The new home of the James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute – opening in December 2014 – will be the third-largest freestanding cancer hospital in the United States and will contain one of the largest surgical floors in the country. The size of the facility, coupled with the experienced clinical, surgical and support staff, will enable experts at the new James to handle a large volume of surgical patients and essentially any solid tumor problem that a patient might have. “There is no such thing as a routine cancer,” says Raphael E. Pollock, MD, PhD, a surgical oncologist and researcher at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James). “Each patient’s tumor presents its own unique set of challenges. The more we can specify and craft our responses to that unique situation, the more likely we’ll be able to control the tumor with minimal complications and morbidity for the patient.” The new James is equipped with surgical technologies that offer patients the most advanced, minimally invasive treatments available for their cancer. For example, all 14 surgical suites in the new James will be fully configured for robotic surgery, which enables surgeons to be extremely precise in their approach to an operation. “There are at least 400 or 500 different diseases that are classified as solid tumors,” Pollock says. “Each one has its own special treatment approaches, and for the vast majority of these, solid-tumor surgery is a very important therapy component.” Tailoring surgical treatments to the patient’s tumor gives oncologists the best chance of controlling it with minimal side effects or complications. For more information, watch this week’s segment of Toward a Cancer-Free World and subscribe to the OSUCCC – James Blog for future updates regarding the new James.