Cancer Treatment and Research in Tucson, Arizona
The Arizona Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Health Sciences Center of the University of Arizona in Tucson, first opened its doors to patients and researchers in 1976, and the federally accredited facility has provided cancer services to individuals from Arizona and around the world ever since. A Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC) designation is a National Cancer Institute (NCI) endorsement that is awarded to 41 such facilities nationwide. The CCC accreditation is accompanied by federally established standards and guidelines for patient care and cancer research initiatives.
The Arizona Cancer Center, through federal funding and private donations, has grown steadily in the nearly forty years of its existence, expanding its treatment and research facilities while ever widening the scope of the cancer related services it offers. Today, the Tucson medical complex is home to a wide variety of cancer specialists and clinicians who offer diagnosis and treatment services for all forms of the disease. In addition to its treatment and research programs, the Arizona Cancer Center provides the cancer community with additional services such as:
- A Native American Initiative: The Arizona Cancer Center, in a collaboration with Northern Arizona University, has established a program designed to investigate and mitigate the unequal burden cancer imposes on Native Americans in the region. The Native American Cancer Research Partnership (NACRP) allocates substantial resources to increase Native American awareness of cancer related issues such as prevention, screening, and the wide variety of therapies that are available to manage and/or cure the disease.
- Clinical Trials: The Arizona Cancer Center offers a select group of patients the opportunity to participate in an ongoing series of clinical trials. Before any medication or cancer therapy can be judged to be safe and effective for widespread use, clinical trials must be held. New and promising cancer fighting techniques are developed and tested on a continual basis, either at the Tucson medical complex or elsewhere, and oncologists and researchers work closely with patients to determine if a clinical trial is a viable cancer treatment option.
- There are a number of criteria that must be considered before a clinical trial is offered to a patient who wishes to participate in a particular study. The type of cancer, what stage of the disease is present, patient gender, age, associated risk factors and much more are all issues that must be closely examined before the option of a clinical trial can be considered. Additionally, while the patient costs associated with some clinical trials may be covered by a drug manufacturer, this is not always the case. Health insurance policies will vary when it comes to covering the costs of these trials, and payment issues will need to be addressed.
- Nutrition Information: The Arizona Cancer Center, as an institutional philosophy, believes that what an individual eats can have a direct bearing on overall health, and many clinicians believe that diet can be of particular importance when it comes to cancer. In response to the issue of nutrition, the Arizona Cancer Center is involved with the promotion of dietary awareness amongst cancer patients and disease free individuals alike.
- Support Groups: The Arizona Cancer Center understands the extreme psychological burden cancer can impose on patients and their loved ones. It’s critical to the overall care of cancer patients to provide them with a sense that they are not alone in their battle with this frightening and oftentimes rapidly debilitating disease. In response to this issue, the Tucson cancer facility provides patients and family members with counseling, hospice, companionship, and other forms of support groups and services.
- Contact the Arizona Comprehensive Cancer Center
The main clinic phone number is (520) 626-7925, and for a complete departmental phone directory and more information about the medical complex, please visit the Arizona Cancer Center’s website at azcc.arizona.edu/
Arizona Cancer Center
1515 North Campbell Avenue
Tucson, AZ 85724-5024
