Cancer Center Support Grant

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle WA

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY: OVERALL The Fred Hutchinson/University of Washington Cancer Consortium (“the Consortium”) brings together more than 600 members with research interests in basic, clinical and public health sciences related to cancer. The goal of the Consortium is the elimination of cancer as a cause of suffering and death through more effective prevention, diagnostics, and treatment, deriving from fundamental insights into the biology of the disease. The extensive interdisciplinary collaboration among the partner institutions in the cancer research disciplines of basic, clinical, and public health sciences affords new opportunities to reduce suffering and mortality from cancer. The Consortium was established in 2002 to build upon the complementary strengths and resources of three partner institutions: the Fred Hutch, which has been an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center since 1976; the University of Washington, which has significant strength in cancer research, clinical care, and teaching; and Seattle Children’s, the major pediatric academic center in the region. In 2008, the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, the cancer treatment center founded and equally co-owned by the three founding institutions, was formally added to the cancer center designation. The Consortium’s total funding base (direct dollars) is $242M, of which $117M is peer-reviewed, including $50M from the NCI. During the last grant period, over 170 new faculty members joined the Consortium, adding breadth and depth to our research and clinical capabilities. In the most recent year, we enrolled 1,338 patients onto interventional treatment trials, of which more than 50% were investigator-initiated. The ratio of accruals to newly registered patients was 28%. The Consortium serves a catchment area of 13 counties in western Washington. This equates to the region in which 83 percent of our patients reside. As the only NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center in a five- state region (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho), we not only seek to serve the health needs of the catchment area through research, training, and outreach, but also to ensure high impact throughout the larger region. The Consortium continues to build upon historic strengths in basic cancer biology, immunology and transplantation, pathogen associated malignancies, tumor specific translational research, computational biology and studies of cancer etiology, prevention, and outcomes. The Consortium is well poised to continue its exceptional level of research in these areas. The CCSG continues to have a high impact on the Consortium, fostering new inter-institutional collaborations, strengthening the translational research platform, and intensifying research efforts on problems of the catchment area. Partner institutions contributed nearly $1.2 billion in institutional support during the last project period, including investments in our laboratory and clinical research infrastructure as well as in faculty recruitment and trainee support.