UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
The UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center is a cancer research and treatment center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is the only public comprehensive cancer center in the state and has consistently been rated as exceptional by the National Cancer Institute. Patient care is provided at the N.C. Basnight Cancer Hospital. The center brings together exceptional physicians and scientists to investigate and improve the prevention, detection, and treatment of all types of cancers. It has a robust Thoracic Oncology Program that treats patients diagnosed with lung cancer and malignant pleural mesothelioma, and patients diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma can undergo cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal mesothelioma. The facility is currently working to establish a comprehensive Peritoneal Surface Malignancy program.
Facts about UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
The Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center is the only public NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in North Carolina.
Patient cancer care associated with the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center is provided throughout the UNC Medical Campus in Chapel Hill, with most care taking place at the N.C. Cancer Hospital.
The UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center was established in 1975. It is the largest research entity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center receives more than $71 million in National Cancer Institute funding and has received more than $280 million in overall extramural funding between 2007 and 2015.
There are more than 300 researchers from more than 40 departments across the UNC-Chapel Hill campus contributing to the cancer center’s work.
Physicians at the N.C. Cancer Hospital engage with more than 170,000 patient visits each year throughout the state of North Carolina.
The center offers nearly 200 clinical trials of treatments developed at UNC or available through affiliation with national clinical trials groups.
UNC Lineberger has one of nine NCI Centers of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence and is the only center to have two Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science.
The clinical care provided at N.C. Cancer Center was ranked number one in North Carolina by U.S. News & World Report’s 2017-2018 Best Hospitals Guide.
History
The UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center has its roots in North Carolina’s textile industry and the support of four brothers who all attended the University of North Carolina early in the 20th Century. The Lineberger brothers – Archibald, Henry, Harold, and Joe — attended UNC between 1921 and 1933, and created the Lineberger Foundation in 1944. That philanthropic organization dispensed many gifts to the University over the years, and in 1977 it pledged $1 million to a building fund for a proposed cancer research center building to support UNC’s cancer program which was designated as an NCI Cancer Center in 1975. Others soon joined in support of the foundation’s goal, and more than $4 million was raised for the project.
The Cancer Research Center opened its doors in 1984 and received NCI designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center in 1990.
Mesothelioma and Lung Cancer Care at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
While UNC Lineberger does not have a dedicated mesothelioma program, it has a robust multidisciplinary Thoracic Oncology Program that provides individualized care for patients with lung cancer as well as those diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma and other thoracic malignancies. The program incorporates specialists from pulmonary medicine, surgery, medical and radiation oncology, thoracic radiology, pathology, and oncology nursing who collaborate to confirm patients’ diagnoses and create individualized treatment plans. Diagnostic tools include Light-Induced Fluorescence Endoscope, CT-Fluoroscopy, and CT-based 3D imaging for treatment planning. Most patients receive combined therapy treatments that begin with chemotherapy and radiation therapy before Lineberger surgeons perform video-assisted or robotic surgeries including pneumonectomy.
Patients diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma will benefit from UNC Lineberger’s ability to provide a complex combination-modality procedure known as cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal mesothelioma which excises all visible tumor material and then bathes the surgical site with a concentrated solution of heated chemotherapy.
Research
UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center is the largest research entity at the University of North Carolina. Its members come from over 40 departments including the School of Medicine. It administers more than 200 clinical trials for a wide range of cancers and conducts interdisciplinary research through nine programs, including cancer cell biology, immunology, molecular therapeutics, virology, cancer genetics, clinical research, breast cancer, cancer prevention and control, and cancer epidemiology.
The center’s faculty devotes significant time to studying how to improve cancer care and outcomes and reduce the burden and impact of cancer. Focus areas include cancer communication and decision-making, health promotion and health disparities, cancer survivorship, dissemination, and health outcomes research.
Among the most notable scientific initiatives at UNC Lineberger is its work toward developing and delivering chimeric antigen receptor T-Cell (CAR-T) immunotherapy to patients. The center’s researchers are conducting clinical trials of its use in a wide range of cancers.
Notable Staff and Mesothelioma Specialists
Whether patients are seeking care for thoracic malignancies like pleural mesothelioma or lung cancer or need treatment for malignant peritoneal mesothelioma, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center has multiple staff members with extensive experience and knowledge of the innovative treatments that will improve outcomes, extend survival, and boost quality of life. Patients with peritoneal mesothelioma will benefit from the technical skill and expertise of surgical oncologists Dr. Elizabeth Gleeson and Dr. Jeremiah “Jig” Deneve. Patients with lung cancer and malignant pleural mesothelioma receive care through UNC Lineberger’s multidisciplinary Thoracic Oncology Program and will be seen by experts including medical oncologists Dr. Carrie Lee, Dr. Chad Pecot, and Dr. Jared Weiss.
