1997 Annual Report

Board of Trustees Report to the Constituencies 1997

Cancer Institute

Cancer institute

More than 500 people attended the fourth annual “Making the Most of Me” fashion show to promote breast cancer awareness, sponsored by LLU Cancer Institute and Nordstrom in Riverside. Above, fashion show attendees visit the various displays following the show that are devoted to cancer survivors. Loma Linda University Cancer Institute operates the Women’s Health & Mammography Center at Nordstrom in the Galleria at Tyler.

Mission
Programs of Loma Linda University Cancer Institute (LLUCI) enhance the fundamental purpose of Loma Linda University and Loma Linda University Medical Center “to make man whole.” LLUCI is a comprehensive cancer organization; it directs its efforts to regional, national, and international communities by providing education, communication, and research benefits in the fields of cancer prevention, early diagnosis, optimum treatment, and follow-up evaluation. LLUCI’s mission is to ameliorate cancer prevention and practice in southeastern California and to extend this positive impact to the nation and the world. To accomplish that mission, LLUCI has set for itself the following goals:

continue to expand multidisciplinary cancer care clinics at LLUMC and elsewhere in southeastern California;
develop a comprehensive clinical cancer patient management database;
continue to develop cancer education programs for professionals, patients, and the public;
continue to expand clinical and basic science research programs; and
continue to meet the National Cancer Institute’s criteria for a Comprehensive Cancer Center, for the purpose of achieving that designation.

1997 highlights
A major advance in cancer research capability at Loma Linda occurred with the opening of the Cancer Research Institute for basic science investigations, housed in Chan Shun Pavilion. The facility houses, among other research teams, the LLU/NASA Radiobiology Laboratory.

Multidisciplinary cancer care continued in the fields of breast health, gynecologic oncology, dermatology, cancers of the head and neck, and pediatric oncology. Tumor boards for general cancer, head and neck, breast, thoracic, and pediatric oncology functioned regularly, thus enhancing the multi-disciplinary effort at Loma Linda.

Clinical research was undertaken by means of affiliations with the Proton Radiation Oncology Group (PROG), the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG), and the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG). The in-house pediatric oncology group (an affiliate of Children’s Cancer Group) and the thoracic oncology group conducted research programs, and LLU investigators participated in many industry clinical trials.

The Desert Sierra Cancer Surveillance Program, responsible for cancer surveillance in Inyo, Mono, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties, continued to be a major focus of cancer control at Loma Linda.

The Women’s Health & Mammography Center, located in the Nordstrom department store in the Galleria at Tyler, Riverside, and staffed by LLUMC personnel, celebrated its first anniversary.

Among community outreach programs in 1997, the Celebration of Life event, celebrating National Cancer Survivor’s Day, was held in June and featured a French country theme; “Making The Most of Me,” a fashion presentation to promote breast cancer awareness, was offered once again in October, in partnership with Nordstrom.

Professional education programs continued, including the traveling oncology consultant program, a speaker’s bureau begun in 1983 and co-sponsored by LLUMC, LLUCI, and the California Division of the American Cancer Society. This effort provides continuing medical education to health professionals from Santa Barbara to San Diego and from Los Angeles to Palm Springs.

“Identifying Scientific Principles in Cancer Management” was offered for the seventh year. This unique program introduces high school students to medicine, research, and the process of scientific thinking, and demonstrates their applications to cancer.

The oncology lecture series continued to provide a monthly lecture for the community on pertinent cancer topics.

A $10,000 donation was received from the “No Fear” Challenge at the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race held in October at the California Speedway in Fontana, thanks to the Winston Cup Racing Wives Auxiliary.