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> UCLA/Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
> USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center
> City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center
 Judith C. Gasson
Ph.D.
Director of UCLA/
Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
In the late 1960s, a group of scientists and volunteers at the
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) came together to develop
a cancer center they hoped would become renowned for excellence
in research, education and patient care. Today, UCLA’s Jonsson
Comprehensive Cancer Center has established an international reputation
for developing new cancer therapies, providing the best in experimental
and traditional treatments, and expertly guiding and training the
next generation of medical researchers. With a membership of more
than 220 physicians and scientists, the Jonsson Cancer Center handles
upwards of 20,000 patient visits per year and offers more than
200 clinical trials providing the latest in experimental cancer
treatments.
The Jonsson Center’s most important resource is our faculty.
From the beginning, STOP CANCER recognized this and invested in
our best and brightest young recruits. As alumni and alumnae, our
former STOP CANCER Research Career Development Awardees currently
hold an average of over $1,000,000 each in peer-reviewed research
funding. These twelve physician scientists and four basic researchers
continue their outstanding work in breast, prostate, brain, melanoma,
myeloma, leukemia, lung and ovarian cancers.
UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center offers a full range of services from
experimental and advanced treatments to psychosocial and supportive
care, with more than 40 academic disciplines represented in the
divisions of Basic Research, Clinical/Transnational Research and
Prevention and Control Research. The Center emphasizes prevention
and early detection with a particular focus on building interdisciplinary
teams of experts representing different specialties.
The Center’s multidisciplinary approach to cancer is providing
insights into how the genes we inherit are modified by our environment.
As studies continue to shed light on the biology of cancer, it
becomes increasingly evident that the end of cancer begins with
research.
We thank STOP CANCER for your generous investment in our most
important resource. What you have done has made an enormous difference
in the battle against this disease.
Click here to visit UCLA Web site
 Peter A. Jones
Ph.D., D.Sc.
Director of USC/Norris
Comprehensive Cancer
Center
The USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center is dedicated to understanding
the causes of cancer at a most basic level and to designing prevention
and treatment strategies, which will ultimately rid us of this
disease. All of us at the Center are very excited at the completion
of the rough draft of the Human Genome Project. The availability
of the human genetic blueprint will strongly stimulate the rate
of progress that we will make in furthering our goals of cancer
eradication. This is because cancer is fundamentally a disease
of our genes in which pathways that control cell division become
altered. Knowledge of the exact gene structure makes it far easier
to understand the process and to come up with effective new strategies
for cancer prevention and treatment.
The last few years have seen several major scientific breakthroughs
at the USC/Norris, many of which have included the direct participation
of STOP CANCER. Our scientists have made major breakthroughs in
understanding how steroid hormones turn on cell division within
cells in the prostate and breast. Knowing how this happens is very
important in our overall understanding of how prostate and breast
cancer (two of the major killers in this country) are induced.
Additionally, several exciting projects funded by STOP CANCER
have led to an understanding of how tumor cells induce blood vessels
to grow to provide a source of nutrients for the tumor. We now
have some new therapies based upon this approach, an exciting new
generation of anticancer agents, which can best be used in conjunction
with other agents to stem the course of the disease.
Our colleagues at Children’s Hospital, who are also members
of the Norris Cancer Center, have made important new discoveries
in the best ways to treat childhood neuroblastoma. This is one
of the more common pediatric tumors and these new treatments have
received much attention for their efficacy in helping children
with this dreadful disease.
The pace of scientific discovery at the Center is increasing rapidly,
and we have already filled our labs to capacity and our hospital
is nearly full with patients receiving the latest treatments for
cancer. For this reason, we are embarking on an exciting project
to build a new research tower, which will be devoted entirely to
translating modern discoveries in genetic medicine as quickly as
possible into new therapies. At this crucial time in human development,
we will forge ahead together with STOP CANCER to make both of our
dreams become a reality.
Click here to visit USC Web site
 Michael A. Friedman, M.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
City of Hope
“There is no profit in curing the body if, in the process, we destroy the soul.”
Our credo embodies the essence of City of Hope in 2008 just as it did when our institution was founded nearly 100 years ago. Today, we direct our efforts to improving therapies and ultimately finding a cure for diseases such as cancer and diabetes, but we also continue to carry on the tradition of compassionate care that is City of Hope’s legacy.
We move ahead as a new model of cancer center, driven by a sense of urgency to rapidly transform scientific discoveries into new and better treatments for those in need.
City of Hope is designated as one of only a handful of comprehensive cancer centers by the National Cancer Institute and is ranked among “Americas’s Best Hospitals” in cancer and urology by U.S.News & World Report. Our researchers collaborate with colleagues throughout the world to develop the treatments of tomorrow. This collaborative approach has enabled City of Hope to achieve significant milestones in the fight against cancer and other life-threatening diseases:
- City of Hope scientists have been granted more than 200 unique U.S. patents for medical processes and products, including patented research that led to the creation of four of the world’s top cancer-fighting drugs: Herceptin, Rituxan, Avastin and Erbitux.
- Recombinant DNA technology developed at City of Hope led to Humulin – synthetic insulin used by millions worldwide.
- A pioneer in bone marrow transplantation, City of Hope has performed more than 8,700 bone marrow and stem cell transplants – this program is now one of the largest and most successful of its kind.
- City of Hope’s Center for Biomedicine & Genetics is an on-site manufacturing facility that enables investigators to quickly translate research findings from the laboratory to the clinical setting. It is licensed by the state and federal government to produce pharmaceutical-grade therapeutic compounds for phase I and II human clinical trials.
City of Hope is devoted to speeding the path from laboratory discoveries to treatment, pursuing scientific breakthroughs that advance our knowledge of cancer and other diseases. Our researchers know that patients with cancer need better treatments now.
With the help of STOP CANCER, we will continue to advance our vision and to provide medicine with compassion to our patients and their families — and advance science for the benefit of patients everywhere.
Click here to visit City of Hope Web site
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