The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center

M. D. Anderson Cancer Center's Texas facilities include the M. D. Anderson complex in Houston and two divisions of M. D. Anderson's Science Park in Bastrop County. Members of the M. D. Anderson Network include the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center-Orlando and the Moncrief Radiation Center-Fort Worth. Among the 8,000-member staff are 725 physicians and scientists and more than 700 nurses. Some 1,000 volunteers support the multiple patient care, research, education, and prevention programs.

Patient Care Services

As the health care environment changes, M. D. Anderson is seeking ways to improve access so that more patients can take advantage of its high-quality, cost-effective comprehensive care services. This is being done by offering some new programs aimed at specific groups of patients and by changing the institutionıs referral process to make it easier for patients to come to M. D. Anderson for consultation, diagnosis, and treatment. During 1993 - 1994, M. D. Anderson began greatly expanding efforts to market itself to managed care providers. By the end of fiscal year 1994, it had more than 30 managed care contracts, greatly expanding its accessibility to patients.

Highly specialized teams of medical and allied professionals administer state-of-the-art treatment using combinations of surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and biological substances that stimulate or modify patientsı immune systems to fight disease. Among important supportive measures used are bone marrow transplantation, total nutritional maintenance, and blood component therapy. M. D. Anderson is one of the first two sites approved by the National Institutes of Health to initiate gene therapy studies and is one of only two hospitals in the country authorized to use bone marrow transplantation in the development of gene therapy.

The quality of life for patients and their families is of paramount importance. Many M. D. Anderson patients can receive most, if not all, of their therapy as outpatients. The Ambulatory Treatment Center, the worldıs largest outpatient chemotherapy unit, allows patients to receive a combination of anticancer drugs as well as antibiotics and pain medication for up to 24 hours without admission to the hospital. Portable drug-infusion pumps also allow patients to receive chemotherapy at home or work. Radiation therapy is usually administered on an outpatient basis.

M. D. Anderson Cancer Center has 457 inpatient beds as well as outpatient clinics where about 2,000 ambulatory visits are recorded each day. Of the more that 325,000 patients who have been treated at M. D. Anderson, the majority have been Texas residents, who have come from all 254 counties in the state. More than 47,000 patients are served annually.

Research

All research studies at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center are designed to improve cancer patient care and, ultimately, to reduce the occurrence of malignant diseases. Basic research conducted in laboratories and clinical investigations involving patients represent a research continuum that offers scientists and physicians daily opportunities to collaborate on all aspects of the cancer problem. Cancer remains a complex scientific challenge, primarily because it comprises more than 100 different diseases, some with several subtypes, that affect all parts of the body.

The more than 700 research projects under way at M. D. Anderson range from long-term studies of molecular components involved in induction of the multistage cancer process to the design of more effective and less toxic chemotherapy. Major research efforts include developing and evaluating biologic substances such as several interferons, interleukins, and growth factors; designing new strategies for improving treatment of brain tumors; and conducting innovative studies to identify, reproduce, and analyze genes and gene products. Teams of scientists are striving to devise ways to prevent cancer metastasis.

Carcinogenesis studies conducted at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center's Science Park‹Research Division near Smithville focus their efforts on the process by which cancer develops, while the Science Park's Veterinary Resources Department near Bastrop provides specialized veterinary services, animal models and biologics for state-of-the-art biomedical research throughout The University of Texas System and in public health laboratories to diagnose diseases and illnesses.

Education

The diverse educational programs at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center represent a concerted effort to disseminate the constantly expanding knowledge about cancer to all health professionals. Since Andersonıs first training program was offered in 1947, more than 27,000 physicians, scientists, and health care providers have participated in training programs lasting from a few weeks to four years.

Each year, about 585 clinical residents, fellows, and interns receive advanced training in various medical specialties. Graduate and postgraduate training is also provided to more than 500 trainees in several master's, Ph.D., and combined M.D./Ph.D. programs, as well as to others with postdoctoral appointments. In 1994, more than 32,900 individuals participated in a variety of continuing education programs and conferences sponsored by M. D. Anderson.

In addition, the Cancer Information Service, based at M. D. Anderson, provides the general public with current information about cancer and related subjects via toll-free telephone lines. Almost all of the more than 340,000 people who have called the Cancer Information Service have been Texans.

Prevention

M. D. Anderson Cancer Center has intensified multidisciplinary research aimed at developing effective methods to prevent the occurrence of cancer. Scientific investigation focus on (1) epidemiologic studies to determine the causes and mechanisms of the induction of cancer; and (2) research directed at understanding factors that increase the risk of cancer and identifying individuals and groups at highest risk for malignant diseases.