UCSF Breaks Ground for Its New Clinical Cancer Building

SAN FRANCISCO--Groundbreak-ing ceremonies were held July 7 for a long-awaited building to house the clinical cancer programs of UCSF (University of California, San Francisco) Stanford Health Care. UCSF Chancellor J. Michael Bishop, MD, delivered the opening remarks.

Included in the five-story, 88,000 square-foot facility (see figure) will be a state-of-the-art radiation therapy center; a patient-oriented breast care center that will include diagnostic and cancer risk evaluation services; and integrated programs for melanoma and prostate, lung, gynecologic, and other cancers. The facility will also have an infusion center for chemotherapy and doctor’s offices, and will offer overhead walkway access to the UCSF/Mount Zion Medical Center.

The building is scheduled for completion in 1999 and has a total project cost of $42.5 million, including $10 million to be obtained through private fundrais-ing and the rest through bond financing approved by the University of California Board of Regents.

The new facility will function as a clinical complement to the cancer research building that opened its doors at UCSF/Mount Zion in 1997. The synergy and collaboration of this arrangement is a hallmark of UCSF’s cancer programs.

"UCSF has a strong combination of basic scientists and clinical scientists working together, which is unique compared to other centers in the country," said Frank McCormick, PhD, FRS, director of the UCSF Cancer Center and Cancer Research Institute. "The new building will help to develop a structure that encourages dialogue between lab and clinical scientists and therefore encourages translation of laboratory research into new therapies."

One of the goals of the UCSF Cancer Center is to become the first NCI-designated cancer center in Northern California. UCSF is submitting its grant application this October.