From the Director

Cancer is responsible for one of every four deaths in the US, and it is the number one killer of Americans under 85. The news is worse for Oklahoma, where cancer rates exceed the national average. Two Oklahomans are diagnosed with cancer every hour.  Over 2,500 Oklahoma women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, and over 2,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. It is staggering to think that, among Oklahomans alive in 2000, 1.4 million will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime.

While cancer incidence rates are starting to level nationally, Oklahoma continues to lag behind. Oklahoma ranks second worst in the number of women who have not had a Pap smear, sixth worst in the number of women who have not had a mammogram, and eighth worst in tobacco use and lack of health coverage.  

The people of Oklahoma took a momentous step in November 2004 when they approved State Question 713, which increased the state tax on tobacco products. The increased cost of a pack of cigarettes will help deter smoking, especially among young people. In addition, the revenue generated from this tax will go to a number of health care initiatives, including the construction of a cancer center facility at the University of Oklahoma’s Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City and the expansion of cancer facilities in Tulsa. 

With cancer rates still on the rise in Oklahoma – and the nearest comprehensive cancer center 450 miles away – the timing of SQ 713 could not have been better. Oklahoma City and Tulsa have hospitals and private practices that provide outstanding routine care for cancer patients. The OU Cancer Institute will complement these efforts through its NCI-designated clinical trials, its cutting edge research into the causes and prevention of cancer, and the addition of new cancer specialists and new clinical and research facilities.

Members of the OU Cancer Institute – those already at the Institute and the new cancer specialists to be hired in the next five years – will attack cancer on multiple fronts: researchers will work in the lab to understand the genetic and molecular processes that lead to cancer; clinicians will conduct innovative clinical trials that afford patients first access to the latest cancer drugs and tests; patients will benefit from access to state-of-the-art cancer treatment and care; and Oklahoma’s citizens will benefit from innovative community education and outreach programs, often targeting those most at risk (including Oklahoma’s minorities and rural population). 

Many of these comprehensive cancer services can already be found at the OU Cancer Institute. The Cade Cancer Center at OU Physicians and the Jimmy Everest Children’s Cancer Center, for example, offer patients access to state-of-the-art oncology services. The OU Cancer Institute will build on this foundation to give Oklahoma’s citizens the best standard of cancer research, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. 

Oklahomans deserve a world-class cancer research and treatment facility. With their support, we will be able to give them one.  

Howard Ozer, MD, PhD, Eason Chair, Director, OU Cancer Institute at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center