Cancer survivor Hope Rodriguez and her husband, Jacob, are recognized during the program.
Printer Friendly Format

SAN ANTONIO (May 20, 2008) — On a night when more than 200 volunteers, community leaders and physicians filled the Pearl Stable to celebrate the joining of the Cancer Therapy & Research Center and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, no one summed up the optimistic spirit of the occasion any better than Hope Rodriguez, a Harlandale school district employee who is an eight-year cancer survivor. “I’m a strong believer that anything can happen,” she said about new medications that are making many cancers survivable.

The CTRC supporters in the room have the same spirit, which is why they so heartily celebrated the joining of a world-class patient care center and an internationally respected research center to foster effective treatment and prevention of all types of cancer. The Cancer Therapy & Research Center at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is its new name.

The event theme was “Sparkle Around the World.” Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., president, welcomed the leaders and volunteers who both laid the foundation for the CTRC and made its joining with the Health Science Center possible.

Health Science Center President Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D., celebrates with Mark E. Watson Jr., chairman of the CTRC Board of Directors.

Providing better care for cancer patients
“As we celebrate the strength that our unity brings, we rest certain that the richness and promise of this union will long improve our work in science and medicine with a sparkle to be witnessed around the world,” President Cigarroa said. “Tonight we celebrate both the passion and compassion of our new, combined endeavor that will guide us through all the days to come and remind us that, together, we will indeed make lives better.”

Mark E. Watson Jr., chairman of the CTRC Board of Directors, said the two partners never lost sight of the goal to establish the finest cancer center anywhere for the treatment and eradication of cancer. This ensured the success of negotiations to bring the CTRC and Health Science Center together, because “patients do better at home” and the people of San Antonio and South Texas deserve the best cancer center possible, Watson said.

Research powerhouse
John C. Korbell, former chairman of the CTRC Board of Directors, said the partners have the “community interest first and foremost in mind.” The combination of the two organizations has created a research powerhouse with the best physicians, facilities and research protocols, he said.

The process to join the two organizations began April 4, 2007, in a daylong retreat of leaders. It culminated Dec. 17, 2007, with the transfer of operating assets, land and buildings to the Health Science Center.

CTRC’s history
Korbell noted that Dr. Ruskin C. Norman in 1971 first advanced the vision to form a freestanding outpatient cancer treatment facility. The CTRC Urschel Pavilion on Medical Drive opened for patients on Nov. 4, 1974. Hematologist Charles A. Coltman Jr., M.D., a Health Science Center faculty member, was appointed medical director of the CTRC in 1977 and later led the drive to gain National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center status in 1990. Several leaders called that feat an amazing achievement.

Volunteers praised
Volunteer activities were at the forefront of the evening. The 800-member Cancer Center Council was lauded for raising more than $2.3 million for CTRC patients. Generous community leaders and tireless volunteers too numerous to list were warmly acknowledged.

Talented researchers being recruited to CTRC
William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP, dean of the Health Science Center School of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs, said the CTRC at the UT Health Science Center is recruiting talented people to provide the most benefit for the citizens of South Texas. “Ensuring that no one will have to leave San Antonio to get first-rate cancer care is the most compelling reason in the world to do this,” he said.

Dr. Henrich pledged the faculty’s best effort to “pave the way for the brightest futures for our people.”

CTRC among an elite group of cancer centers nationwide
Tyler J. Curiel, M.D., M.P.H., executive director of the CTRC at the UT Health Science Center, said of the thousands of institutions that call themselves cancer centers nationwide, the National Cancer Institute recognizes only a few that perform the level of patient care, research and prevention that make them an NCI-designated Cancer Center. The CTRC at the UT Health Science Center is one of only 63 NCI-designated Cancer Centers in the U.S. and one of only four in Texas.

Designation renewal coming this fall
Dr. Curiel said the NCI requires centers to prove their case every few years. This fall, the CTRC will go back for renewal of its designation. He said the recruitment of key faculty, such as Drs. Frank Giles and Chul Ha, will greatly assist with this process.

The research is working: More lives saved
Dr. Curiel noted the progress that is being made against cancer. In 1971, when President Richard M. Nixon declared war on cancer, patients had few medical options and places to seek treatment. Only one in four patients with cancer lived five years. Today, three of four live that long. “I call that a good start, but we can do a lot better,” Dr. Curiel said.

Preparing to be the best in the world
Kenneth I. Shine, M.D., interim chancellor of The University of Texas System, said Watson, Korbell, Gary Woods and other volunteer leaders of the CTRC looked past their own self-interests to what could be — a gift of the CTRC to the Health Science Center for the sake of patients. “This is a big gift because of the possibilities, the opportunities,” Dr. Shine said. “There is a momentum here. You are creating not just a cancer center for South Texas or for Texas, but I submit to you that in some areas this cancer center will be the best in the world. That is the vision and the goal,” he said.

Combining cash and capital, CTRC is largest gift ever to UT Health Science Center
Dr. Cigarroa said the combination of cash and capital makes the CTRC gift the largest in the UT Health Science Center’s history and one of the largest received by the UT System.

Colleen McHugh, in her role as a member of the UT System Board of Regents, officially acknowledged the CTRC as part of the Health Science Center. “According to the National Cancer Institute, nearly 1.4 million people will be diagnosed with cancer this year, but there is a new weapon against cancer: The Cancer Therapy & Research Center at The University of Texas Health Science Center,” Regent McHugh said.

Those words resonated with everyone in the room. Hope Rodriguez, sitting in the audience with her husband, Jacob, is one who surely knows that, with a great cancer center, anything is possible.