Vishal Chandra, postdoctoral fellow, left, and Cassadie Holybee, an undergraduate from Cameron University, work on a cervical cancer drug in the laboratory of Dr. Doris Mangiaracina Benbrook, Stephenson Cancer Center researcher, not pictured, in the Stanton L. Young Biomedical Research Center in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, June 22, 2016. Stephenson had to show it was doing extensive research to quality as a National Cancer Institute designated cancer center. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman





Even before Stephenson Cancer Center joined the top 2 percent of cancer hospitals nationwide, its researchers were making a name for themselves to the point of throwing off other scientists' calculations.

Dr. Ned Sharpless, director of the National Cancer Institute, was in Oklahoma City on Wednesday morning to announce Stephenson had become only the 70th hospital to become an NCI designated cancer center. Stephenson enrolled more patients in clinical trials than any other center last year, he said, and in one trial conducted at multiple centers, the researchers had to run some additional calculations to make sure the “Oklahoma effect” of so many Stephenson patients participating wouldn’t mess up the results.

The head scientist in that trial noted the “dedication and hard work of a few clinical trial enthusiasts” in Oklahoma, Sharpless said.