The Case Comprehensive Cancer Center (Case CCC) based at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center supporting cancer-related research efforts at CWRU, University Hospitals, and Cleveland Clinic. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, Case CCC serves the cancer research and clinical needs of an urban manufacturing and rural agricultural region containing over 4 million people in northern Ohio.
Case CCC provides a unique forum and academic network for cancer researchers across our community to accomplish more than they may individually. Through the Case CCC, our medical institutions are linked in a more unified effort to understand the causes and progression of cancer and to use that understanding to develop treatments and reduce the likelihood that our population will develop cancer and suffer from its consequences. We advocate for cancer research support across the institutions; provide funding for promising pilot grants, shared resource development, training programs, and recruitments; and catalyze multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary cancer research across institutions, emphasizing innovative discovery that will have an impact on cancer patients.
The mission of Case CCC is to:
- Improve the prevention, diagnosis, and therapy of cancer through discovery, evaluation, and dissemination.
- Stimulate and support innovative, coordinated interdisciplinary clinical research on cancer diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and control.
- Develop clinical applications of discovery and make these available to northern Ohio residents as quickly as possible through the integrated efforts of the major health systems in the region.
- Develop cancer prevention and control activities that build on the expertise of the center and result in a reduction of cancer morbidity and mortality in northern Ohio and the nation.
The research efforts of Case CCC members are organized into six interdisciplinary scientific programs. Our clinical research effort is supported by 12 Clinical Trials Disease Teams that develop and prioritize clinical trials, and a single Protocol Review and Monitoring System, Data Safety and Monitoring Plan that integrates cancer research, cancer therapeutics, and prevention services at the partner institutions and throughout the region.
Research programs of Case CCC are also extending into community medical centers operated by University Hospitals and Cleveland Clinic. Outreach programs for clinical practice-based prevention and screening initiatives, educational programs, minority recruitment, and facilitation of patient referrals are supported by these partner institutions.
In addition to successfully competing for a Cancer Center Support Grant from the National Cancer Institute, the center must meet specific criteria for:
- Breadth and depth of basic cancer research; clinical cancer research; and prevention, control, and population/behavioral sciences research in cancer.
- Strength of interaction among these three major research areas.