The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute is recognized by several prestigious organizations, including the following.
Comprehensive Cancer Center
National Cancer Institute/National Institutes of Health
What it Means
The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute was first designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute in 1978 (at this time, it was known as the Cancer Center of Metropolitan Detroit). This designation is awarded to only 41 cancer centers throughout the country, and is one of two in Michigan.
Cancer centers receiving this designation status from the NCI must:
- Demonstrate expertise in these areas: research, laboratory, clinical, and behavioral and population-based research;
- Initiate and conduct early-phase, innovative clinical trials and participate in the NCI’s cooperative groups by providing leadership and recruiting patients for trials; and
- Conduct activities in outreach and education and provide information on advances in health care for health care professionals and the public.
NCI-designated cancer centers are characterized by scientific excellence and the capability to integrate a diversity of research approaches to focus on the problem of cancer. They play a vital role in advancing towards our goal of reducing morbidity and mortality from cancer.
About the National Cancer Institute
Established under the National Cancer Act of 1937, the National Cancer Institute is a component of the National Institutes of Health, one of eight agencies that compose the Public Health Service in the Department of Health and Human Services. The National Cancer Institute and its designated centers comprise the centerpiece of the nation’s effort to reduce morbidity and mortality from cancer. They are the major sources of new knowledge relating to the nature of cancer and of new and more effective approaches to prevention, diagnosis and therapy. www.cancer.gov
Approved Cancer Program
American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer
What it Means
Membership signifies that the Institute has met this group’s rigorous standards for:
- Quality of cancer care.
- Comprehensive care offering a range of state-of-the-art services and equipment.
- A multispecialty team approach to coordinating the best treatment options available to patients.
- Information about cancer clinical trials, education and support.
- Lifelong patient followup through a cancer registry that collects data on type and stage of cancers and treatment results.
- Ongoing monitoring and improvement of care.
About the Organization
The American College of Surgeons is a not-for-profit scientific and educational association of surgeons founded in 1913 to improve the care of the surgical patient by setting high standards for surgical education and practice. Examples of activities conducted by ACS include educational programs such as the Clinical Congress and standard-setting programs in cancer and trauma care.
Its Commission on Cancer is a consortium of professional organizations dedicated to reducing the morbidity and mortality of cancer through education, standard-setting, and the monitoring of quality care.
www.facs.org/cancer
