Cancer Treatment and Research at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive cancer Center at Johns Hopkins
The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive cancer Center (SKCCC) is located on the campus of John Hopkins University (JHU) in Baltimore, and it provides advanced cancer education, treatment, and research services that benefit cancer patients from across America and around the globe.
The SKCCC is the only Comprehensive cancer Center (CCC) in the state of Maryland, and it is staffed by faculty from the JHU School of Medicine and Nursing, as well as numerous other Scientific, Engineering, and Humanities Departments of the university. Oncologists and other cancer care professionals at the SKCCC treat all forms of cancer while bench and clinical scientists maintain a concentration in translational cancer research.
First established in 1973, the SKCCC has enjoyed a steady pattern of facility expansion over the years, and the medical and research complex now occupies a significant portion of the sprawling, 10 acre JHU campus. The SKCCC provides its advanced cancer services in numerous outpatient clinics, though, most clinical visits for adults occur at the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Building—inpatient services are, for the most part, provided at the JHU Hospital. Pediatric cancer services are provided at the 176 bed Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, which is Maryland’s largest pediatric hospital.
In addition to cancer education, treatment, and research, the SKCCC offers cancer patients and disease-free individuals alike, a wide variety of community outreach programs, as well as in-house support services, such as those provided by the Harry J. Duffy Family Patient and Family Services Program—these latter services include, but are not limited to:
- cancer Counseling: Professional social workers at the cancer Center provide patients and their families with myriad forms of counseling services, including : psychosocial and psychological counseling; emotional and grief counseling; men’s and women’s health issues advice; spiritual/clerical guidance; pediatric counseling and more.
- Community Resource Information: The cancer Center provides patients and families with information on a wide variety of community resources such as housing, dining, transportation services, and other logistical resources.
A National Network of cancer Education, Treatment, and Research Centers
Cancer occurrence rates and related mortalities were on the rise in the United States in the early 1960s, and as a response, the NCI formulated an innovative plan to establish a national network of Cancer Centers that would offer advanced cancer treatment while sponsoring cutting-edge cancer research programs. The NCI plan called for the affiliation of the proposed Cancer Centers with the nation’s leading universities.
The NCI cancer fighting strategy was well received by Congress, and the resulting National Cancer Act (NCA) was signed into law by President Nixon in 1971. The NCA was the foundation for the nationwide network of Cancer Centers that, today, dot the American landscape from New York to Hawaii, and of the 63 National Cancer Centers in this country, only 41 have received the NCI Comprehensive cancer Center designation.
cancer Research at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
The race to find new and better ways to prevent, treat, and one day, cure cancer seems to be a never ending one. Cancer Centers across the country are engaged in a collectively vast research adventure designed to conquer the disease, and each individual cancer Center will typically restrict itself to a finite number of well-defined areas of scientific investigation.
The cancer researchers at the SKCCC focus their bench and clinical experiments and associated clinical trials on translational research programs, which means the JHU scientists attempt to utilize knowledge already gained and ‘translate’ it into a safe and effective therapy to treat the disease. The areas of translational research at the SKCCC are categorized as listed below:
- cancer Biology: This area of scientific investigation utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of DNA damage, uncontrolled cell growth, and cellular defense and survival. As a corollary, cancer prevention and effective, cellular and molecular-based therapies are studied.
- cancer Immunology: The concentration here is on the body’s own immune system defenses against cancer. A better understanding of immune functions may eventually lead to the reliable and beneficial laboratory duplication of these natural defenses against cancer.
- Viral Oncology: This branch of cancer research focuses on AIDS associated malignancies, natural immunities, and cell and tumor biology.
- Chemical Therapeutics: This is a pharmacological area of study that seeks translational results that lead to compounds and drugs that provide safe and efficient therapies for the prevention and management of cancer.
- cancer Imaging: An interdisciplinary study of the use of medical imaging (MI) technology as it applies to bench and clinical studies of the cause and control of cancer. An efficient integration of MI techniques and laboratory protocols is a critical component of cancer research programs today.
Patient Care at the Holden Comprehensive cancer Center
Patients at the SKCCC can expect to receive state-of-the-art cancer treatment at the Johns Hopkins medical complex. Due to the immediate proximity of wide ranging cancer research programs, a patient at the SKCCC may be eligible to participate in one of the ongoing clinical trials at the cancer Center. Only a select group of cancer patients will qualify for these clinical trials that are designed to test the safety and efficacy of new drugs and therapies that hold the potential of being potent cancer treatment options. Oncologists and support staff will carefully evaluate a patient’s individual medical circumstances before recommending a clinical trial as an alternative cancer treatment.
The SKCCC provides adult and pediatric cancer patients with the latest in cancer fighting techniques for all types of cancers and blood diseases. Drug, surgical, blood and marrow transplants, and radiological therapies are provided at the Johns Hopkins medical complex where the latest in cancer fighting techniques and therapies are in daily use.
Contact the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive cancer Center
The main operator phone number is (410) 955-5222, and for a more complete phone listing directory or to learn more about the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive cancer Center, please visit their website at www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive cancer Center
at Johns Hopkins
The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Building
Suite 1100
401 North Broadway
Baltimore, MD 21231
Google map for Kimmel Comprehensive cancer Center
