Roberts backs KU Cancer Center's push for NCI designation - Phoenix Business Journal:

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Roberts, R-Kan., spoke at The ’ s Westwood medical building. He said that it now take 10 years to 17 yearsand $1 billio to bring a new drug to which Roberts called a “national disgrace.” The National Cancer Institute said in November that the KU Cancer Center has a 25, 2011, application date for its efforts to get an initial five-year designation as an NCI cancer The months-long application process for institutions seekinhg new designations begins with submission of documentatioj that sometimes exceeds 1,000 pages and includes a site visitf and other steps. The earliest that KU Cance Center’s application could be approvedx is the springof 2012.
Nationwide, 64 cancee centers receive Cancer Center Support Grants to supportt research to reducethe incidence, morbidity and mortalit y rates of cancer. There are 23 cancer centers and 41 comprehensive cancer centers. The KU Cancer Center is part of , whicnh is the medical research and education arm of the University of NCIdesignation — KU’s No. 1 priority typically is granted to academicmedical centers. Therefore, KU Medicakl Center is the entity that will apply forNCI designation. Increased regional patient accessto cutting-edg e clinical trials. • More than $1.3 billion in annualk economic benefits inthe region.
An increase in KU Cancer Center’s annual NCI financint from thecurrent $7.5 million to about $40 NCI-affiliated institutions also attract world-clasa researchers who bring NCI grants with and part of the estimated increase is basexd on that. Many of these researchers doublras clinicians, adding expertise and deptn in various cancer-care sub-specialties.