The Stephenson Cancer Center announced its designation as a National Cancer Institute Cancer Center in a historic achievement for Oklahoma.
The announcement was made Wednesday, May 2, at the Stephenson Cancer Center and attended by Jason R. Sanders, senior vice president and provost of the OU Health Sciences Center; David L. Boren, OU’s President; Robert Mannel, director of the Stephenson Cancer Center; James Inhofe and James Lankford, Oklahoma U.S. senators; Tom Cole, Oklahoma 4th District congressman; Norman E. Sharpless, director of the National Cancer Institute; and Karen Hanna, Stephenson Cancer Center patient.
NCI-designated cancer centers make up only the top two percent of cancer centers in the United States, and the Stephenson Cancer Center is now the only NCI-Designated Cancer Center in Oklahoma, according to a press release. Oklahoma has the seventh highest cancer mortality rate in the nation, with 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women developing cancer at some point in their lifetime, according to the release.
To earn NCI designation, the Stephenson Cancer Center had to demonstrate innovative and impactful research in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer, as well as community outreach across Oklahoma, according to the release.
NCI designation will give patients at the Stephenson Cancer Center access to new drugs, treatment options and clinical trials that are only offered at NCI-designated centers, according to the release.
“I can’t think of a more important milestone in the history of our state than the milestone we are celebrating today,” said Boren at the event. “Because of your hard work, and your sharing a dream, and your working together — as of today, the state of Oklahoma does have an NCI-designated Cancer Center within its boundaries.”
The NCI designation will also strengthen the educational mission of the OU Health Sciences Center, said Sanders in the press release. While working to achieve NCI designation, the OU Health Sciences Center has recruited world-class faculty who will teach the future generations of healthcare professionals and cancer researchers, according to the release.
As the major referral center for cancer patients in Oklahoma, the designation status will strengthen OU Medicine’s overall mission of leading healthcare in Oklahoma, according to the release.
