Cancer Research Center of Hawaii
651 Ilalo Street, BSB 231
Honolulu, HI 96813
(808) 440-4596
Part of the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii (CRCH) is a research unit established by the university in 1981 for the purpose of "reducing the burden of cancer through research, education, and service with an emphasis on the unique ethnic, cultural, and environmental characteristics of Hawaii and the Pacific." In 1996, it became a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.
As an NCI-designated cancer center, CRCH centers its research on four particular areas: epidemiology, natural products and cancer biology, prevention and control, and thoracic oncology, which includes the study of malignant mesothelioma.
The Thoracic Oncology Program was established in 2006 and the specific goal of this division is to study the pathogenesis of thoracic malignancies "to identify some point in the evolution of the process that is vulnerable to intervention." An asset to the program is Dr. Michele Carbone, director of CRCH since August 2009, who is world-renowned in the field of thoracic cancer, specifically mesothelioma.
Thus far, scientists here have created strategies to reduce exposure to mineral fiber carcinogenesis (i.e. asbestos) in areas where there is a high risk of developing mesothelioma cancer (a type of asbestos cancer). Co-investigators from several prestigious cancer centers around the country and beyond are part of this multi-disciplinary thoracic oncology program and, currently, their emphasis remains on mesothelioma disease, with the facility receiving more than 50 percent of all National Cancer Institute and National Institutes of Health funding for the study of this rare form of cancer.
In addition, the University of Hawaii Cancer Research Center participates regularly in clinical trials, which number at least 100 at any given time, providing the opportunity for patients to participate in the testing of new and novel treatments for their type of cancer.
Sources
Cancer Research Center of Hawaii
http://www.crch.org
