National Cancer Centers Conference About Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center
The University of Iowa is a major national research university located on a 1,900-acre campus in Iowa City in southeast Iowa that was established in 1897 on the Iowa River. The University is composed of 11 colleges, and has an enrollment of 29,000 annually.A matrix cancer center, Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at The University of Iowa encompasses 188 faculty members in 36 departments and six of the 11 colleges. A cornerstone of UI Hospitals and Clinics, one of the largest university-run hospitals in the country, Holden is one of the few cancer centers designated as “comprehensive” by the National Cancer Institute.
A few facts about Holden clinical mission:
- There are more than 25,000 unique patients treated with a primary diagnosis of cancer in 103,000 net square feet of clinical oncology space. Most of the patients are from Iowa, but Holden draws patients from surrounding states and all around the country.
- There are more than 24,000 radiation oncology treatments delivered and more than 10,000 chemotherapy sessions annually.
- Annually there are more than 2,500 new cancer patients diagnosed at Holden, more than 4,000 hospital admissions for cancer and 101 bone marrow transplants.
- Within UI Hospitals and Clinics there are 88 adult inpatients beds dedicated to oncology, a 14 bed adult leukemia and bone marrow transplant unit. There are also five pediatric bone marrow transplant beds and 15 hematology/oncology pediatric beds.
- There are 30 exam rooms, six consult rooms and four treatment rooms in the John & Mary Pappajohn Clinical Cancer Center. There are 17 chairs and five beds in the chemotherapy suite. — 30 exam rooms, six consult rooms, four treatment rooms.
A few facts about the Holden research mission:
- Roland and Ruby Holden Cancer Research Laboratories opened August 2002 and comprise 33,953 gross square feet on four floors
- There are six research programs and 10 core facilities supported by the cancer center support grant.
- There are two more core facilities supported by a cancer and aging grant.
- There are four more core facilities supported by a Lymphoma SPORE grant.
- $55,440 million current funded cancer related research
- $44.2 million in current endowments to support its mission
- There are more than 240 open clinical trials for cancer patients and more than 3,100 patients enrolled in clinical trials.
A few more things about Holden:
Lymphoma SPORE. We are one of three sites to receive a Lymphoma SPORE Grant. We partner with Mayo Clinic, and illustration of how NCI centers can, and do, work together.The Cancer Center Support Grant for Holden was renewed in 2005 for five years.
CaBIG. We are a partner with the NCI CaBIG project which is designed to create a bioinformatics network. This initiative is meant to allow researchers from across the country to share information and work more closely together.
Oncology Registry. We have a well-respected oncology registry service that tracks SEER data.
Bone Marrow Transplant. We established one of the first Bone Marrow Transplant units in the nation.
Cancer Information Service. One of the longest-existing cancer call services in the country. Today, between personal visits, phone calls and e-mail questions, CIS had managed more than 7,000 contacts about cancer.
The Iowa Cancer Control Consortium, a statewide initiative that Holden faculty and staff have worked hard to support, received a comprehensive cancer control implementation award from C-change, a national organization comprised of hundreds of cancer prevention leaders from across the country.
Center for Excellence in Image guided Radiation Therapy. Opened in 2006, this new home to Radiation Oncology offers advanced radiation therapy including 4-dimensional treatments which tracks a patient’s breathing with radiation delivery in order to reduce tissue damage in lung tumors.
Who are the Holdens? A $25 million gift by four generations of the Holden family from Williamsburg, Iowa, enabled the UI Cancer Center to build a new research facility and go from an NCI-designated cancer center to a NCI-designated “comprehensive” cancer center. The gift honored Roland W. Holden, who founded Holden Foundation Seeds, Inc, a corn seed research and genetics company. Holden died in 1995 and the family chose to celebrate his legacy by supporting research and treatment with the hopes that eventually a cure may be discovered for the disease that took his life. To honor this commitment, the cancer center was renamed for the family.
© 2007 The University of Iowa