The Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center will be named a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute, university leaders said Wednesday, achieving a decades-long goal and putting VCU in elite company.
Massey will become the 54th comprehensive cancer center in the country, a designation measured by how well the center is integrated into its university, the support it receives from its state and community and the impact it has on its patients.
Ultimately, Massey’s achievement will mean better health outcomes for residents of Virginia, said Dr. Robert Winn, the center’s director.
People are also reading…
“We’re about as happy as we can be,” Winn said.
VCU president Michael Rao announced the news at his annual State of the University speech. The designation is not official, and the NCI likely will finalize the process around May, Winn said.
A spokesperson for the NCI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Massey opened in 1974 as an NCI-designated clinical cancer center and has been striving for comprehensive status ever since. The center has applied several times, Winn said.
VCU hired Winn in 2020, and he made comprehensive status a priority.
“I feel really good we can finally get that off the blocks,” he said.
This go-around, Massey got the best score it has ever received. Cancer centers are ranked on 23 different categories, including its clinical trials and budget.
What made this time different, Winn said, is that cancer research has become a central part of the university’s mission. Moreover, Massey doubled its NCI-sponsored funding by bringing its best researchers together for clinical trials.
Massey spent months preparing its application, which it submitted last year. The document is roughly 2,500 pages, and Winn called the application process “extensive and grueling.”
“It’s like being raked over fire, coals and everything else,” he added.
In October, leaders from other cancer centers paid Massey a visit, during which Massey officials had to back up what they had written.
There are 71 cancer centers in the country divided into three categories: basic laboratory, clinical cancer center and comprehensive cancer center.
To be comprehensive, a center must show three things, Winn said. First, it must show how well the cancer center brings multiple pieces of the campus together to focus on cancer, such as the university’s college of engineering. Second, it has to show how the institution is supported by its health system, university and state government. Third, it must prove it is making an impact on the patients and community it serves.
The third is the most meaningful to Winn.
“That, I think we’ve exceled in,” Winn said. “I think we’re a new brand of cancer center.”
Since his arrival in Richmond, Winn has strived to make sure Massey reaches the neediest members of the community. Too often, cancer centers do not engage the low-income patients near them, he said.
Reaching comprehensive status will attract the best staffers in the country. It will also bring longer and better lives to Virginia residents, Winn said.
States with comprehensive cancer centers have better health outcomes than states without them. Now Virginia has two — the University of Virginia achieved the status last year.
Winn said it is a priority for Massey not only to be a leader in research but also to be a leader in getting medicine and treatment to the most at-risk people.
“That’s the really cool thing that I love about this cancer center,” Winn said.