Hollings Cancer Center
The Hollings Cancer Center is part of the Medical University of South Carolina and is located in Charleston, South Carolina. It is an NCI-designated cancer center, the only facility in the state to have earned this designation. Hollings was created with a mission of reducing the cancer burden in South Carolina and beyond through high-quality cancer care, clinical research, professional education, and community outreach programs. The facility serves a population that is 75% rural, offering multidisciplinary departments that treat every type of cancer, including malignant pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma and lung cancer.[1]
Facts about the Hollings Cancer Center[1]
The Hollings Cancer Center is South Carolina’s only NCI-designated cancer center. It is part of the Medical University of South Carolina and serves a population that is 75% rural.
Hollings Cancer Center runs more than 200 clinical trials and makes them available to underserved populations through the Minority/Underserved NCI Community Oncology Research Program.
Hollings has an annual research funding portfolio of more than $44 million.
MUSC Health University Medical Center is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as a high-performing hospital for cancer care.
In 2019, Hollings offered the first CAR-T therapy in the state. The facility offers the only combined adult and pediatric blood and marrow transplant program accredited by the Foundation for Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT).
As part of its service to the entire state, Hollings oncologists offer virtual tumor boards that provide specialty consultation remotely to providers across South Carolina.
Hollings Cancer Center is home to a Minority/Underserved National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program (MU-NCORP), one of only 14 such sites in the country devoted to serving minority and underserved populations.
History
The Hollings Cancer Center is part of the Medical University of South Carolina, a school that was officially established in 1824. After the Medical Society of South Carolina was created in the late 1700s, approval for the full medical school was supported by South Carolina College, and authorization was granted by the South Carolina General Assembly in 1821. Teaching was suspended during the Civil War, but despite all of its infrastructure and buildings having been destroyed, the school reopened with support from the community and local government despite these challenges.[2]
The 1980s saw a transformation of the college, as its administration dedicated themselves to establishing a “world-class academic health science center.” MUSC was reorganized, and its clinical and research functions were expanded with emphasis placed on three major areas: cardiovascular disease, cancer, and neurosciences. The Strom Thurmond Institute for Research and the Gazes Cardiovascular Research Institute were both opened, and the Hollings Cancer Center was formally established in 1993, named for former U.S. Senator and South Carolina Governor Ernest “Fritz” Hollings. It became South Carolina’s only NCI-designated cancer center in 2009.[2]
Mesothelioma and Lung Cancer Care at Hollings Cancer Center
The team at Hollings Cancer Center uses the latest diagnostic tools and innovative treatments to care for patients diagnosed with mesothelioma and lung cancer. Lung cancer and pleural mesothelioma patients receive treatment from a multidisciplinary team of medical, surgical, and radiation oncologists supported by pathologists, radiologists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and researchers, all focused on identifying the best option for each individual. The team uses the latest innovations in cancer treatment including advanced surgical techniques, hypo-fractionated radiation therapy treatments, targeted drug therapy, and immunotherapy. Patients can take advantage of the services of a dedicated nurse navigator, and have access to innovative clinical trials.[3]
In addition, Hollings Cancer Center is one of the few facilities in the country to offer patients diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma the option of cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy. This innovative treatment provides significant survival and quality of life improvements.
Research
The MUSC Hollings Cancer boasts an interdisciplinary research base of more than 110 physicians and basic and population scientists from five MUSC colleges across 20 academic departments. The clinical and research facilities have expanded over the years, and the center is currently administering over 200 clinical trials.
Research at Hollings focuses on four programs: cancer biology, cancer immunology, developmental cancer therapeutics, and cancer control. Included among its many initiatives and accomplishments are having pioneered CAR T-cell therapy in South Carolina, introducing an adult and pediatric CAR T-cell immunotherapy program, and advancing research in blood and marrow transplants. The lung and thoracic cancer team is also actively searching for better answers for patient treatment and runs multiple clinical trials on the impact of radiation, immunotherapy, and other treatments for lung cancer, malignant mesothelioma, and other thoracic malignancies.
Notable Staff and Mesothelioma Specialists
MUSC Hollings Cancer Center’s lung and thoracic oncology multidisciplinary team includes pulmonologists, surgical and medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and researchers. Together they work to provide top-notch care and to discover new, cutting-edge treatments.
Hollings Cancer Center boasts specialists in pleural mesothelioma and lung cancer as well as in peritoneal mesothelioma. Thoracic specialists include surgeons Dr. Barry Gibney, Dr. Kathryn Engelhardt, and Dr. Ian Christopher Bostock Rosenzweig; lung cancer pulmonologist Dr. Gerard Silvestri; and medical oncologist Dr. Mariam Alexander. Peritoneal specialists include surgical oncologists Dr. Jeffrey Sutton and Dr. Kevin Roggin, both of whom treat patients with malignant peritoneal mesothelioma.[3]
MUSC Hollings Cancer Center’s lung cancer doctors specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer, malignant pleural mesothelioma, and other thoracic cancers.
