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Helen F. Graham Cancer Center

One of only 30 National Cancer Institute National Community Cancer Centers

In May 2007, the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center became one of the first awarded sites of the National Cancer Institute's Community Cancer Centers Program. This award recognized the enormous success of Christiana Care's cancer program to date, and it propelled the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center to international prominence as a leader in cancer diagnosis, treatment and research.

The National Cancer Institute Community Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP) began with a three-year pilot phase, with a view to begin rolling out the program nationwide in 2010. The program has four main goals:

  • Expand clinical trials to provide patients a local point of entry to the very latest cancer prevention and treatment advances through NCI-sponsored clinical trials.
  • Reduce cancer health care disparities to help reduce the cancer burden among underserved populations.
  • Collect, store and share more blood and tissue samples from a broader, more diverse cross section of patients, so that researchers have a greater opportunity to study both normal and cancerous cells. This includes our participation in the Cancer Genome Atlas Project.
  • Explore the usefulness of a national database of electronic medical records that links medical information to NCI's electronic patient data repository.

These goals highlight the NCCCP's dual focus on making it easier for people to access the best cancer care and advancing cancer research in the search for new treatments, perhaps one day, a cure.

Helping cancer patients to live longer

The Helen F. Graham Cancer Center's participation in the National Community Cancer Centers Program makes it easier for patients to receive high-quality cancer screening, prevention, treatment and palliative care services in a setting of multi-specialty care and clinical research. Evidence shows that by receiving diagnosis and treatment in this kind of setting, cancer patients tend to live longer and have a better quality of life. The results have already been promising; in recent years the cancer rate and cancer mortality rate in Delaware have dropped faster than in any other state.

Expanding Clinical Trials

Every patient at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center has access to the latest cancer prevention and treatment advances made through clinical trials sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. Clinical trials help to find new approaches to cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Continuing to increase patient access to clinical trials has been an important initiative at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center. Among the keys to our ongoing success in this endeavor are:

  • Special emphasis on increasing early-phase (Phase I and II) clinical trials, which focus on dosing, safety and efficacy and are usually conducted in smaller groups, before moving into Phase III trials. Phase III trials compare the investigational drug or intervention to the standard-of-care treatment currently in use.
  • A Web-based clinical-trial software program that links Christiana Care and its affiliate institutions worldwide. This computer program streamlines data tracking across the institutions that care for cancer patients. Our experience is viewed as a model for other oncology research programs across the nation.
  • Strategies to increase patient diversity and broaden access to the latest in high-quality treatment. There are biological differences in the way people of different races respond to illness and treatments. A clinical trial's conclusions regarding safety and effectiveness might not be valid for all population subgroups unless diverse populations take part in a clinical trial.

Christiana Care Helen F. Graham Cancer Center
4701 Ogletown-Stanton Road, Newark, DE 19713 directions
302-623-4500

Magnet recognition for excellence in nursing CarePages Delaware Health Sciences Alliance
Christiana Care Health System PO Box 1668, Wilmington, DE 19899 Contact Us www.christianacare.org
Christiana Care is a private not-for-profit regional health care system and relies in part on the generosity of individuals, foundations and corporations to fulfill its mission. To learn more about how you can support our mission, please visit christianacare.org/donors.