NCCC at Dartmouth designated again as Comprehensive Cancer Center by NCI

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has renewed its Cancer Center Support Grant to Norris Cotton Cancer Center (NCCC) at Dartmouth, continuing NCCC's designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center.

"Comprehensive Cancer Center" is the top designation given by NCI for the highest quality patient care, cancer research, cancer prevention, and education of oncologists and researchers. NCCC is one of only 41 NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the United States and is the only such center in New Hampshire or Vermont.

"It is an honor and a privilege to care for our neighbors across northern New England at Norris Cotton Cancer Center," said NCCC Director Mark A. Israel, MD. "This renewal reflects the hard work of a very large team at the Cancer Center, a team that committed countless hours to support an effort that is nationally competitive. We are proud to be redesignated by NCI as a Comprehensive Cancer Center, and we look forward to continuing to provide the high-quality care our patients expect of us."

While the nationally competitive grant was announced on March 13, the final amount of the award for the Cancer Center's infrastructure will be determined in late spring or early summer. NCCC has been designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center by NCI since 1980.

NCCC delivers care to patients at 17 locations in New Hampshire and Vermont. The Center's board-certified oncologists include specialists in every type of cancer treatment. Community based oncologists work directly with the oncology team at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH.

Translation of research is a key component of care at NCCC. Cancer researchers at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center conduct translational research - soon to be expanded into the new Williamson Translational Research Building, opening in the summer of 2015 - that brings science directly to patients, providing them access to the latest treatment options. More than 150 clinical trials underway at NCCC offer new treatment options, while gene sequencing connects patients with targeted drug therapy for "precision medicine" The 150 NCCC researchers work on drug development, new imaging technology, nanotechnology, breakthrough radiation therapy, and robotic surgery to access the smallest spaces with the least trauma. For future generations, NCCC faculty are pursuing new opportunities to prevent the disease.

NCCC is also supported by the community when, every year on the second Saturday in July, more than 5,000 participants and 1,000 volunteers from across the country come to Hanover for The Prouty, to raise seed money to help find a cure for cancer and to support research and special services for patients that are not covered by insurance. Supporters walk, bike, golf, and row as individuals, families and teams. Others participate across the globe, completing their own "Virtual Prouty," to share in the incredible feeling of strength, purpose and love that comes when we gather together to cure cancer.

Source: The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth