Our mission is simple: To apply scientific discoveries in human cancers to improve lives in our community and beyond through cancer prevention, detection, treatment, cure and survivorship. How we accomplish this mission and benefit patients and populations is the focus of our collective efforts.
The Case Comprehensive Cancer Center (Case CCC) is a National Cancer Institute-designated consortium cancer center. We bring together University Hospitals, Cleveland Clinic and their networks with Case Western Reserve University. Together, we forge a remarkable effort in cancer research generating considerable community benefit. Our research programs, clinical trials, training efforts and community engagement and outreach link investigators, organizations and investments that are aligned with the strategic plan of the center and are supported by the partner institutions. The synergies and synthesis of this effort combine for a powerful demonstration of the impact of cross-institutional teamwork.
The Case CCC directly serves an area comprised of 15 counties in Northeast Ohio with a population of 4.2 million. The area surrounding our center is culturally rich and unique. However, in our local community of Cleveland - where the obesity rate is 35%, smoking rates are 240% above the national average and the poverty rate is 285% above - we are concerned about the extraordinary cancer risks of our population. As a result of these factors, our population suffers a higher mortality from four common cancers: breast, prostate, lung and colon. Our investigators are examining each of these diseases to reduce cancer risk, increase prevention efforts, understand their cancer biology and improve treatments.
We are dedicated to understanding, managing and supporting the population in our consortium through research and clinical care. We are proud to be THE comprehensive cancer center serving the population of Northeast Ohio and impacting the nation at large.
Recent Achievements
- Sanford Markowitz and Amitabh Chak developed a balloon device that can be swallowed to detect Barrett’s Esophagus, a precursor to cancer, in an outpatient setting, without sedation. The device allows for quick, non-invasive diagnosis that can soon replace invasive endoscopy.
- Monica Webb Hooper is leading a national cancer “moonshot” initiative on smoking cessation for cancer patients, first supported by CVS Health, and continues with support from NCI.
- A team of researchers led by Vikas Gulani and Lee Ponsky evaluated Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting to improve detection of prostate cancer in men.
- Research conducted by Justin Lathia and Ofer Reizes on cancer stem cells could lead to promising new ways to treat triple-negative breast cancer when hormone therapy fails, and better predict patient health outcomes.
- Anant Madabhushi is developing a computerized tissue-imaging program that could soon help identify which lung-cancer patients are likely to face an earlier recurrence of the disease, and figure out which patients will best respond to chemotherapy.
- A new magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent being tested by Zheng-Rong Lu not only pinpoints breast cancers at early stages, but differentiates between aggressive and slow-growing types.
- A team led by Paul Tesar developed a new method to screen brain-tumor cells and identify potential drug targets missed by traditional methods.
- Colon cancer and MDS investigators, led by Kishore Guda and Jaroslaw Maciejewski, identified cancer gene mutations that occur with increased frequency in African-Americans that have poor prognosis.
- Shideng Bao found an FDA-approved drug for lymphoma and leukemia, ibrutinib, may be effective in slowing growth of glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer.
- A team including Peter Scacheri, Alex Huang and Brian Rubin has discovered a way to target genes to block metastasis in osteosarcoma, a common primary malignancy of the bone with peak incidence in children and adolescents.
- Members have successfully discovered and developed novel molecules to translate the science of our members into clinical therapies. New therapeutic discoveries include three new drugs now in clinical trials, along with five novel cell therapies.