The University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center‘s competitive National Cancer Institute ( NCI ) designation has been renewed. The center was also awarded a $6 million Cancer Center Support Grant on July 1 to fund research.

NCI -designated cancer centers must go through rigorous and competitive renewal of their status every three to five years.

“I am extremely pleased that the NCI has recognized the unique contributions of the UH Cancer Center and rewarded the efforts of our incredible faculty by continuing the NCI designation,” said UH Cancer Center Director Randall Holcombe. “For Hawaiʻi, this means access to cutting-edge cancer treatments and the highest quality of cancer care.”

The UH Cancer Center is one of only 70 NCI designated cancer centers out of more than 1,000 cancer centers across the country. It was established at UH Mānoa in 1981 and has achieved NCI designation and funding since 1996.

Over the past five years, more than 1,600 people have participated in UH Cancer Center-sponsored clinical research studies, with topics ranging from how diet and the environment may influence the development of cancer, to novel treatment interventions for patients with advanced cancer.

“The University of Hawaiʻi is delighted to have the National Cancer Institute renew our designation as an NCI Cancer Center. This provides well-deserved external validation and national recognition of the important work we are doing and our path forward,” said UH President and UH Mānoa Interim Chancellor David Lassner. “Kudos to Director Holcombe and all of the center’s faculty and staff who pulled together as a team to make this recognition possible.”

The grant award is supported by the National Institutes of Health under award number P30CA071789 .

Read more at the UH Cancer Center.

—By Nana Ohkawa