The Cancer Research Center of Hawai'i, like many state institutions, has eyes fixed on the state Capitol this session, determined to keep its share of funding intact despite the grim budgetary outlook.

Not all will emerge from the fiscal wrestling match alive, let alone unbruised. But the research institution, which is hoping to protect its share of the state cigarette tax revenues, ought to be among the unscathed. This investment, if well-managed, will yield benefits in the form of enhanced treatment options for Hawai'i cancer sufferers here at home.

Each year, about 6,000 more people join the ranks of those diagnosed with cancer in the Islands. For many of these people, the cost of travel and treatment elsewhere is beyond reach. Having more cutting-edge therapies available here, and medicines developed by the research center faculty, is invaluable.

In particular, this would be the worst time possible to disrupt the financial stream the center receives from the tax, something lawmakers worked hard to enact, finally ensuring a penny-per-cigarette rate in the 2007 session.

Those dedicated funds will help underwrite the center's leasing of the site of a new campus in Kaka'ako. Putting funding in doubt could endanger that proposition, especially during economic doldrums, when alternative funding sources are elusive.

The next domino to fall could be the campaign to recruit new researchers, a critical step in ensuring the stability of the center going forward. Skilled researchers are in demand, and the lack of new center facilities would undermine the effort to enlist them.

Finally, the center needs to boost its staff as part of its concurrent effort to renew its designation as a National Cancer Institute center. The 38-year-old center is one of 63 with that designation nationally, and the distinction is key to attracting research grants.

The Cancer Research Center has seen its grant revenue fall off in recent years, primarily due to the attrition in staff. It needs the underpinnings of a stable funding source as part of its course back to firmer footing.

The center, as a University of Hawai'i institute, needs to be part of its own recovery, and it's encouraging to see forays taken in that direction.

Its interim director, Dr. Michele Carbone, has helped to broker a peace among the often contentious rivals for limited grant money in the medical community. That's an essential first step.

Meanwhile, the search for a permanent director must proceed without delay. Carbone has expressed the need for private fundraising on the center's behalf; whether he or another candidate becomes the permanent chief, UH has to put some muscle behind the development of such support.

At this juncture, however, the focus needs to be on stability and resolve. The numbers are reason enough: One in four people is stricken with cancer, Carbone said.

It's hard to argue with that.