The Cancer Center at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine (TTUHSC SOM) was established in 2008 to provide a center of excellence for cancer research for the School of Medicine and the entire South Plains region.
A major focus of the TTUHSC SOM Cancer Center is conducting laboratory and clinical research that develops new anti-cancer drugs for both adults and children with difficult-to-treat cancers. The Cancer Center hosts the Operations Center for a clinical consortium, the South Plains Oncology Consortium that conducts early phase clinical trials in adults and children with cancer. The Cancer Center also hosts the Operations Center and laboratories for the Texas Cancer Cell Repository, a Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT)-funded collaboration between a number of institutions to establish, bank, and distribute cancer cells from patients that have been established to grow in the laboratory or in special mice for use in studying the cancer biologies and novel therapies.
The TTUHSC SOM Cancer Center also hosts several national resource laboratories that support clinical and translational research for childhood cancer:
- The In Vitro (cell culture) drug testing lab for the National Cancer Institute Pediatric Precllinical Testing Program (PPTP)
- The Children's Oncology Group (COG) Cell Line and Xenograft Repository
- Neuroblastoma Pharmacology Resource Laboratory for the Children's Oncology Group and the New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy consortium.
In the Spotlight
- March 2014: C Patrick Reynolds, MD PhD, Director of the TTUHSC SOM Cancer Center had the pleasure of visiting with the children of Littlefield Primary School to celebrate the completion of their amazing fund raising efforts for the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation (CNCF). Dr. Reynolds was asked to represent the CNCF at the event as he is a member of their Medical & Scientific Advisory Board. All funds raised by the Littlefield students went directly to the CNCF to help with their great work supporting families of children with neuroblastoma and research on neuroblastoma. View a video of the amazing Littlefield children and teachers here: http://www.kcbd.com/story/25033353/littlefield-students-raise-over-1300-for-cancer-research