The H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute is a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center whose sole mission is to "contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer." Since its doors opened in 1986, the Center has worked to establish a tradition of excellence in patient care offered in an atmosphere characterized by compassion and hope. The Cancer Center is also a recognized leader in focused, innovative research and an important resource for training future scientific and clinical leaders in oncology. Combining the clinical and research sides, the Center's goal is the discovery, translation and delivery of personalized cancer care. The Center has been named among "America's Best Hospitals" for cancer care by U.S. News & World Report for the ninth year in a row.

� The Moffitt hospital is licensed for 206 beds, 36 of which are dedicated to the blood and marrow transplantation unit. The Cancer Center has one of the largest Blood & Marrow Transplantation Program in the Southeast.

� Each year the number of patients seen at Moffitt has steadily increased. For Fiscal Year 2007 inpatient admissions reached 7,482and outpatient visits totaled 271,161

� There are currently more than 800 research faculty and research support staff and more than 190,000 square feet of research space.

� Physicians total more than 300.

� At the beginning of 2008, grant funding exceeded $66 million, with more than $49 million in peer-reviewed funding.

� The Lifetime Cancer Screening and Prevention Center is the first facility in the region to offer genetic screening services.

� Cancer Control: Journal of the Moffitt Cancer Center is distributed to more than 15,000 cancer specialists worldwide

Clinical Programs

Optimal care at Moffitt translates into an interdisciplinary team approach to the evaluation and treatment of patients with cancer. In support of this philosophy, academic and clinical services have been organized into 14 disease-oriented programs. The interdisciplinary programs represent patient care, clinical research, education, and cancer control activities. Each has a designated leader, and the full team consists of medical oncologists, surgeons, radiation oncologists, nurses, data and administrative managers, and other appropriate support personnel. The goals are to provide comprehensive care for new and established patients, develop and conduct clinical research trials, establish collaborative links with appropriate basic science programs, and provide educational and training programs for medical students.

Research

Scientific research at Moffitt is conducted in six specific programs: Molecular Oncology; Drug Discovery; Immunology; Experimental Therapeutics, Health Outcomes and Behavior; and Risk Assessment, Detection, and Intervention. Each program is composed of scientific faculty selected for their high level of accomplishment and desire to work in a highly collaborative environment. Research initiatives focus on a variety of areas including: functional genomics/proteomics; immunotherapy vaccines; new drug therapies; molecular signatures; behavioral oncology, and tobacco research. At present, Moffitt participates in more than 656 clinical trials both through cooperative groups as well as those initiated by Moffitt's own scientists.

Recent research includes:

� Under the leadership of Gerold Bepler, MD, PhD, Moffitt Cancer Center received its first award of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant, totaling $10,475,090 over five years.

� Johnathan Lancaster, MD, PhD, and Robert M. Wenham, MD, are conducting a study that for the first time enrolls patients with ovarian cancer who will have their chemotherapy regimen selected based on the genetic "fingerprint" of their cancer.

� Moffitt established a new Department of Integrative Mathematical Oncology that will integrate computational modeling tools into clinical and experimental cancer research. By using a range of mathematical/computational modeling approaches targeted at specific types of cancer, investigators will be able to use these models in aiding the development and testing of cancer treatment strategies.

� Researcher Dmitry Gabrilovich, MD, PhD, was recognized in the January 11, 2008, issue of the publication, Science, as a research pioneer for his work in linking myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) to cancer growth. The finding that MDSCs are versatile immune suppressors is relevant to the field of immunotherapy in cancer.

� Jiandong Chen, PhD, Gary Reuther, PhD, Domenico Coppola, PhD, and Timothy Yeatman, MD, and colleagues reported in the publication Molecular and Cellular Biology that expression of the MDMX gene is regulated by mitogenic signaling pathways. The mechanism may protect normal proliferating cells from p53 (a protein that functions as a tumor suppressor), but also hamper p53 response during tumor development.

Cancer Prevention and Control

Lifetime Cancer Screening and Prevention Center is the clinical site for cancer control research at Moffitt, providing a full range of cancer screening and prevention services to support the Cancer Center's mission. Lifetime provides the latest in cancer genetics research and screening technologies for breast, cervical, colorectal, prostate, ovarian and skin cancer as well as preventive counseling. Through these services Lifetime aims to help high-risk patients and families understand and reduce their risk of developing cancer. Additional services available include Cancer Answers, a toll-free cancer information line staffed by registered Oncology nurses.

Affiliate Program and Strategic Alliances

Moffitt's Affiliate Network is a dynamic professional partnership in healthcare delivery involving strategic affiliations formed with community physicians and health care providers coming together to form a mutually beneficial relationship. The program provides affiliates with continuity of care for their patients while offering access to clinical trials and/or cutting-edge technology. Currently the network included more than 400 physicians and 15 hospitals/clinic affiliations in Florida and Georgia.

Moffitt also has created formal affiliations with institutions in four Central and South American countries including: Insituto do Radium de Campinas in Sao Paulo, Brazil; Fundacion Accion, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Instituto de Enfermedades Neoplasicas, Lima, Peru; and Clinica AMO, Salvador, Brazil. In addition Moffitt has relationships with the University of Puerto Rico and the Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico.

TOTAL CANCER CARE

Moffitt Cancer Center has instituted a new program to perform state-of-the-art cancer research called Total Cancer Care�"(TCC). Joining with its affiliates to create a new frontier in cancer research, Moffitt is using health information technology to revolutionize the delivery of cancer care and accelerate the development of new lifesaving therapies.

Focused on providing the right care, at the right place, at the right time, the program is based on the ability to acquire blood and tumor samples from thousands of cancer patients at Moffitt and at affiliated hospitals and oncology practices throughout Florida. Every individual is different, with a different fingerprint, and every tumor is unique as well. While cancer can be classified by its site of origin (lung, breast, colon, prostate), there are, in fact, many different types of each of these cancers. Today, physicians treat most cancer patients with the standard protocol, but in reality, only a few patients may benefit from that specific drug -- individual patients with the same kind of cancer don't always respond to standard treatment for that cancer in the same way.

Recent technological advancements now make it possible to test each tumor for approximately 30,000 genes. These genes provide a "molecular" fingerprint that is unique for each tumor just like the lines on a person's fingertips uniquely identify that person. By studying this "molecular" fingerprint, scientists will eventually develop new drug therapies that are personalized for each individual. Information about which drugs are working best will be used to prevent, detect, treat, and even cure different types of cancer - thus streamlining the drug development process.

By 2010, Moffitt researchers hope to use the data collected to recommend individualized treatments for patients, leading to personalized cancer care for cancer patients in their own communities throughout Florida and beyond.

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