The Huntsman Cancer Institute continued its fight against cancer Tuesday by breaking ground for construction of the Nevada Cancer Institute in Las Vegas.
The new facility, scheduled for completion in the fall of 2004, will be a partner of the Huntsman Cancer Institute with both entities anticipating mutual benefit. The two institutes will engage in joint research programs, including laboratory studies, clinical trials and multidisciplinary clinical care.
"We hope to be able to share some of our experience, to reach out and serve those throughout the area," said Stephen Prescott, executive director of the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
"At the same time, we also think that we are going to benefit from this as well. As (the Nevada Cancer Institute) gets established, we're confident that their research will be able to help us."
The Huntsman Cancer Institute, the only National Cancer Institute-designated center in the intermountain west, will contribute its expertise in the genetics of cancer. That includes counseling for risk in families and projects to define genes that predispose individuals to cancer.
The Nevada Cancer Institute, which will be about half the size of the Huntsman Cancer Institute, will place its initial focus on lung cancer with the intention of broadening research in the future, Prescott said.
Funding for the $50 million facility has been provided by various donors as well as by Heather Murren, president of the Nevada Cancer Institute.
"This is all part of Jon Huntsman's original vision," Prescott said. "We've been on this path since the onset, to create a regional effort throughout the intermountain west. We share many of the same challenges and have many of the same goals, so creating a partnership should be favorable to everyone involved."
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