Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center

Columbia University's Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center was built and opened as a result of National Cancer Institute (NCI) funding in 1972. In 1979, the NCI designated it one of only 41 Comprehensive Cancer Centers (CCC) in the nation. Also known as HICCC, the Center has three research divisions (basic, disease-specific, population based) divided into eight individual research programs focused on pathogenesis, molecular targets, cancer disparities, survivorship, and quality of life.

A CCC designation is awarded to only those institutions offering advanced cancer research and treatment services. These cancer services are a direct result of the National Cancer Act of 1971, directed at addressing the need for comprehensive cancer services and up-to-date research initiatives. These National Cancer Institute-designated facilities undergo comprehensive reviews to ensure continued compliance with federally established standards for cancer patient care and research.

The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer (HICCC) conducts clinical and population-based cancer research in its complex of laboratories. The Center currently has more than 200 practitioners from six universities at Columbia University, and these health professionals are funded through the NCI ($23 million) and various peer-reviewed cancer research grants ($90 million).

The eight individual research programs comprise investigation into, and formulating treatments for:

Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics
Cancer Signaling Networks
Breast Cancer
Lymphoid Development & Malignancy
Prostate Cancer
Neuro-oncology
Cancer Epidemiology
Prevention, Control & Disparities

Patient-care services are provided by the New York-Presbyterian Hospital, which is ranked sixth in the U. S. News & World Report 2007 rankings of United States hospitals. New York-Presbyterian Hospital was formed in 1998 by the merger of two large, previously independent hospitals - the New York Hospital and Presbyterian Hospital. NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is one of the most comprehensive university hospitals in the world, with leading specialists in every field of medicine. As a prominent university hospital affiliated with Columbia University, the hospital is composed of two designated medical centers and three peripheral hospitals.

The hospital complex is served by 60 full-time physicians, 3,387 registered nurses, 28 certified anesthetists, 115 physician's assistants, more than 300 therapists and over 150 registered pharmacists. With 2,324 beds, services are divided among five main facilities:

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/ Weill Cornell Medical Center
The Allen Pavilion
Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division

The Cancer Center's 12 core facilities, or Shared Resources (SRs), provide services that are essential to basic and translational cancer research, and focus on:

Biomarkers
Biostatistics
Biomedical Informatics (ICRC)
Confocal & Specialized Microscopy (ICRC)
Clinical Research Management Office
Flow Cytometry (ICRC)
Genomics Technologies (and Cytogenetics) (ICRC)
Molecular Pathology (ICRC and Black Building)
Proteomics
Radiation Research
Research Recruitment & Minority Outreach
Transgenic Mouse (ICRC)

Clinicians and staff diagnose and treat more than 3,500 new cancer cases every year. Patients are also offered the opportunity to participate in more than 200 ongoing clinical trials.

One of the most innovate aspects of the Herbert Irving Cancer Center is the Flow Cytometry Shared Resource, which provides researchers with flow cytometry-based studies and equipment that allows them to separate cells into distinct populations for characterization. Flow cytometry, which combines the analytical power of multi-parameter analysis with the potential to isolate cells according to specific parameters, is the newest weapon in the battle to identify cell apoptosis, whose absence allows cancer cells to survive.

The Herbert Irving Cancer Center now operates six instruments, including three fluorescence-activated cell sorters that allow high-speed cell sorting. In addition to these sophisticated instruments, the facility also provides access to two user-operated basic cytometers permitting multi-color immunophenotyping and apoptosis assays.

Contact the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center

For more information, visit the Center's website at: http://hiccc.columbia.edu/, or call (212) 851-5273 or visit the contact page at: http://hiccc.columbia.edu/?page=patientcare

Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center
1130 St. Nicholas Avenue
New York, New York 10032
Google map for Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center

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