One Of The Nations Top Cancer Hospitals Is Here In Indiana

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INDIANAPOLIS – IU’s Simon Cancer Center has earned official recognition as one of the nation’s top cancer hospitals.

Simon is the 51st hospital listed as a “comprehensive cancer center” by the National Cancer Institute. It’s the N-C-I’s highest classification, and requires strong credentials in research and cancer prevention outreach.

I-U’s Lawrence Einhorn discovered the platinum-based therapy which transformed testicular cancer from one of the deadliest cancers to one of the most curable. The university is also home to the Susan G. Komen Tissue Bank for breast-cancer researchers, the only such storehouse of healthy breast tissue. and is making strides in research on multiple myeloma. But I-U School of Medicine Dean Jay Hess says the university’s last application for comprehensive status was rejected because Simon didn’t meet its standards for public health efforts.

Since then, Hess says, the university has established the Fairbanks School of Public Health, added researchers in underserved areas, and beefed up prevention and smoking-cessation programs.

The designation doesn’t carry any direct benefits, but Hess says the prestige associated with it will help Simon recruit more top-flight researchers.

Hess says Simon is the first Midwestern cancer center to gain the designation in a decade.