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MD Anderson Cancer Center

http://www.orlandohealth.com/mdanderson/index.aspx

With a mission of "using every available resource to defeat cancer," MD Anderson Cancer Center Orlando, formerly the Orlando Cancer Center, was created in 1990. A cooperative effort between The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Orlando and Orlando Health, MD Anderson - Orlando marked the first affiliate of the renowned cancer center outside Texas.

Working to advance cancer research in the region, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando’s Cancer Research Institute will move to the University of Central Florida’s new Health Sciences Campus in Lake Nona’s “medical city.”

M.D. Anderson’s agreement with UCF, announced in December, provides 30,000 square feet of space for The Cancer Research Institute on the fifth floor of the new UCF Burnett Biomedical Sciences Building, which is scheduled for completion in 2009. The CRI will pay the university $2.5 million to occupy the building for up to five years while M. D. Anderson–Orlando builds its own research facility, which will also be located on UCF grounds.

This partnership will be a great asset to the university, and it will help to improve the quality of healthcare in Central Florida, this move represents another step in transforming Orlando into a premier cancer and medical research city.

Leaders at UCF and The CRI anticipate developing many research collaborations and, when possible, sharing in the use of core support facilities. Many M.D. Anderson–Orlando researchers will also have appointments to the UCF College of Medicine faculty and will mentor UCF students seeking to continue their research in Central Florida.

Long recognized as a world leader in innovative technology, cancer research, education, prevention and treatment, the collaborative effort extended the expertise of MD Anderson Cancer Center Orlando to residents of Florida and the southeastern United States.

In just a year's time, the center was featured in the third annual U.S. News & World Report" Best Hospitals" survey. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Orlando ranked as the best cancer center in the nation, and the article pointed out Orlando Cancer Center's close relationship with Houston's specialists. Two years later, in 1994, the facility's name became MD Anderson Cancer Center Orlando.

This close working relationship is demonstrated weekly through telemedicine, where the best minds, though a thousand miles apart, meet through teleconferences to consult on complex, challenging patient cases. Gathered around specially designed monitors, physicians in Orlando and Houston poke and prod one another with a battery of questions. With each electronic exchange of information, with each X-ray or pathology slide displayed, they map out a course of treatment.

As technologically advanced cancer treatment grew in Central Florida, the softer side of medicine came of age. In the early 1990s, MD Anderson - Orlando added a chaplain devoted to caring for patients and their families in the hospital. This service was soon expanded to include outpatients. Programs such as high tea, spiritual bibilotherapy, palliative care and a labyrinth also were offered to soothe the mind, body and soul.

During this time period, awareness for cancer care grew, and so too did the need for more services. In 1993, two women, Elaine Lustig and Sheila Solomon, forever changed the way breast cancer was viewed in Central Florida. A friendship forged on a golf course led to Women Playing For T.I.M.E. (Technology, Immediate diagnosis, Mammography and Education). Suddenly the words "breast cancer" were no longer whispered. Instead, WPFT along with MD Anderson - Orlando funded Pink October and women began talking about early detection and awareness. Over the years, this grassroots group has grown to a board of 47 women and has raised more than $5.5 million for education, research and treatment.

As patients flocked to Central Florida, the cancer center staff soon realized a bigger facility would be needed.

Using MD Anderson clinical practice guidelines, participating in clinical research trials originating from Houston and interacting with Houston clinical and research faculty through weekly telemedicine conferences, the physicians and other professional staff of MD Anderson - Orlando are providing a level of care to cancer patients unequaled in the southeastern United States.