Translational and Clinical Research

The primary goal of the Translational and Clinical Research Program is to generate innovative, high impact clinical research to eliminate cancer and the suffering it causes to the people of Hawaiʻi.

The program's objectives include:

  1. developing novel cancer diagnostics and cancer therapeutics
  2. initiating new impactful clinical trials in Hawaiʻi that will lead to practice changing interventions in cancer therapeutics, diagnostics and prevention.

The University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center is recognized by the National Cancer Institute as a consortium cancer center. The Hawaiʻi Cancer Consortium represents the unified basic, translational, and clinical cancer research effort benefiting all citizens of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Rim. The members are comprised of the following entities: the UH Cancer Center, Adventist Health Castle, Hawaii Medical Service Association, Hawaiʻi Pacific Health, Kuakini Medical Center, The Queen's Health Systems, and UH Mānoa's John A. Burns School of Medicine. The Consortium's mission is to support the UH Cancer Center in achieving its mission and enhancing the ability of the UH Cancer Center to make substantive advances in the areas of cancer research, education, community outreach and oncology practice.

All cancers are seen, evaluated and treated; however, for developmental purposes within the UH Cancer Center, we are focused on:

  1. gastrointestinal cancers (including stomach, liver, pancreatic and colon cancer),
  2. genitourinary cancers (including prostate, bladder and kidney cancer) and
  3. women's cancers (including breast, ovarian and cervical cancer)

In this way the resources of the Translational and Clinical Research Program are applied in areas where research is naturally advantaged and have the greatest potential impact on Hawaiʻi's population.

The foundation for the Translational and Clinical Research Program is the Center's clinical trials system, which for many years has successfully provided Hawaiʻi's community-based providers and the patients they serve with access to leading edge clinical trials.

NCI Community Oncology Research Program: A program of the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of HealthThe National Cancer Institute (NCI) Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) award enables the UH Cancer Center faculty to participate in a national network of the country's best scientists and cancer care institutions to design and conduct better ways to care for cancer patients.

The Cancer Center, by providing these clinical trials and cancer patient care, gives Hawaiʻi residents the opportunity for the best possible outcomes without having to leave the islands. These clinical trials offer Hawaiʻi's patients the best available care and an opportunity to have more effective treatment. An additional benefit is that the great majority of Hawaiʻi cancer physicians who participate in NCORP clinical trials are kept up to date on the best proven care for their patients.

The UH Cancer Center NCORP grant is specifically designed to increase the participation of our minority, rural, and underserved patient populations, both adults and children, in cancer studies. The UH Cancer Center has been a member of this program (and its earlier version called the Minority-Based Community Clinical Oncology Program) since 1994.

The UH Cancer Center NCORP encompasses clinical cancer research with the Hawaiʻi Cancer Consortium (Adventist Health Castle, Hawaii Medical Service Association, Hawaiʻi Pacific Health, Kuakini Medical Center, The Queen's Health Systems, and UH Mānoa's John A. Burns School of Medicine), private practice oncology physicians and Tripler Army Medical Center. The cancer care delivery research component of the grant was awarded to The Queen's Medical Center.

UH Cancer Center NCORP goals:

  1. Design and conduct:
  1. Cancer prevention, control, and screening/post treatment surveillance clinical trials
  2. Multi-level cancer care deliver research
  1. Enhance patient/provider access to treatment/imaging trials
  2. Facilitate minority/underserved participation in clinical research
  3. Increase integration of disparities research questions across all study types/settings
  4. Integrate the expertise of primary/specialty care providers, health services and behavioral researchers with oncologists
  5. Accelerate knowledge transfer into clinical practice and healthcare systems/organizations