URBANA - Patients, physicians, and staff of Carle Clinic and Carle Foundation Hospital marked a significant step toward quick, accurate diagnosis of cancer and advanced, aggressive ways to treat the illness. Construction will begin in the coming weeks on the Carle Cancer Center. The facility will be adjacent to the Mills Breast Cancer Institute.

“Our patients will not have to leave the property to receive treatments. Everything for Cancer care will be under one roof. And other medical specialists are conveniently located here on the main campus. Our goal is to help people in central Illinois get the care they need close to home,” said R. Bruce Wellman, MD, Carle Clinic Association president and CEO.

This is the second phase of construction on the Carle Campus to help people fight cancer. The Mills Breast Cancer Institute is being built to focus solely on diagnosis, treatment, and research of breast cancer in conjunction with Carle Foundation Hospital and the University of Illinois. Both facilities are scheduled to open in spring 2008 for patients.

Carle Cancer Center will treat all forms of the illness in adults. Men and women, young and old will find respite in the new space. There will be room for more education and support services for patients and their families. Medical, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments will be given at the center – all under one roof. It will allow for more comfortable care, and at the same time give physicians the clinical space they need to pioneer medical breakthroughs.

“The new center will allow us to care for patients in the best way we know, and to research new options.  We’re already using advanced therapies such as respiratory gating, which protects healthy tissue and targets cancer cells directly. But we’ll continue searching for better ways to deliver radiation and other treatments,” said Ron Sapiente, MD, Radiation Oncologist, Carle Clinic Association.

The Cancer Center’s new location will also allow oncologists to give patients battling any cancer a place where they can access doctors and researchers working shoulder to shoulder fighting for a cure. 

“We’re involved in more than 190 research trials with Mayo Clinic, National Cancer Institute and other prestigious centers and pharmaceutical companies. This space will allow us to do even more to help patients, seeking better ways to diagnose, treat, and possibly cure cancer.  Clinic researchers will also collaborate with investigators from the University of Illinois housed at the Mills Breast Cancer Institute,” said Kendrith Rowland, MD, Principal Investigator, Carle Cancer Center.

At Carle Cancer Center, patients will come to an inviting, beautiful place where the focus will be on caring for their body, mind, and spirit.  Services which will move to the center include patient education, counseling for patients and their families, as well as nutrition services.