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Moffitt, UF Joining Forces
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Published: January 24, 2008
Updated: 01/23/2008 11:55 pm
Tampa's H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute and the University of Florida announced a partnership Wednesday that will benefit Moffitt's efforts to build the world's largest cancer tissue databank.
Shands at the University of Florida at Gainesville hospital will be one of the largest medical centers to contribute patient tissue and information to Moffitt's Total Cancer Care project, in which doctors and researchers follow patients from diagnosis.
Moffitt works with hospitals and physician groups throughout the state to build the databank, which is developed jointly with Merck & Co. Doctors and researchers then will use the information to design therapies for their patients.
The goal, Moffitt Director William S. Dalton said, is to "develop a personalized approach for every patient." An alliance with UF will allow Moffitt to reach that goal more quickly, Dalton said.
One of every seven adults hospitalized at Shands at UF is treated for cancer or cancer-related ailments. "We believe in the strength in numbers," Dalton said.
About 12,000 cancer patients have agreed to donate their tissue to the databank since recruitment began in 2006. Dalton said he hopes to double that number next year.
Moffitt isn't the only one with ambitions. UF and Shands leaders have long sought the designation by the National Cancer Institute that Moffitt holds. Under the new agreement, UF scientists working with Moffitt researchers have more opportunities to win grants from the National Cancer Institute.
The collaboration also will give Shands patients access to larger clinical trials of new therapies, doctors and researchers say.
In return, Moffitt has access to the scientific expertise at UF and Shands, said Bruce Kone, dean of the UF College of Medicine.
UF faculty and Moffitt researchers already work together on other projects, including vaccine development for melanoma and for prostate cancer.
"This agreement will serve as a catalyst for many more," Kone said.
Dalton said the new partnership doesn't affect the one Moffitt has with the University of South Florida. Moffitt is located at USF's campus, and USF and Moffitt researchers work collaboratively.
The new partnership won't compete with the agreement at USF, Dalton said.
"These are not mutually exclusive," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, the family just got bigger."
Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at (813) 259-8285 or aemerson@tampatrib.com.
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