S.C. launches cancer research initiative

6 institutions unite behind MUSC’s quest to attain National Cancer Institute designation

By LINDA H. LAMB

llamb@thestate.com

South Carolina’s effort to have a comprehensive cancer center with the weighty prestige of a National Cancer Institute designation takes another step forward today with formation of a state cancer research initiative.

Eventual benefits for S.C. cancer patients could include greater access to top-notch specialists, research studies, new drugs and experimental treatments.

The initiative involves six universities and hospital systems, including the University of South Carolina and Palmetto Health in Columbia.

Swallowing some competitive concerns, all of the institutions will pitch in to boost prospects for NCI designation of the Medical University of South Carolina’s Hollings Cancer Center.

Also included are Clemson University, Greenville Hospital System and Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System. Representatives of the institutions are signing an agreement this morning at a meeting with state legislators.

“I think it’s a good development. The state is in desperate need of a comprehensive cancer center,” said James Chapman, an associate professor of chemistry at USC.

Significantly, groups such as the S.C. Alliance for Cancer Chemoprevention — founded by Chapman and others in 2001 — have helped pave the way for a collaborative attack on the disease that kills close to 10,000 South Carolinians a year. There’s more cooperation on cancer control than ever before, said Chapman, who is also involved in an 800-member grass-roots group called the South Carolina Cancer Alliance.

“I’m really pretty optimistic about the collaborative efforts that are going on,” he said. “I think it’s the only way for this state to be competitive.”

When it comes to NCI designation, competition is fierce.

There are only 61 NCI-designated centers in 33 states, and institutions as prestigious as Emory University in Atlanta are pursuing designation in an application process that takes years. MUSC’s application is at least a year away. What’s at stake: the ability to draw much more federal money for research studies, new treatments and attracting the best specialists.

The six institutions comprise Health Sciences South Carolina, a partnership established in 2004 with an $80 million investment that was matched with $80 million from the General Assembly.

The group’s four hospital systems represent the state’s major cancer treatment centers. That’s crucial, because establishing a network of cancer research will allow the Charleston center to cite all the hospitals’ NCI-funded studies in its application to be a comprehensive center.

“I can’t overemphasize that,” said Harris Pastides, vice president for research and health sciences at USC. “The competition isn’t about how much you love to take care of cancer people. It’s about how much research you’re already doing that’s funded by the NCI.”

Pastides said it took a leap of faith for all the institutions to give the Hollings Center control in the initiative for “the greater good” of the state.

“We told people, ‘Look, this is what has held South Carolina back for so many years: We all want to lead,’” Pastides said. “We don’t love Charleston any more than anyone else, but quite frankly, they’re in the lead on this.”

There already are studies on which researchers at the different institutions are collaborating. And it’s possible for a patient in Charleston or Columbia to connect with a clinical trial in Greenville or Spartanburg.

But there will be a more centralized and coordinated approach with the new initiative, said Judy Cotchett Smith, a Palmetto Health spokeswoman and executive director of Health Sciences South Carolina.

For example, she said, a statewide tumor registry will centralize data on cancers that are diagnosed throughout South Carolina. A statewide tissue bank will make tissue samples available to researchers here and possibly at institutions in other states.

A centralized state review board, most likely coordinated online, will serve as a clearinghouse to approve new research studies. Now, every institution has its own review board — often several of them.

Smith said the statewide approach has proven to be a good tool to recruit experts in other specialties and should prove appealing to cancer specialists, too.

“We see it as an enhancement, or I promise you that we would never have gotten into it,” she said.

Taking the lead on the new project — called the S.C. Coordinated Cancer Initiative — will be Dr. Andrew Kraft, director of the Hollings Center. He said he’s hopeful the group could negotiate with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to bring more innovative treatments to the state.

There also will be an effort to promote and expand effective grass-roots efforts at cancer prevention, said Kraft, who is a cancer specialist and researcher.

“The idea is to work together,” he said.

That’s what it will take — multiple partnerships across the state — to make an impact on cancer rates, said John Ureda, who chairs the South Carolina Cancer Alliance.

“The program should be a South Carolina effort, not just an MUSC effort,” he said. “If it achieves this, we will indeed be on the cutting edge.”

Reach Lamb at (803) 771-8454.