At Case Comprehensive Cancer Center (Case CCC), our responsibility is to you — the people of Northeast Ohio. Although our mission is clear, the work is challenging: to discover better ways to prevent, detect, treat, and ultimately cure cancer. It is a responsibility too large for any one hospital, university, or research lab alone because cancer is complex and the stakes are high.
That is why we exist.
As a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated consortium comprehensive cancer center, Case CCC brings together experts from University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute, and Case Western Reserve University and asks them to work together as one team against cancer.
This is huge. It’s like Marvel and DC putting their superheroes in the same room to solve a problem together because the mission is more important than the competition. Everyone brings different powers, different perspectives, and different expertise which results in stronger science, faster discovery, and more opportunities for patients than any one institution could create on its own.
When researchers share discoveries across institutions, when physicians collaborate across specialties, and when scientists study cancer from different angles at the same table, ideas move faster from the laboratory to patient care. Patients gain access to broader expertise, more clinical trials, and more innovative therapies. Communities benefit from stronger prevention programs, better education, and research that is connected to the real needs of Northeast Ohioans.
What inspires me most is that Northeast Ohio already understands the value of showing up for one another. Although I am a relative newcomer, I have learned quickly that Cleveland is a community built on resilience, hard work, innovation, and compassion. That spirit is reflected every day across Case CCC as researchers, physicians, trainees, students, and staff work side by side with the shared goal of changing the shape of cancer for the people we serve.
My hope, frankly, is that you never need us. But if cancer ever touches your life or the life of someone you love, we are committed to helping you quickly connect to trusted information, resources, research, clinical trials, and care that can help answer your questions and support your journey.
Thank you for taking the time to learn more about Case CCC and the work we do together on behalf of Northeast Ohio.
Gary K. Schwartz, MD, FASCO
Director, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center