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Carbone Comprehensive

Contact Information

600 Highland Avenue Madison, WI 53792
(608) 262-5223

Affiliated Doctors

The University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center is Wisconsin’s only comprehensive cancer center. This designation as Comprehensive Cancer Center comes from the National Cancer Institute. In 1971, there was a National Cancer Act that asked for the creation of cancer centers of excellence throughout this country. The Carbone Cancer Center was one of the first comprehensive cancer centers established at a university; this was in 1973.

To receive the “comprehensive” designation, which is the highest possible level given by the NCI, a cancer center must:

Have both strong basic laboratory and clinical cancer research programs and be able to translate easily between the two research fields.
Develop pioneering treatments for cancer by utilizing clinical trials
Have programs centered on the control and prevention of cancer
Provide training and education to their health care providers
Offer information services about cancer
Provide education for the community

The Carbone Cancer Center meets all this criteria. Even before their NCI designation, they were conducting research that started with the founding of their McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research in 1940.

Lung Cancer Patient Care

Carbone Cancer Center treats just about all forms of cancer. A good example of how they treat all of their cancer patients can be seen with their Lung Cancer Program. As with most other cancers, the Carbone Center uses a team approach to treat lung cancer patients. These teams consist of specialists who are experts in the fields of small cell and non-small cell lung cancer; mesothelioma, a form of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos; and other lung-related malignancies.

Typically, they treat lung cancer with chemotherapy, radiation, lung surgery, and palliative lung care procedures. These treatments can be used individually, but usually they are used in combination. For instance, chemotherapy may be used to first shrink the cancer in order to make subsequent surgery easier. They often treat more severe cases of lung cancer and the asbestos cancer mesothelioma with palliative care. These measures are especially good for mesothelioma patients for whom treatment has not provided much relief. This type of care makes them more comfortable. An example of palliative care used for severe cases of lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma is draining excess accumulations of fluid from between the layers surrounding the lungs that may cause shortness of breath.

Research and Clinical Trials

The UW Carbone Cancer Center is one of the best in world at cancer research. They receive over $130 million per year to fund over 500 research projects that include:

Cancer Control – This research program has established cancer control groups like Population Health, Tobacco Cessation, Cancer Communication, Aging in Cancer Control, and Palliative Care and Supportive Oncology. The program’s aim is to reduce the risk of cancer, stop cancer before it starts, reduce cancer-related deaths, and to provide a better quality of life for those with cancer.
Experimental Therapeutics – The goals of this program are to: discover new products that have anti-cancer activity and to improve the delivery of these anti-cancer drugs; to understand how these chemical and immunological drugs work on the target cancers and test these new agents using clinical trials; and to test these new agents’ effectiveness and safety via the clinical trials.

At any one time, as part of their research programs, UW Carbone Cancer Center has between 200 and 250 clinical trials available for patients.