Hawai'i cancer care location in works
By Beverly Creamer
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Cancer Research Center of Hawai'i would no longer move to the planned Health and Wellness Center in Kaka'ako under a new agreement that would keep it close to the Queen's Medical Center and, in addition, give Hawai'i cancer patients access to experimental cancer drugs for the first time.
The Queen's Medical Center and the Cancer Research Center have agreed to explore a joint research and outpatient treatment program in a move they say is designed to dramatically improve cancer care in Hawai'i.
The agreement represents the first concrete steps toward one-stop cancer care in Hawai'i.
"It would put Hawai'i in the national spotlight as a prime place for cancer care," said Dr. Carl-Wilhelm Vogel, director of the Cancer Research Center, an arm of the University of Hawai'i. "It would be an incredible benefit for our state."
The agreement would change the current line-up for Kaka'ako, creating an expanded cancer research center next to Queen's and leaving the Kewalo Basin site with the John A. Burns Medical School and a biomedical research facility.
Under the current proposal for Kaka'ako, a rebuilt Cancer Research Center would not have a patient base — or the room for parking — to accommodate a heightened number of clinical trials and the constant traffic of hundreds of patients.
"This is a once in a lifetime chance (to get clinical trials)," said Vogel. "If we build it in Kaka'ako, that chance has passed."
A memorandum of understanding between the hospital and cancer center was signed in the past few weeks. In it, the parties agreed to explore a partnership under which a full range of cutting-edge Phase II clinical cancer trials with experimental drugs could be offered to patients.
"Many patients from Hawai'i leave Hawai'i to seek care on the Mainland," said Vogel. "They think there's better care and drugs available in clinical trials. But if cancer hits you in the midst of your full life, where would you like to go for therapy? At that point in your life wouldn't you rather be close to home and your support base than in a hotel in Houston?"
It is a "major step" toward providing seamless cancer care; speeding up the time from diagnosis to treatment; and offering a positive response to improvements called for by the Governor's 1999 Blue Ribbon Committee on Cancer, Queen's president and chief operating officer Arthur Ushijima said.
A streamlined system of cancer care has long been sought in Hawai'i.
The state expects to see a doubling of cancer patients in the next two decades. Six thousand new cases of cancer are diagnosed annually.
"(At Queen's) we already treat the largest number of cancer patients in the state, so the facilities for diagnosis and treatment are here," said Ushijima. "In trying to consolidate everything as much as possible in a single location, it would probably be a big step toward that (one-stop cancer care.)"
The blue ribbon committee was formed by Gov. Ben Cayetano to look into how the state could improve cancer care. In a first draft report last December the committee recommended an outpatient cancer center that would bring better treatment and more coordination of services to Hawai'i patients.
For Jonathan Brookfield, whose wife, Stacy, died of cancer more than four years ago, the news was positive for patients and their families.
"Anything to help the patient — that's a good sign," said Brookfield, who also is a member of the blue ribbon committee. "It would be great to have everybody on board, not just Queen's, to create the fabric to connect our fragmented system."
But finding space for the new combined outpatient and cancer research center near Queen's will be a challenge. There has been some early discussion of negotiating with the Board of Water Supply and the city on potential use of the board's parking lot.
And planners acknowledge there will be "hurdles" to clear, including potential opposition from other hospitals that fear losing business.
A university spokesman said that having the cancer center near Queen's would not diminish the importance of the biomedical and medical school complex in Kaka'ako, and in fact would allow even more space to develop the state's emerging biotech industries.
"We're very excited about the agreement we have at this point and obviously need to continue to discuss how this will come to fruition," said Paul Costello, UH vice president for external affairs. "This partnership has the ability to provide a comprehensive, unique cancer institute and clinical program that will benefit the residents of Hawai'i. And there will still remain a first-class health and medical center in Kaka'ako anchored by the medical school."
Hawai'i's congressional delegation is looking at ways to gain federal support for the venture. U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink (D-Hawai'i) pledged support and said the delegation already has asked the House Appropriations Committee for $8 million in planning money for 2003 and will ask for millions more later to help with construction. And UH President Evan Dobelle has pledged to raise the money necessary for the research center which could cost upwards of $100 million with the proposed new clinical component.
"We need to go into a full-scale top-of-the-line research center capable of doing clinical trials to take advantage of all that NIH (National Institutes of Health) funding," said Mink.
"This involves a lot of trials on various kinds of medicines and techniques, and Hawai'i has not been able to participate in those extensive trials. People have always had to go elsewhere ... So a different kind of facility is needed other than the one projected for Kaka'ako. That's why we got together and started to talk about it. There's such a huge potential for research on our diverse population."
Mink said that other hospitals besides Queen's potentially could be a part of the project as well.
Reach Beverly Creamer at bcreamer@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8013.
