Gov. Nathan Deal has taken aim at cancer deaths in Georgia with a plan to help Georgia Health Sciences University in Augusta join an elite group of cancer centers.
The Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center in Georgia, a state where the disease causes more than 15,000 deaths annually. Only top-flight research organizations that are on the forefront of the cancer battle can win the designation and the grant money that comes with it.
A second NCI center could help the state attract more acclaimed cancer researchers and millions of research dollars, Deal said when announcing the plan this month.
“Even more,” he said, “it will place Georgians battling this horrific disease first in line for the newest, most promising therapies and clinical trials.”
The issue is an urgent one for the more than 48,000 Georgians who are expected this year to be diagnosed with cancer. A second cancer center will mean Georgians are more likely to find nationally recognized experts on their type of cancer closer to home.
Deal wants the General Assembly to commit $5 million toward the goal this year, but it will take tens of millions more — and years of work — for GHSU to have a shot at winning the coveted designation. Only 66 institutions across the country currently have it.
Dr. Ricardo Azziz, president of GHSU (formerly the Medical College of Georgia), said each of the nation’s 16 largest states — except Georgia and Florida — has at least two NCI centers.
“We need to address cancer,” Azziz said.
GHSU opened a new cancer research facility in 2006 and a new cancer treatment facility in 2010. It also has recruited some top researchers who have pumped up the flow of cancer research dollars. But GHSU has said it will need $10 million a year from a cash-strapped state government to help build the top-ranked cancer program Deal wants. Other sources of money — grants, philanthropic donations — also would be necessary to build the program.
“Our goal is that we would be competitive for NCI designation over the next seven to 10 years,” Azziz said. “Sooner if we can find greater investment and longer if we don’t.”
Emory’s Winship Cancer Institute earned its NCI designation in 2009, after years of work. While Emory had already attracted significant cancer research dollars over the years, the designation has taken it to a new level.
“Now we’re really in the elite group,” said Dr. Walter Curran, Winship’s executive director.
Winship added more than 100 highly regarded faculty members to gain expertise in many areas of research that it needed to become a cancer center. NCI supports its cancer centers with grants for infrastructure that at Winship have paid for everything from the staff that helps run clinical trials to the lab equipment needed to store tissue samples used in research.
The infrastructure supports the work paid for by other grants, and the NCI designation helps researchers attract dollars. Grant money from NCI for Winship-affiliated research projects — which is on top of what NCI awards for infrastructure — grew from $9.5 million in 2001 to $29.5 million in 2011.
The growth of Winship has meant that Georgians with cancer have a better shot at finding a local doctor who specializes in their type of cancer. Winship is known for expertise in lung, brain, head and neck, breast and pancreatic cancers, as well as leukemia and multiple myeloma. Patients are less likely to leave the state for treatment, and patients from other states now frequently come here for second opinions or clinical trials.
A new emphasis on collaboration also means that cancer doctors throughout the state are working more closely with doctors at Winship. “It benefits the people of Atlanta in many ways,” said Dr. Fadlo Khuri, Winship’s deputy director.
Dick Bowley of Peachtree City went to Winship when he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia at 57.
“When cancer hits, you don’t know what to do,” Bowley said. Having to seek care out of town, he said, would have made things even more difficult. “I can’t fathom that,” he said.
He spent weeks at Emory Hospital for a bone marrow transplant. Three years — and many treatments later — he is still free of cancer. He said he felt comfortable with Emory from day one and appreciated its ability to mix cutting-edge care with a compassionate approach.
The fight against cancer takes other forms, too. Experts said Georgia sorely needs to ramp up its public education programs that could prevent many cases of cancer since the state has high rates of smoking and obesity — both factors that can lead to cancer.
Helping Winship achieve the cancer center designation was a major goal of the Georgia Cancer Coalition, a $1 billion effort established by former Gov. Roy Barnes that combined state money from the tobacco settlement with private dollars and research grants to make Georgia a player in the nation’s battle against cancer. The coalition was instrumental in helping Emory recruit renowned researchers with its grant programs for distinguished doctors and scientists.
Curran, Winship’s executive director, was named a Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scholar when he was recruited from Philadelphia in 2008. He was awarded a hefty $16 million in research dollars in 2011 from the National Institutes of Health. The other GCC scholars — about 120 around the state — also attract plenty of research dollars. Curran said GCC’s program has resulted in a “return on investment that has been tremendous.”
The tight state budget, however, has diminished the program, even as other states find money to attract research superstars. In Georgia, no new awards have been made in the past two years, and Deal’s budget for 2013 doesn’t change that.
Mike Cassidy, president of the Georgia Research Alliance, which now includes the cancer coalition, said he’s hopeful that the state will soon be able to restore the money so it can once again attract some of the nation’s brightest cancer researchers. He wants to keep building on the strengths at Winship while also creating a new cancer powerhouse in Augusta.
“We will maintain a focus on cancer,” Cassidy said, “because it is such a big problem in the state.”
--------------------
Cancer in Georgia
15,790: Estimated cancer deaths in Georgia for 2012
48,130: Estimated new cases of cancer in Georgia for 2012
Cancer rates for Georgia vs. U.S., 2004-2008*
Men Women
Georgia 571.9 395.7
United States 553 416.5
* Rate is per 100,000
Cancer death rates for Georgia vs. U.S., 2004-2008*
Men Women
Georgia 237.1 149.5
United States 223 153.2
* Rate is per 100,000
Source: American Cancer Society, Cancer Facts and Figures 2012
About the Author
