The University of Kansas Cancer Center

The University of Kansas Cancer Center is an NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. It is the only comprehensive cancer center in the state of Kansas. The cancer center’s mission, through its innovative approach to drug discovery, delivery, and development, is to transform cancer research and clinical care delivered in Kansas and western Missouri. 

KU Cancer Center operates as a matrix organization that includes: the University of Kansas Medical Center campuses in Kansas City, Wichita, and Salina; the University of Kansas in Lawrence and its highly ranked School of Pharmacy (per National Institutes of Health funding); and The University of Kansas Health System. The Stowers Institute for Medical Research and Children’s Mercy Kansas City are consortium partners. 

Research at The University of Kansas Cancer Center

KU Cancer Center places great emphasis on advancing discoveries from the laboratory to the patients’ bedside. Across all research programs, KU Cancer Center scientists are advancing 28 projects into the clinic (as of 2022). Two recent discoveries include fosciclopirox for the treatment of bladder and other cancers, as well as a novel method to treat patients with acute graft-versus-host disease.  

The center’s researchers also pay special attention to the unique needs of its diverse geographic area, which includes patients who are elderly and rural, African American, American Indian, Indigenous, and Latino. Moreover, with the Children’s Mercy consortium partnership, KU Cancer Center serves more than 95% of childhood cancer cases in the surrounding area. The center’s outreach arm, the Masonic Cancer Alliance, connects community hospital clinicians throughout the area to cancer clinical trials at KU Cancer Center. 

Select Scientific Initiatives at The University of Kansas Cancer Center

KU Cancer Center has three research programs that focus on different aspects of cancer and leverage scientific depth and breadth provided by nationally recognized scientists: 

1. Cancer Biology, which aims to enhance interdisciplinary collaboration among basic and clinical scientists and facilitate translational research involving the etiology, treatment, and prevention of cancer.
2. Cancer Prevention & Control, which seeks to identify new ways to prevent cancer and improve cancer outcomes, with a focus on high-risk and underserved communities in KU Cancer Center’s catchment area. 
3. Drug Discovery, Delivery & Experimental Therapeutics, which aims to discover novel cancer drugs active against novel drug targets and find new indications for currently marketed drugs. The Institute for Advancing Medical Innovations, which includes pharmaceutical industry experts, expands the program’s capacity to support drug discovery efforts across the entire cancer center.

This profile was provided by The University of Kansas Cancer Center.