Moffitt Cancer Center Makes Top-10 List of America's Best Cancer Centers

7/12/2002

From: Moffitt Cancer Center Media Relations, 813-632-1478

TAMPA, Fla., July 12 -- H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute is one of the 10 top cancer hospitals in the country, according to the U.S. News and World Report ranking released today. This is the fourth year in a row Moffitt has appeared on the newsmagazine's prestigious "America's Best Hospitals" list of 50 hospitals, moving high in the ranking each year.

The rankings are published in the current issue and are posted on http://USNews.com.

The top-10 designation came just two days after the announcement that Dr. William S. Dalton, Ph.D., M.D., is returning to Moffitt as the new CEO. Dalton says that the impetus for him to leave the University of Arizona, where was dean of the College of Medicine, was the prospect of being part of a potential cancer cure at Moffitt. He predicts this could occur within years. As he told WUSF/FM in an interview Thursday, although cancer is "not one disease" but more than "100 different diseases, Moffitt is large enough that it can tackle several of these different kinds of cancers."

Moffitt officials attributed Moffitt's high ranking to a number of advances:

-- Moffitt recruited major researchers who are well known nationally and internationally

-- Moffitt originated more of its own investigator-initiated Phase I & II clinical trials and participated in more national Phase III trials (those that bring experimental therapies closer to FDA approval and mainstream adoption).

-- Moffitt invested heavily in high-tech equipment and laboratory set-up, spending approximately $20 million in just the last three years (not counting the $178 million Tower construction project, which will bring a doubling of the center's clinical and research space in 2003).

In addition, Moffitt is helping to create the technology that is used by other cancer centers such as Dr. Maria Kallergi's software programs for reading digital mammograms, which aid radiologists in detecting not just tumors but also in identifying those that are cancerous.

Moffitt is also well known for being a leader in one vital aspect U.S. News and World Report analysts judge: "incorporating new findings into patient care."

Situated on the campus of the University of South Florida, Moffitt Cancer Center is the only National Cancer Institute comprehensive cancer center in Florida. Moffitt's mission is to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer.