3 hospitals get $14.4M grant to fight cancer

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Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System Gibbs Cancer Center, Bon Secours St. Francis Health System and AnMed Health have been awarded a $14.4 million grant to create the Upstate Carolina National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program, or Upstate Carolina NCORP.

“It is the mission of Upstate Carolina NCORP to support cancer prevention and treatment trials that will improve patient outcomes,” Kamara Mertz-Rivera, director of clinical research for Gibbs Cancer Center and Research Institute at Spartanburg Regional, said in a news release. “I am honored and humbled to be the administrator for the grant award and am committed to the success of the program. I look forward to the next six years and witnessing the positive impact this award will have on our community members.”

Upstate Carolina NCORP will connect cancer patients in the Upstate to the most up-to-date clinical trials in a local setting so they can stay in their own communities for treatment, the release said. One primary goal of the program is to reach rural, minority and underserved cancer patients in our community. Upstate Carolina NCORP “is committed to increasing cancer clinical trial access and participation among this population in order to reduce cancer disparities, and the burden of cancer, for everyone,” according to the release.

“We at the Bon Secours St. Francis Cancer Center are thrilled to be part of this consortium and to have been awarded this grant from the National Cancer Institute,” Robert Siegel, affiliate responsible investigator for Bon Secours St. Francis Health System, said in the release. “This funding acknowledges the power of collaboration between AnMed, Spartanburg Regional and our own program in optimizing cancer therapy for our Upstate community and beyond. Together we can provide more efficient and innovative approaches to malignancy than can be provided by any of us individually.”

Clinical trials help scientists and physicians not only find new methods to treat cancer but also ways to prevent and detect cancer sooner. Additionally, quality of life for people during and after treatment is improved through cancer care and cancer delivery research, according to the release. The trials often compare the most accepted cancer treatment with a new treatment doctors hope will work better.

The Upstate Carolina NCORP will engage community physicians to participate in NCI-supported, cancer care delivery research, treatment, prevention and cancer control trials, the release said.

“Clinical trials are essential in the fight against cancer. Without the participation of patients, clinicians, nurses and support staff in clinical trials, many of the breakthroughs that we celebrate today would not be possible,” Dr. Leander Cannick, affiliate responsible investigator for AnMed Health, said in the release. “The Upstate Carolina NCORP’s goal is to support practice-changing cancer prevention, treatment, and cancer control research to improve patient outcomes and quality of life. Together we will continue to change the landscape of cancer care.”

Upstate Carolina NCORP has 48 community investigators comprising medical oncologists, radiation oncologists and surgical oncologists and is led by three principal investigators: James Bearden, Amy Curtis and Jeremy Kilburn. The three affiliate research programs are located within community hospitals serving Upstate South Carolina, as well as adjacent areas in North Carolina and Georgia, the release said.