Inside Duke Medicine

Cancer Center facility and Duke Cancer Institute will combine to evolve cancer care, research

A view from below of the rooftop garden terrace area (upper right). Patients will be able to receive infusion treatments on the terrace, which is also visible from interior infusion areas.

With last fall’s creation of the Duke Cancer Institute and the opening of the new Cancer Center facility in February 2012, Duke Medicine is making an unparalleled commitment to blazing new trails in patient-focused, research-driven cancer care.
The new Cancer Center building will optimize the growth and expansion of the new DCI model that fully integrates cancer care and clinical research. The synergy fostered by the cancer facility and DCI will accelerate and advance the DCI’s mission of translating research
discoveries into the most advanced clinical care for patients with cancer.

“Cancer care is among our highest clinical priorities, and the new Cancer Center facility and Duke Cancer Institute represent our strong commitment to the transformation of cancer care and research,” said Victor J. Dzau, M.D., Duke chancellor for health affairs and CEO of Duke University Health System. “We are committed to creating an environment in which all of our cancer researchers, physicians, educators and staff come together as one team focused around the needs of the patient.”
More than 300 DCI members are involved in the care of patients and in laboratory and clinical research that focuses on better understanding the fundamental biological processes associated with the development of various cancers.

The new structure will break down departmental barriers and integrate our approach to cancer treatment and research into a single organizational structure as DCI clinicians working in the Cancer Center facility and research scientists working in their labs seek to speed the pace of discovery and to enhance the patients’ experience as they move from diagnosis and treatment to recovery.

Likewise, patients in the new Cancer Center facility will benefit from the convenience and comfort of an everything-under-one-roof approach. All members of the cancer care team – from physicians, nurses and clinical trials team members to pharmacists, social workers, counselors and dieticians – will work side-by-side to provide comprehensive, compassionate care that further distinguishes Duke Medicine’s reputation as one of the nation’s top centers for cancer care.

Michael B. Kastan, M.D., Ph.D., a renowned cancer scientist who now leads the Comprehensive Cancer Center at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, has been hired as the DCI’s first executive director and begins work on Aug. 1.

Kastan sees the DCI, a first-of-a-kind entity at Duke, as an emerging national model for the way cancer programs should be structured, bringing education, cancer research and patient care into a seamless and unified venture.

“This is the beginning of a new era for cancer research and care at Duke that will transform the way patients are treated and that will unite every aspect of our clinical and research mission,” Kastan said. “Many challenges remain in battling cancer but no other organization is as well-positioned – in research labs, in translational clinical trials in our clinics and at the bedside – as we are with the DCI and Cancer Center facility.”

Dzau said Kastan’s leadership and research achievements at St. Jude’s make him a perfect fit for the DCI.

“He is the ideal person to lead the newly launched DCI and to implement a novel model of integrated cancer care and research that will emerge when both the Cancer Center facility and DCI are fully operational,” Dzau said.