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Arizona Cancer Center

Contact Information

3838 N. Campbell Ave. Tucson, AZ 85719
(520) 694-2873

Baptist Centers for Cancer Care, located in Tucson, Arizona, offers hope and healing to patients suffering from cancer. There are over 60 research labs studying causes, prevention, treatments, and cures for cancer and hundreds of doctors implementing the findings. The Arizona Cancer Center receives millions of dollars in grants every year including a $1 million grant to research colon cancer and a National Cancer Institute $20.8 million grant renewal to be used by all of the center's cancer research programs.

The research that takes place at the Arizona Cancer Center is some of the top in the nation. There are five specific research programs - Cancer Biology and Genetics, Cancer Imaging, Gastrointestinal Cancer, Cancer Prevention and Control, and Therapeutic Development. The Gastrointestinal Cancer program studies digestive cancers, including stomach and esophagus. Asbestos exposure can lead to gastrointestinal cancers, so this research is especially promising to cancer patients who suffer from peritoneal mesothelioma.

When researchers want to take a new finding from the laboratory to the patient they work hand in hand with doctors through clinical trials. Over 200 clinical trials are taking place at the Arizona Cancer Center now and include male and female breast cancer, mesothelioma, multiple myeloma, and pancreatic cancer. By evaluating new ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancers researchers and doctors will know if a treatment is safe and effective. Before a patient and their doctor determine if the patient will enroll in a clinical study, the patient will be given information pertaining to the risks of the study. A patient should never feel pressured to participate and the patient should know that if they do enroll in the clinical trial they are able to leave the study anytime they want.

Individual care is given to each cancer patient. Treatments that are offered at the Arizona Cancer Clinic include:

Chemotherapy - drugs are used to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy can be administered several different ways including orally, intravenously, and intramuscularly.
Radiation therapy - uses a high dose of x-rays, gamma rays, or electrons to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. This cancer center is able to offer stereotactic body radiosurgery and TomoTherapy, two state-of-the-art ways to administer radiation.
Surgery - removes tumors.
Targeted Therapy - for patients suffering from advanced cancer, targeted therapy, where genes and proteins are treated, seems to be promising. The goal of targeted therapy is to turn the cancer into a manageable disease. Ongoing clinical trials for targeted treatment are taking place at the center.
Blood and marrow transplant - in patients whose tumors have become resistant to traditional doses of chemotherapy and radiation, bone marrow transplants enable them to have higher doses of the treatments.

The Arizona Cancer Center has a wide variety of patient and family support services from social workers and support groups to caregiver education and nutrition counseling. Support groups for specific cancers are offered and include anal, leukemia, breast, and skin. There is also a monthly educational support series for patients and their families. Nutrition counseling includes what to eat before, during, and after treatment and also addresses issues that pertain to treatment including loss of appetite and taste changes.