The mission of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is to find cures for children with catastrophic diseases through
research and treatment. The major focus of these efforts has been on the large set of life–threatening diseases known as cancer.
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) supports 63 cancer centers around the country with formal Cancer Center Support Grants and
St. Jude has been a recipient of one of these prestigious national grants consistently since 1977. St. Jude is the only
institution among these 63 to specifically focus on the problems of childhood cancers and as such is the only Pediatric
institution in the country to be an NCI–designated Cancer Center. In 2008, St. Jude received the special designation of being
an NCI–designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, meaning that all three major types of cancer research (basic science,
clinical science, and population science) are highly accomplished and interactive. In addition, Comprehensive designation
requires significant efforts in training, education, and community service, all activities that have been long–standing at
St. Jude.
The Comprehensive Cancer Center at St. Jude comprises several cross–disciplinary, multi–departmental programs oriented to
specific diseases (Hematological Malignancies and Neurobiology & Brain Tumor), conceptual themes (Signal Transduction and
Molecular Oncology) or novel therapeutic approaches (Developmental Therapeutics for Solid Malignancies). The Cancer Center also
includes a new Cancer Prevention & Control Program, which builds on the institution's commitment to long–term follow–up of
patients in the After Completion of Therapy Clinic. Cancer Center faculty members are engaged in a broad spectrum of research,
including discovery–oriented basic science research, investigation of disease pathogenesis and drug resistance, translational
research, behavioral and quality–of–life research, and therapeutic trials. Each Cancer Center program supports cross–disciplinary,
multi–departmental collaborations that foster innovative translational research. The success of these research programs is also
due in part to the use of crucial Cancer Center–supported shared resources, which includes the Hartwell Center for Bioinformatics
& Biotechnology.
The center emphasizes interdisciplinary research aimed at understanding, preventing, and treating childhood cancers. Most of
the more than 400 children who are accepted for cancer treatment each year are treated on disease–specific, frontline protocols
developed by investigators in various Cancer Center programs. The hospital also accepts children who have already been treated
elsewhere and are eligible for bone marrow transplant, special treatments for relapsed disease, or Phase I or II protocols.
The Center is the home site for several major national cancer studies, including the Pediatric Preclinical Testing Program (PPTP),
the Childhood Cancer Survivors Study (CCSS), and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium (PBTC), all of which are funded by the NCI.
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