early efforts, but also the 1990 opening of the original James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, the 2014 opening of the new and much larger James as a transformational facility that fully integrates research and clinical care, and the groundbreaking work of multiple medical scientists at the OSUCCC – James who have helped change the landscape of research-based cancer treatment over the past five decades. Also included are perspectives from several OSUCCC – James experts on when or whether the war against this complex and multifarious disease will be won.