Research and treatment drive partnership of cancer centers

The new partnership between the Renown Institute for Cancer and the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center is a result of a meeting of the minds, not a meeting of the accountants.

Neither the Reno cancer institute nor the Bay Area program are bringing any dollars to the table in the new partnership announced late last month, and both are responsible for all of their own costs.

"This is truly a partnership at the intellectual level," says Linda Ferris, vice president of the Renown Institute for Cancer.

But even though no dollars are changing hands, both sides see the potential for substantial benefits.

The mission of the UCSF program, which draws some of its funding from the federal government's National Cancer Institute, includes development of affiliations that allow it to extend the benefits of its research.

Renown Institute for Cancer is the third collaboration for the UCSF program, which previously launched affiliations with Mercy Medical Center in Redding and the Martin-O'Neil Cancer Center at St. Helena Hospital in the Napa Valley.

Jay Harris, chief strategic planning officer for the UCSF Medical Center, says the affiliation is expected to bring additional referrals from Reno physicians and a wider pool of patients to participate in clinical trials.

UCSF, which ranks seventh in the United States in number of National Cancer Institute grants it receives, is running more than 275 clinical trials. They'll be open to patients referred from the Renown Institute for Cancer in January.

Ferris, meanwhile, says the affiliation will allow cancer specialists in Reno to work closely with top-level experts, especially on difficult cases.

Patients who need services that aren't available at Renown bone-marrow transplants, for instance will receive expedited appointments at UCSF.

And Renown and UCSF will join forces to provide educational programs about cancer care, both for physicians as well as the general community.