It is an unprecedented time in the advancement of cancer research, treatment and prevention. The disease, which has touched so many lives and communities, is not a one-dimensional affliction. It is complex and dynamic, and its defeat will require aggressive, multidisciplinary approaches.
A national leader in cancer, Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is uniquely positioned to become the epicenter of curative discovery. Renowned physicians and scientists there conduct groundbreaking biomedical and prevention research, develop innovative technologies and advance new therapies that each day lead us closer to beating cancer.
Siteman holds the prestigious Comprehensive Cancer Center designation from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and is one of only a handful of centers nationwide to earn the NCI’s highest rating: exceptional.
RESEARCH:
Discovering Powerful New Knowledge
More than 450 Washington University scientists and physicians affiliated with Siteman hold more than $150 million in grants for cancer research and related training. They work together, along with the talented trainees they mentor, to move discoveries from the laboratory to the patient’s bedside.
Among Siteman’s most significant research initiatives are efforts to harness the power of the immune system to fight cancer. Siteman researcher Robert Schreiber and colleagues published the first conclusive evidence that the immune system plays a role in controlling cancer. Building on that landmark work, scientists and clinicians at Siteman are developing cancer immunotherapies, including personalized vaccines for breast, brain and other cancers, and gene therapies, which supercharge patients’ own immune systems to kill cancer cells without harming healthy cells.
Clinical trials allow scientists and physicians to test the safety and effectiveness of new treatments in patients. Siteman has one of the country’s largest clinical research programs, offering more than 500 therapeutic clinical trials each year. By participating in a clinical trial, patients can gain access to experimental therapies not yet available to the public.
TREATMENT:
Innovative Care for Better Outcomes
Siteman clinicians who specialize in medical, surgical and radiation oncology and other therapies care for more than 50,000 patients each year, including nearly 10,000 newly diagnosed patients, making the center one of the largest in the country.
As a result, Siteman has broad experience in treating both common and rare forms of the disease.
Technology is critical when it comes to cancer diagnosis and care. Siteman has pioneered the development of many tools that help physicians detect and treat the disease more precisely, including:
- High-tech goggles that enable surgeons to see cancer cells and remove only diseased tissue.
- The world’s first single-vault proton beam radiation therapy system, which delivers targeted treatment to tissue near the spine, brain, heart and eyes.
- In addition to treating patients, most Siteman physicians are scientists as well. Through their involvement in laboratory and clinical research, they advance new techniques and treatments that are adopted by other care providers. Siteman physicians developed:
- An aggressive and creative treatment regimen for certain types of pancreatic cancer that has increased survival dramatically.
- Unique genomically guided personal treatments for patients with leukemia and lymphoma.
PREVENTION:
Reducing the Cancer Burden for Entire Communities
Working with the knowledge that half of all cancers are avoidable, Siteman’s renowned prevention and control experts are profoundly motivated by the field’s promise for improving human health. As with all of their endeavors, these experts approach their work through research, using science to create knowledge and programs that reduce disparities, increase access, address public policy limitations and improve community education programs.
HOPE:
Taking the Fight to the Next Level
Cancer takes many forms and affects each person differently. Conquering this elusive foe will be difficult. But now, more than at any other time in history, scientists and physicians understand what drives cancer, making it possible to develop prevention and treatment strategies that improve disease management and offer hope for a cure.
Siteman is one of the few institutions in the country with the depth of experience and comprehensive resources to take the fight against cancer to the next level. Most importantly, Siteman experts are determined to defeat the disease, for the benefit of patients in the St. Louis region and around the globe.
Five locations in greater St. Louis, including at Washington University medical campus
800-600-3606
