National Clinical Trials Available for Interested Cancer Center Patients

Charleston, SC - Roper St. Francis Cancer Center is offering cancer patients an opportunity to participate in the latest national trials aimed at treating and preventing cancer. The Roper St. Francis Cancer Center is a member of the Southeast Cancer Control Consortium (SCCC), which makes these trials available locally through participating community hospitals. As a Consortium member, Roper St. Francis Cancer Center offers access to a broad spectrum of cancer trials including brain, breast, gastrointestinal, gynecological, head and neck, as well as leukemia, lung, lymphoma, melanoma, multiple myeloma, pancreas, sarcoma and skin.

Clinical trials or research studies find better ways to treat cancer by comparing standard treatments with newer treatments which doctors hope will produce better results - from improving cancer survival rates and quality of life to decreasing side effects and recurrence. Through clinical trials, patients are often able to access treatments that would not be available publicly for five years or more.

Funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the Consortium's goal is to bring state-of-the-art clinical treatment and prevention trials to patients in a community hospital setting. Currently, Roper St. Francis Cancer Center is one of 24 member institutions participating in cancer research in the five-state region including the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia. Roper St. Francis Cancer Center is one of only three participating community hospitals in the state of South Carolina.

At Roper St. Francis Cancer Center, patients are offered a comprehensive team approach to fighting cancer including state-of-the-art technology for diagnosis and treatment and a wide range of cancer-related education and support services. The Roper St. Francis Cancer Center also operates a dedicated Oncology Research Department, of which the Clinical Trials Program is part.

Roper St. Francis Cancer Center has been awarded Accreditation with Commendation by the American College of Surgeons' Commission on Cancer. Three-year accreditation is bestowed on only the finest programs in the country with just 25 percent of hospital cancer programs in receipt and an even smaller group receiving commendation.

To learn more about Roper St. Francis Cancer Center's involvement in important clinical trials and how patients may benefit, please call Elizabeth Strojny, RN, OCN, at (843) 720-8386. Or visit us on-line at http://www.ropersaintfrancis.com/cancer/clinical_trials.asp.

####

The Roper St. Francis Healthcare Mission:

Healing All People with Compassion, Faith and Excellence.