tumor cell biology program - Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

PROGRESS REPORT 1999-2001
Joseph D. Rosenblatt, M.D.
Scientific Director
Since joining the University of Miami
Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer
Center last year as division chief in Hematology-Oncology
and scientific director,
I have participated in a number of
exciting activities. UM/Sylvester’s goals
are simple: to provide state-of-the-art
cancer care to patients in South Florida
and the region, including the many patients
from Latin America and the Caribbean
seeking tertiary care, clinical trials,
and novel therapeutic options; and second,
to facilitate the rapid translation of
research into new and better means of
cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
There is no question we must meet
these challenges head on. Almost
550,000 Americans will die of cancer this
year, and Florida ranks second only to
California in the number of new cancer
cases, projected to exceed more than
88,000 this year. Our tumor registry at
Jackson Memorial Hospital, UM/
Sylvester, and Bascom Palmer Eye Institute
records over 5,000 newly referred
cases per year, exclusive of skin cancer.
Our unique and diverse populations provide
us with unparalleled opportunities,
as well as profound logistical challenges
as we expand clinical research activities.
During the past year, we have conducted
a systematic review of where we
are as a cancer center, where we want to
be, and have outlined a series of steps
already in progress to assume our rightful
place in the ranks of America’s premiere
cancer centers. Our distinguished
External Advisory Board visited us in November
of 2001, carefully reviewed our
programs, and left impressed with UM/
Sylvester’s progress and enthusiastic
about our future. To further fulfill our
potential, we need to build upon the excellent
programs already in place, expand
our portfolio of clinical trials, and develop
new multidisciplinary initiatives
across departmental lines.
During the past year we have been
meeting and planning at all levels of the
organization. Our success will be determined
by our ability to stimulate innovative
clinical and translational trials and
augment existing scientific programs
through the careful application of available
philanthropic and human resources
and the acquisition of important new
shared resources for our investigators. To
meet these challenges, Dr. W. Jarrard
Goodwin, UM/Sylvester director; our
associate directors for Basic and Clinical
Research, Drs. Eckhard R. Podack and
Shou-Ching Tang, respectively; and I
have embarked on an ambitious overhaul
of our clinical and research infrastructure,
and on an equally ambitious recruitment
program.
The years 1999-2001 saw a steady
increase in National Cancer Institute
funding from $7.7 million in 1999 to
$8.3 million in 2001. New research space
is being prepared in the Batchelor Building,
administrative space in the Fox
Building, and future space renovation
and construction are in the advanced
planning phase to allow us to pursue our
very ambitious recruitment goals.
Over the past year, UM/Sylvester has
organized site-specific multidisciplinary
oncology groups, which now meet
regularly to coordinate both patient care,
protocol development, and translational
research efforts and function across UM/
Sylvester, JMH, and the Miami Veteran’s
Administration Hospital. Site-specific
clinics in head and neck oncology, lung
cancer, hematologic malignancies, breast
cancer, and others have been introduced
at the JMH outpatient clinic and are
abetting clinical trial accrual, fellow education,
and translational research. Of necessity,
these groups function in a
complex environment and across departmental
lines to provide state-of-the-art
care and conduct innovative clinical research.
We are working to assure that the
primary site-specific groups, e.g., breast,
lung, and genitourinary, assemble a critical
mass so as to position the groups and
UM/Sylvester for future National Institute
of Health SPORE submissions.
We’ve taken a major step forward with
the recent recruitment of Dr. Joyce M.
Slingerland from the University of
Toronto to head our efforts in breast cancer,
and Dr. Rakesh Singal from Louisiana
State University to join the genitourinary
program.
Although utilization of clinical space
at UM/Sylvester and JMH is being maximized
and optimized, the steady growth
of patients is presenting severe logistical
challenges to already strained resources.
A major expansion of the Clinical Treatment
Unit at UM/Sylvester and relocation
and expansion of outpatient facilities
at JMH are planned to allow provision
of multidisciplinary care at both sites by
teams organized and coordinated
through UM/Sylvester.
BASIC SCIENCE RESEARCH
We have continued to emphasize
three longstanding scientific programs
with excellent track records: Tumor Cell
Biology led by Dr. Kermit L. Carraway,
Tumor Immunology led by Dr. Diana
M. Lopez, and Viral Oncology led by Dr.
William J. Harrington, Jr.
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UM/Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center Scientific Report 2002