The University of Hawaii’s Cancer Research Center will be re-evaluated by the National Cancer Institute next week to ascertain whether it will maintain its designation as an NCI Cancer Center. The University of Hawaii’s Cancer Research Center received about $1.5 million from the NCI last year, helping Dr. Michelle Carbone, the Cancer Research Center’s director, to continue her work in the study of mesothelioma, an aggressive and incurable cancer that results from asbestos exposure. Dr. Carbone specifically studies the impact of environmental carcinogens, viral infections, and genetics on the development of mesothelioma.

The University of Hawaii’s Cancer Research Center’s designation as an NCI Cancer Center is important to mesothelioma research as it allocates financial and research support that helps scientists reach their goals of improving the disease’s diagnosis and treatment processes. Carbone had indicated that the NCI designation was in danger when he became the new director of the Cancer Center in September of 2009. Since then, the staff has worked to address the NCI’s specific concerns in an effort to maintain the assistance that improves the efficacy and output of their efforts.

The Hawaii Cancer Center has worked to fill many vacant positions, established partnerships and cooperative programs with other research facilities, and has begun the design of a new research center. These types of responsible developments could help them to maintain the NCI funding that’s vital to the mesothelioma research that they are conducting.

Mesothelioma affects more than 3,000 individuals annually in the United States alone, and brandishes a frightening prognosis that often gives patients no more than 18 months to live. The incurable cancer is caused almost exclusively by exposure to dangerous asbestos fibers, which through inhalation or ingestion can become lodged in a soft tissue called the mesothelium that protects our bodies’ vital organs. The disease can take decades to fully develop, and mesothelioma symptoms are so generic that they can be difficult to recognize properly.

Cancer Centers that are designated by the NCI are major contributors to the race for a cure for cancer. They are often recognized for their scientific excellence and their substantial discoveries in regards to improving the diagnosis and treatment of various cancers. While NCI supported Cancer Centers receive a huge amount of support that helps them to further their research, they must be re-evaluated each year to ensure that their research merits the NCI’s assistance.

(Mesothelioma Watch, 01/02/2010)