Partners of Health Sciences South Carolina have formed an integrated network of cancer services, which they hope will speed National Cancer Institute designation for the Medical University of South Carolina's Hollings Cancer Center.

The collaborative is comprised of MUSC, the University of South Carolina, the Greenville Hospital System, Palmetto Health, Clemson University and Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System.

By integrating cancer services, which they say is the first such statewide initiative in the country, they believe they stand a better chance with NCI.

NCI designation means more federal funding as well as more money from private sources. And that means more staff, more research and better access to the latest clinical trials for patients. It also attracts the interest of biotechnology companies, which is one of the collaborative's goals to help stimulate the state's economy.

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The more patients a cancer center has enrolled in clinical trials, the more attractive it becomes to NCI, said Dr. Jerry Youkey, vice president of medical and academic services for GHS. That's because research can move more quickly with a larger number of patients, he said.

"There is a certain critical mass you have to have," Youkey said.

Working together, the chances are greater of reaching that critical mass than any one institution has on its own, said MUSC President Ray Greenberg. He said it also builds on the historical working relationships between the research universities and the hospital, which should help speed new therapies from the lab to the bedside.

"Any time you enhance research, you also enhance the educational experience of graduate and undergraduate students across a range of biotech and health-sciences curriculums," Clemson President Jim Barker said in a release. "This is a tremendous opportunity for South Carolina's future scientists, engineers, physicians and nurses."

"Not only will this improve access to cutting-edge cancer therapies," added Palmetto Health CEO Kester Freeman, also chairman of the collaborative, "access to these therapies will be more uniform across the state."

There are 60 NCI-designated centers around the country today. MUSC is hoping for designation as a comprehensive cancer center.

GHS is hoping for NCI designation as a clinical cancer center. And earlier this month, its trustees approved plans to enhance and consolidate its cancer programs and to put a new facade and central entry on its cancer facilities at Faris Road in hopes of expediting that designation.

Youkey said this latest move to integrate services might help that along as well.

The Hollings Center will be the lead institution of the South Carolina Coordinated Cancer Initiative. And Greenberg said he's hoping for a decision from NCI in about three years.

The collaborative was formed in 2004 to boost the state's economy and health through research and education.