The H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute

Cancer Treatment and Research at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute

The Moffitt Cancer Center (MCC) provides advanced cancer education, treatment, and research services at its numerous University of South Florida (USF) campus locations in Tampa. Staffed by over 3,800 employees, including faculty research and physicians from the university’s Oncologic Sciences Department, the sprawling medical complex contains nearly 1,650,000 square feet of facility space. The MCC first opened its doors to patients in October of 1986, and in 2007, the Moffitt Cancer Center Hospital had over 7,000 inpatient admissions and approximately 264,000 outpatient visits.

The MCC earned the National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation of a Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC) in 2001. Of the 63 national Cancer Centers in the United States, only 41 have received the NCI CCC accreditation, a distinction that is only awarded to Cancer Centers that meet strict guidelines for the delivery of advanced cancer services. The MCC is the only Florida-based CCC, and the federally and privately funded medical complex serves as a statewide cancer research and treatment facility for the citizens of Florida.

The MCC is a full-service, 162 bed teaching hospital that treats all forms of cancer in patients of all ages, and oncologists at the Cancer Center come from countries around the world. In addition to the facility’s cancer treatment and research initiatives, cancer education and prevention programs are offered both internally, as well as statewide through numerous state and local cancer agency affiliations and community outreach programs.

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 in all regions of the country, and the MCC is widely recognized as one of the leading Comprehensive Cancer Centers in this network. Advanced cancer education, treatment, and research services are offered in the facilities listed below:

H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center Hospital
Moffitt Research Center
Vincent A. Stabile Research Center
Moffitt Clinic Building
Lifetime Cancer Screening & Prevention Center
Moffitt Business Center
Moffitt Foundation
Moffitt South at Tampa General Hospital
Moffitt Child Development Center

Additionally, the MCC has a separate, 26 bed blood and marrow transplant unit, 11 operating rooms and state-of-the-art cancer imaging and radiological facilities

Cancer Research at the Moffitt Cancer Center

As a result of the MCC’s nationally recognized treatment and research programs, the NCI renewed the Cancer Center’s CCC rating in 2006. The Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute initiated its first research programs in 1993, and five years later, the Tampa facility earned its official NCI Cancer Center accreditation. The Moffitt Center today has over 135 bench and clinical scientists who carry out cancer research studies while sponsoring both inpatient and outpatient clinical trials. The areas of cancer research at the MCC fall under 6 distinct categories of scientific investigation that are as follows:

Molecular Oncology: This study concentrates on the study of cancer at the molecular and cellular level. A more complete understanding of the various mechanisms by which cancer cells form and develop is an important step forward in the fight against the disease.

Immunology: This branch of scientific study creates a basis for interactive research designed to identify and quantify the complex relationship between a tumor and its host. This research seeks to understand the immune system functions that suppress cancer cells in order to develop more effective therapies to inhibit tumor inception and growth.

Drug Discovery: This branch of cancer research relies on developments from other areas of clinical study, such as cellular and molecular biology, in order to investigate the effects of new drugs that hold the potential to disrupt and halt the natural progression of cancer cell formation and uncontrolled growth.

Experimental Therapeutics: This research discipline seeks to promote clinical trials to determine the safety and efficacy of new drugs and other cancer fighting therapies.

Health Outcomes and Behavior (HOB): The HOB program offers a research concentration in the prevention of cancer, as well as investigation into new and better ways to improve the quality of life for those who have the disease.

Risk Assessment, Detection and Intervention: This research initiative seeks to identify the environmental, etiological, and genetic implications of cancer while improving methods of screening, early detection, and treatment of the disease.

Patient Care at the Moffitt Cancer Center

Patients at the MCC receive advanced cancer treatment at the Florida Southern University campus medical complex, as well as at 15 other Florida hospitals that are affiliated with the Moffitt Cancer Center. This statewide affiliation brings over 400 oncologists into the MCC fight against cancer, and treatments for the disease are provided at the Tampa complex in facilities that are located throughout the university campus.

In addition to cancer treatments, the MCC offers patients and their families a host of ancillary support services such as: psychological and grief counseling; hospice affiliations; genetic and cancer prevention information services; spiritual/clerical counseling; ethical counseling; specialized pediatric counseling services; financial/insurance information assistance and more.

Contact the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute

The main toll free phone number is (800) 456-3434 or call (813) 745-4673, and for a more complete phone listing directory or to learn more about the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, please visit their website at www.moffitt.org/

H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute
University of South Florida
12902 Magnolia Drive
Tampa, FL 33612
Google map for Moffitt Cancer Center

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