Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC)
The Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC) is a prominent cancer research and treatment facility located in the United States, recognized for its robust contributions to cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. It organizes its research into several program areas, which encompass specialized fields such as Cancer and Stem Cell Biology, Tumor Immunology, and Cancer Nanotechnology. A key feature of the JCCC is its emphasis on collaborative research, encouraging interdisciplinary cooperation among scientists to enhance the discovery of innovative treatments. The center also emphasizes patient support through initiatives like the Simms/Mann-UCLA Center for Integrative Oncology, which offers various emotional and physical support programs for patients and their families.
Additionally, the JCCC is heavily involved in clinical trials, with hundreds of studies conducted annually to test new treatment modalities, ensuring rigorous safety and efficacy standards. Recognized as a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, it has been consistently ranked among the top cancer institutions in the nation. With a dedicated team of over 240 physicians and scientists, the JCCC serves more than 20,000 patients each year, making it a critical player in the ongoing fight against cancer.
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Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC)
Definition: The Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Care Center (JCCC) is a cancer research and cancer patient treatment facility at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center. Founded in 1960, it is one of the largest comprehensive cancer centers in the United States.
Research: At the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Care Center, research into the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer is divided into three program areas, which are subdivided into particular research programs. The basic research programs include Cancer and Stem Cell Biology, Cancer Molecular Imaging, Cancer Nanotechnology, Gene Regulation, Health and At-Risk Populations, Patients and Survivors, Signal Transduction and Therapeutics, Tumor Immunology. The center also includes the Sue Stiles Program on Integrative Oncology, the Athena Breast Health Network, and the Human Gene and Cell Therapy Program
The directors of the JCCC believe that collaborative research can provide more helpful insights into the prevention and treatment of cancer than research done by scientists who work alone. By having a great variety of programs in a single cancer center, the JCCC seeks to utilize the advantage of such collaborative efforts. In 1996, the center formed the Interdisciplinary Seed Grant Program. This program helps bring together researchers from disparate fields who might not otherwise collaborate. For example, an investigator working on lung cancer might collaborate with an investigator working on skin cancer because of a similarity that another researcher discovered while working on molecular imaging. This is one of the advantages of a comprehensive research center, and it can lead to innovative research that might otherwise have taken much longer or never have happened at all.
Education and outreach: To help patients and family members deal with the emotional and physical difficulties of cancer and cancer treatment, the JCCC designed the Simms/Mann-UCLA Center for Integrative Oncology (formerly the Ted Mann Family Resource Center). At the center, support groups and counselors help people deal with the strain of the entire ordeal. Some examples of support groups include the Healing Through Art group, which uses painting, drawing, and crafts to help men and women express their issues with cancer, and Mindfulness Meditation, in which patients practice connecting to the present moment. Education programs are also offered through the center so that patients and families can learn more about the effects of cancer and the details of particular treatment programs.
Clinical trials: Cancer research studies that involve actual patients are known as clinical trials. These clinical trials are usually conducted to test a new cancer treatment option and determine whether it can or should be used in a larger context. Before a clinical trial is attempted, the treatment in question is carefully studied in a laboratory setting, often involving studies on animals, but there is no replacement for clinical trials. For a treatment to be proven effective, it must first be tested on human subjects. To maintain safety standards, all clinical studies at the JCCC must first be approved by an internal review board.
Researchers at the JCCC recognize the vital importance of clinical trials in the fight against cancer. Hundreds of clinical trials take place at the center every year. The center generally has more than two hundred trials actively recruiting participants. Some of the successful therapies developed at the center include Avastin, Gleevec, Herceptin, and Tarceva.
Accomplishments: As one of the largest cancer research centers in the nation, the JCCC has achieved many noteworthy accomplishments. In 2013, it was ranked eleventh in U.S. News and World Report's report on the top cancer institutions in the United States. It ranked in the top twelve for fourteen consecutive years. The JCCC is a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. Of the sixty-eight cancer centers recognized by the National Cancer Institute, only forty-one have received the designation “comprehensive,” which means that the center’s research activities achieve a high level of breadth, depth, and interaction. The JCCC has more than 240 physicians and scientist members, and it serves more than 20,000 patients each year.
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