Beneficiary
Proceeds from Treads & Threads 2023 will support a new global destination cancer center for transformational cancer research and patient care at The University of Kansas Cancer Center. The cancer center is the region’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and 1 of 54 nationwide. Our new global destination cancer center will not only save more lives but will change more lives and our community for the better.
The new cancer center building will bring together expanded cancer patient care and research in one place. By transforming our approach to research and patient care we will be able to provide leading-edge treatments to our patients. Patients will have access to more innovative clinical trials and groundbreaking therapies developed on-site. Labs and researchers, which are currently scattered across multiple campuses in the Kansas City metro area and Lawrence, Kansas, will be able to collaborate in real-time with physicians on personalized treatment options, making them more quickly available to patients.
Cancer center leaders have long envisioned uniting the entire cancer community – from physician-scientists to researchers to physicians and clinical staff – under one roof. The planned state-of-the-art cancer center does this, and in the process will inspire spontaneous and serendipitous collaboration, which often leads to fresh, new thinking needed to solve cancer’s most complex puzzles. The new building will be located on the 39th and Rainbow campus, with construction slated to begin in fall 2024.
Why NCI designation is important:
The University of Kansas Cancer Center is the only NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center in the region and just 1 of 54 in the nation to achieve this elite distinction. Comprehensive designation is the highest level of recognition awarded by the NCI. It is the gold standard of excellence, awarded only to cancer centers with the deepest and broadest knowledge of cancer. Patients who receive treatment at an NCI-designated cancer center achieve 25% better survival outcomes than those treated at other cancer centers. NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers are recognized for their scientific excellence, including their depth and breadth of research. They are the backbone of innovative research and care across the country, helping to pioneer today’s most groundbreaking advances in cancer treatment. We offer multiple locations across the metro and throughout the state, so our patients receive lifesaving care, including proton therapy, closer to home.
