The Peggy and Charles Stephenson Cancer Center at OU Health Sciences Center has received its largest grant in the cancer center’s history.

The Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust awarded a $30 million grant for research for more effective treatment and diagnostic tools, according to a press release.

The grant will support Phase I Clinical Trials Center at the Stephenson Cancer Center, the only of its kind in Oklahoma, said Jari Askins, associate provost of external relations for OU HSC.

The Phase I Clinical Trials Center provides access to experimental therapies that can be useful for patients who haven’t responded to standard therapy.

This primarily consists of trials with new drugs tested in patients for the first time, Askins said.

Since March 2010, when Phase I trials began, there have been more than 100 patients in more than a dozen trials, she said.

This grant also will bring in some of the top researchers in the nation.

The goal of the Peggy and Charles Stephenson Cancer Center is to obtain designation from the National Cancer Institute, Askins said.

There are 66 National Cancer Institute-designated centers in the nation.

Obtaining designation from the institute goes hand in hand with having the top researchers in the nation, Askins said.

“This ensures the ability to recruit and retain top cancer researchers in the country. It brings them to our program,” Askins said.

And with an esteemed staff comes more effective research, which results in faster application to the institute, she said.

Center director Robert Mannel said the top-25 cancer centers in the U.S. News and World Report are National Cancer Institute-designated, so it is important to obtain the status.