Building on basics

NCI Designation Achieved
(continued)

“Together the lab and UC Davis form a world-class powerhouse,” Matthews said. “You’ve heard of turning swords into plowshares. Well, we’re turning swords not into plowshares but into stethoscopes.”

From the start, new hope for cancer patients has been at the heart of the campaign for NCI designation. More than 3,000 new patients from throughout Central and Northern California, southern Oregon and western Nevada seek treatment at UC Davis Cancer Center every year.

Gary Little, a former UC Davis Cancer Center patient, was among the cancer survivors who attended the press conference. “My grandfather had prostate cancer,” Little said. “I had prostate cancer. I have two sons who have an excellent chance of getting the disease.

“NCI designation is the best thing that could happen. It increases the chances that we’ll find better ways to diagnose and treat cancer, and perhaps prevent it — and it means that these advances will be available right here in Sacramento.”

Said deVere White, director of California’s newest NCI-designated cancer center: “The cancer patient is at the center of everything we’re doing. Our 12-year effort to achieve NCI designation has been an investment in resources that didn’t exist in this region before, and that people in our area will be benefiting from for years to come. With NCI support, we will open new doors to cancer care.”