The
statistics are alarming. The death rate for cancer in the Cincinnati
metropolitan area ranks among the top 10th percentile in the country.
The fact that area cemeteries are full of its victims is evidence enough
we are losing the local battle against cancer. But it gets worse.
Patients are leaving town for care. Cincinnatians are leaving town for
hope. They leave their homes, their families, their friends, their churches
behind to seek new treatments, to seek second opinions and to put off
death. And not just at the Mayo Clinic. Cancer victims are turning to
regional doctors and hospitals as close as Lexington, Ky.; Pittsburgh,
Pa.; and even Columbus, Ohio.
"There is the perception that cancer care is not what it should be
in the Cincinnati area," says Cecilia Fenoglio-Preiser, director
of the University of Cincinnati Department of Pathology and Laboratory
Medicine and newly appointed director of the Barrett Cancer Center. "We
have scattered excellence, but we need more uniform excellence. For much
of cancer treatment, you can get reasonable care within the general community.
But there is the perception, particularly for a person who is incurable,
that we don’t have access to state of the art clinical trials and
we are not as cutting edge."
That, she says, will change. Not just the perception, but also the reality.
If admitting a problem is the first step, it is time to move to step two.
Fenoglio-Preiser, an internationally known expert on genetic alterations
in tissue, says plainly, "Cancer is not a success story in this institution."
The good news is it can be. In fact, she expects UC to attain the high
distinction as a National Cancer Institute within the next five years.
UC's Millennium Research Plan calls for doubling funded research for the
university by 2006 to focus particularly on four areas. Cancer research
made the short list. "We have basic scientists studying what makes
a cell become a cancer cell," says John Hutton, dean of the college
of medicine. "We are placing an emphasis on developing a stronger
arm in translational research, taking the basic science and translating
it into direct patient care delivery."
The goal for cancer research at UC and the Barrett Center is to create
a first-rate integrated clinical cancer program that provides quality
care and guarantees patients are treated promptly and with compassion.
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it the water?
