Cancer Treatment and Research at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University
The Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center (LCCC) is located on the campus of Chicago’s Northwestern University. The LCC provides the community with advanced cancer education, treatment, and research services in affiliation with Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine (FSM), as well as the FSM affiliated teaching hospitals: Northwestern Memorial Hospital; the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago; Children’s Memorial Hospital, and Veterans Administration Chicago Healthcare System. The LCC’s core research facilities and satellite administration offices are located on the Evanston campus.
First established in 1974, the LCCC is the only cancer treatment and research complex of its kind in the state of Illinois, and its present stature is a direct result of a major cancer research endowment established by Robert H. Lurie in 1989. In 1991, the Cancer Center was dedicated as the Robert H. Lurie Cancer Center of Northwestern University. The name changed once more in 1998 when the National Cancer Center (NCI) awarded the Cancer Center its ‘Comprehensive’ designation. Of the 63 National Cancer Centers, only 41 are granted the NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC) accreditation, and eligibility for the rating is governed by stringent cancer services guidelines as set forth by the NCI.
A National Network of Cancer Education, Treatment, and Research Centers
In the early 1960s, the NCI petitioned Congress for a new and more aggressive approach to the growing problem of cancer in our society. Calling for a national network of Cancer Centers that would be allied with the nation’s top universities, the NCI drafted a plan that resulted in the National Cancer Act, which was passed by Congress and signed into Law by President Nixon in 1971. This new legislation resulted in the establishment of NCI Cancer Centers across the country, and the LCCC is recognized as a leading Cancer Center in this network.
Cancer Research at the Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center
Cancer research is an integral part of the LCCC, and its scientific studies offer a concentration in the branches of research as listed below:
- Basic Sciences Research Division: The emphasis here is the faculty member study of all aspects of cell function and behavior. Cancer studies on the cellular level examine a wide range of molecular and biological processes that involve advanced imaging technologies, diagnostic techniques, prognostics, and therapeutics.
- Clinical Sciences Research Division: This research discipline seeks to better understand the genetic implications of cancer in order to improve patient care, as well as to search for a cure for the disease. Stem cell transplants and other experimental or innovative therapies are studied within this prong of the LCCC cancer research program.
- Cancer Prevention and Control: Researches within this investigative discipline concentrate their studies on the countless environmental, genetic, lifestyle, and other factors that can increase the risk of cancer. The studies try to identify each one of these cancer causing factors in an effort to find better ways to facilitate increased screenings and early detection of cancer in individuals who may, for one reason or another, carry a greater risk of contracting the disease.
- Breast Cancer Spore: Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grants are offered by the NCI to Cancer Centers that offer particularly advanced research programs within a particular area of scientific study. The SPORE funded research program at LCCC focuses on investigations into the causes and treatments of breast cancer. The LCCC studies examine the genetic and environmental components of breast cancer while seeking better methods for early detection and control of the disease.
- Research on Adverse Drug Events and Reports (RADAR): This LCCC research initiative offers a team of 25 physicians who monitor reports of the adverse drug reactions in cancer patients. This pharmacological vigilance involves the careful study of harmful or dangerous drug interactions, contraindications, and overall drug safety, and has to date, quantified health risk problems with 33 different drugs that are frequently prescribed for cancer patients. The 33 drugs that have been identified accounted for a total of 38 separate and distinct adverse reactions.
Patient Care at the Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center
Cancer patients who visit the LCCC will come under the care of faculty oncology specialists from the Feinberg School of Medicine, as well as cancer care professionals from the FSM affiliated teaching hospitals that are a part of the LCCC health care network. LCCC oncologists and support staff provide patients with advanced care for all types of cancer, and due to the research component of all National Cancer Centers, a select group of patients at the LCCC will be chosen to participate in one of the Cancer Center’s clinical trials.
Clinical trials and studies are used to judge the long-term safety and efficacy of new cancer fighting drugs or other therapies, and physicians work closely with patients to determine if a clinical trial offers a possible treatment option. The LCCC also provides patients and the community at large with a full spectrum of cancer support services such as cancer education, grief, spiritual, and psychological counseling, hospice affiliations, and financial assistance information.
Contact the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center
The main toll free phone number is 866-LURIECC (866) 587-4322, and for a more complete phone listing directory or to learn more about the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, please visit their website at www.lurie.northwestern.edu/
Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center
of Northwestern University
Galter Pavilion
675 N. St. Clair, 21st Floor
Chicago, IL 60611
Google map for Lurie Cancer Center
