University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute

Hillman Cancer Center, home of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and UPMC Cancer Centers

The University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) is a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center located in the Hillman Cancer Center in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The only NCI-designated cancer center in Western Pennsylvania, UPCI is composed of collaborative academic and research efforts between the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), and Carnegie Mellon University.[1] UPCI works in tandem with UPMC Cancer Centers to provide clinical cancer care to some 74,000 patients treated at its facilities at both the flagship Hillman Cancer Center location and at dozens of UPMC-affiliated sites throughout the Pittsburgh region as well as at a growing list of overseas locations. Founded in 1984, UPCI became the youngest cancer center in history to achieve NCI-designation,[2] and as of 2007 received nearly $200 million in funding from the National Cancer Institute ranking it in the top ten of all cancer research institutes.[1]

Cancer Institute

The UPCI was founded in 1984 under the direction of Ronald B. Herberman, MD.[3] UPCI remains the only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Western Pennsylvania, and today is composed of 625 research faculty members specializing in disciplines ranging from cancer prevention and early detection to novel therapeutic discovery, survivorship, and end of life care. While most UPCI faculty maintain academic appointments at the University of Pittsburgh and physician-scientists maintain their clinical appointments through UPMC hospitals, some UPCI members are affiliated solely with UPMC or neighboring Carnegie Mellon University. Four target research areas of molecular and medical oncology at the institute include 1) the biological basis of cancer development and progression; 2) identification of new biomarkers for improved cancer detection and diagnosis; 3) the development of novel therapeutics for successful and comprehensive cancer treatment; and 4) establish and implement effect cancer prevention measures.[1] Over the last five years, UPCI's 350 faculty members have published more than 4,500 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

UPCI is ranked 12th in funding from the National Cancer Institute. It has increased its federal research funding to a total of nearly $174 million in 2011; up from totals of $154 million in 2007, $149 million in 2004, and $120 million in 2001. These totals include three competitive Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grants focusing on head and neck, lung, and skin cancers. UPCI works in tandem with UPMC Cancer Centers Network to translate the latest research advances to clinical application for patients. UPCI also offers a variety of education, training programs and fellowships, in conjunction with related schools within the University of Pittsburgh, for both new cancer researchers to experienced investigators.[4] The current director of the UPCI and UPMC Cancer Centers is Nancy E. Davidson, MD.[3]

UPMC CancerCenter

UPMC CancerCenter works in tandem with the UPCI to offer the latest advances in cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment to patients at UPMC-affiliated locations throughout the Pittsburgh region and abroad. The centers combine to create a network of more than 2,300 physicians, scientists, administrative staff, and other health care professionals that provide the latest care, technology, and treatments, as well as clinical trials, to over 36,000 patients each year.[3] UPMC CancerCenter encompass 13 areas of expertise, each focusing on a specific type or treatment of cancer. These include programs devoted to melanoma, brain cancers, breast cancer, colon and gastrointestinal cancers, head and neck cancers, leukemias and lymphomas, liver cancer, lung cancer, gynecologic cancers, prostate and urologic cancers, and stem cell transplantation. Pediatric cancers are treated by specialists at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.[5]

Locations

The network works as a hub-and-satellite system of cancer care services at locations that are tied to the central hub and the flagship facility of the UPMC CancerCenter Network and UPCI, the Hillman Cancer Center. The UPMC CancerCenter Network covers a geographic area of more than 200 miles (320 km) around greater Pittsburgh, comprising 180 affiliated oncologists at over 30 locations throughout Western Pennsylvania and Ohio and includes a growing list of international locations starting in Dublin and Waterford, Ireland and a radiotherapy center in Rome.[6][7] In November, 2008, UPMC announced a partnership with GE Healthcare to open 25 additional cancer treatment centers across Europe and the Middle East over the next ten years.[8][9]

Pittsburgh Locations

Locations North of Pittsburgh

Locations South of Pittsburgh

Locations East of Pittsburgh

Locations West of Pittsburgh

International Locations

Hillman Cancer Center

Hillman Cancer Center is the flagship facility for the clinical services of UPMC Cancer Centers and research activities for the UPCI. The $130 million, 350,000-square-foot, 5-story facility, designed by Pittsburgh architectural firm IKM, opened in 2002 in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh. It is located directly across Centre Avenue from, and connected via a pedestrian bridge to, UPMC Shadyside hospital where cancer surgery and Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) are conducted.[10][11] The Hillman Cancer Center building houses both a research pavilion and a clinical pavilion connected by a three-story atrium. The facility brings together 400 full-time researchers and clinicians and 185 physicians practicing in the UPMC Cancer Centers network. The clinical pavilion offers cancer prevention, risk assessment, detection, treatment, and stress and symptom management services including radiology services such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound, computed tomography (CT) and positron emission tomography (PET).[12] It also includes waiting rooms equipped with televisions and play areas for children and access to a kitchen stocked with beverages and light refreshments. The outpatient clinic, known as The William Cooper Pavilion, honoring the oncologist who led the campaign for philanthropic support of the center, was designed by architectural firm Radelet McCarthy.[11] The Hillman Cancer Center also offers other amenities for patients including valet parking, a patient and family education and information center, a garden and meditation with a granite fountain, a café, gift shop and a salon where patients can receive salon services and purchase wigs, hats, skin care products and prostheses.[13]

In 2012, the Hillman Cancer Center opened the Mario Lemieux Center for Blood Cancers on the fourth floor of the building. The center is dedicated to former Pittsburgh Penguins hockey player Mario Lemieux, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1993 and was cured. [14]

A prominent sculpture at the center is the bronze "Circle of Care" by Tuck Langland of Granger, Indiana.[15]

Notable people associated with the Institute

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute: About UPCI". University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Retrieved 2009-08-19.
  2. ↑ Levine, Arthur S. MD; Detre, Thomas P. MD; McDonald, Margaret C. PhD MFA; Roth, Loren H. MD MPH; Huber, George A. JD; Brignano, Mary Germann MA; Danoff, Sandra N. MSHS; Farner, David M.; Masnick, Jeffrey L. MBA MS; Romoff, Jeffrey A. MPhil (September 2008). "The Relationship Between the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center—A Profile in Synergy". Academic Medicine (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins) 83 (9): 819. doi:10.1097/ACM.0b013e318181d1a8. ISSN 1040-2446. PMID 18728434. Retrieved 2013-10-18.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute: Welcome". University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
  4. ↑ "University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute: Education and Training". University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
  5. ↑ "About UPMC Cancer Centers - Overview". Retrieved 2009-08-26.
  6. ↑ "UPMC Cancer Center and UPCI Fast Facts" (PDF). upmccancercenter.com. 2012. Retrieved January 17, 2013.
  7. ↑ "UPMC Cancer Centers -- Network Locations". Retrieved 2009-08-19.
  8. ↑ Mitchell, Susan (2008-11-23). "UPMC planning to open 25 cancer centres outside Ireland". The Sunday Business Post (Cork, Ireland). Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  9. ↑ Schmid, John (2008-11-12). "GE, medical center team up to build cancer centers worldwide". Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  10. ↑ "Gallery - Category: Hillman Cancer Center". IKM. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lowry, Patricia (2002-10-30). "Cancer Center design focuses on patients". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
  12. ↑ Steele, Bruce (2002-10-10). "Hillman Cancer Center opens". University Times. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
  13. ↑ "Hillman Cancer Center opens". Pittsburgh Business Times. 2002-10-09. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
  14. ↑ "UPMC'S Mario Lemieux Center for Blood Cancers opens in Shadyside". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2012-12-24. Retrieved 2014-05-02.
  15. ↑ "UPCI: Circle of Care". University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
  16. ↑ "Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Program (CEPP)". Retrieved 17 March 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hillman Cancer Center.

Coordinates: 40°27′19″N 79°56′32″W / 40.4553°N 79.9422°W