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Helen Diller Family Comprehensive

Contact Information

The University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143
(415) 476-9000

The University of California-San Francisco is one of the nation's foremost medical schools, and the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center located within the university offers patient care as well as conducts clinical research on cancer. UCSF is usually among the top institutions in the nation to receive funding for cancer research, as well as being ranked as one of the top ten cancer centers in terms of patient care by U.S. News and World Report.

Located in San Francisco, California, the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center actually provides patient care in four different locations around the city: the UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion; UCSF Medical Center at Parnassus; San Francisco General Hospital; and the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces are at a particularly high risk of developing mesothelioma due to their exposure to asbestos while aboard ships and at shipyards.

The Mount Zion location provides outpatient care, and both outpatient and inpatient services are provided at the Parnassus location. The Parnassus location has a 600-bed capacity, although the hospital does provide patient care for illnesses aside from cancer. At San Francisco General Hospital and the V.A. Medical Center, UCSF faculty and staff provide care for cancer patients, although these facilities are not directly run by the University.

The Helen Diller Cancer Center also conducts cutting edge research, mainly investigating specific cancers, as well as the basic mechanisms behind cancer cell genetics and signaling. These research facilities are located at the Mount Zion Medical Center, where 48 principal investigators look into the nature of cancer. Since UCSF is interested in making sure research findings are applicable in the real world, much of the research which goes on at the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center are clinical trials. These trials generally study the efficacy of different drugs and radiation treatments on cancers, although there is research into other pertinent fields, such as pain management.

Treatment for patients is often scheduled and provided based on the kind of cancer they suffer from. For example, a patient with mesothelioma, a disease related to working with asbestos, would be put into contact with a lung or internal organ specialist first, and then the proper course of care would be determined.

Treatment at the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center goes beyond the standard treatment regimens of surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. There are also a variety of support programs offered by UCSF for both patients and their loved ones. The Friend to Friend program, for example, provides wigs, scarves, and other items desired by a person undergoing cancer treatment. The Ida & Joseph Friend Cancer Resource Center provides information on cancer and its treatments, as well as offering an emotional support network and providing community resources to cancer patients and their families.

The Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center is one of the newer places to be designated a National Cancer Institute cancer center, but has quickly become one of the best-funded and highest ranked treatment centers in the nation. This cancer center is even expanding, with a new laboratory facility built in Mission Bay, as well as a planned hospital addition which is to be built there. This UCSF patient care network is not only at the forefront of cancer research, but also is doing well at implementing its findings into actual therapeutic relief for cancer sufferers.