The University of KentuckyMarkey Cancer Center is an academic, clinical and research center located in Lexington, Kentucky. It was established in 1985, and has grown to 28 departments across eight colleges. Markey has four clinic facilities located in three buildings, with dedicated research spaces in the Dorothy Enslow Combs Cancer Research Facility and Healthy Kentucky Research Building.
History
The McDowell Cancer Network was created in 1975 as an outreach/education program. The overarching mission of Markey is to reduce cancer mortality in Kentucky through a comprehensive program of cancer research, treatment, education and community engagement. On July 12, 2013 Markey Cancer Center was designated as a National Cancer Institute facility. Markey is the only NCI-designated cancer center in Kentucky and the 68th in the United States. Markey is estimated to receive $17.6 million from the NCI annually, with $10.8 million in direct costs. Members are aligned with one of four research programs: Cancer Cell Biology and Signaling; Cancer Prevention and Control; Drug Discovery, Delivery and Translational Therapeutics; and Genomic Instability, Epigenetics and Metabolism. Five shared research facilities provide services to support research: Biostatistics and Bioinformatics; Biospecimen Procurement and Translational Pathology; Cancer Research Informatics; Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting; and Redox Metabolism. Two developing SRFs are aligned with the center’s recent scientific expansions: Behavioral and Community-Based Research and Oncogenomics.
Facilities
The Markey Cancer Center is located on the University of Kentucky's campus. It is found on the north central side of the UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital facility. The UK Markey Cancer Center includes four buildings grouped around a central courtyard, as well as a new patient floor in the UK Albert B. Chandler Hospital. These facilities are the Ben F. Roach Cancer Care Facility, the Dorothy Enslow Combs Cancer Research Facility, the M. Margrite Davis and Ralph E. Mills Magnetic Imaging and Spectroscopy Center, and the Marylou Whitney and John Hendrickson Cancer Facility for Women. These four facilities comprise the Markey Cancer Center, all working together on the prevention, treatment and cure for cancer.
Ben F. Roach Cancer Care Facility
The Ben F. Roach Cancer Care Facility of the Markey Cancer Center provides over 52,000 square feet of space dedicated to the individualized care of cancer patients across the four story facility. Outpatient clinical space on the ground floor supports the Hematology Program, Bone Marrow Transplant Program and the Radiation Medicine outpatient clinic; modern radiation therapy equipment is located in the basement. The second and third floors house inpatient rooms with satellite bases for all primary services and outpatient cancer services for Radiation Oncology, Hematologic/BMT disease, and Head, Neck and Respiratory disease. A linear accelerator and brachytherapy unit are located in the basement of the Ben F. Roach Building of the cancer center and a GAMMA Knife irradiation facility is located in the underground corridor connector between the Roach Building and the UK Hospital. The fourth floor houses office space for clinical and research faculty, and the MCC Research Communications Office, which provides critical infrastructure for grant/manuscript preparation, editing, and graphics assistance.
M. Margrite Davis and Ralph E. Mills Magnetic Imaging and Spectroscopy Center
The Margrite Davis and Ralph Mills Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Center houses instrumentation, research laboratories and support services for molecular, cellular, animal and human spectroscopic imaging, aiding the study of disease processes and evaluation of responses to treatment. The office tower of the MRISC Building is integrated with the Whitney-Hendrickson building.
Dorothy Enslow Combs Cancer Research Facility
The Combs Building provides over 24,500 square feet of laboratory, office and conference spaces. It houses primary research laboratories dedicated to cancer research, including core facilities for high field NMR, DNA sequencing, protein sequencing, peptide synthesis and oligonucleotide synthesis. In addition to its research facilities, the Combs Building is also home to Markey's support services from clinical social workers, registered dietitians, integrative medicine clinicians and more.
Marylou Whitney and John Hendrickson Cancer facility for Women
The Whitney-Hendrickson Facility housing Davis Center functions as the MCC’s primary ambulatory care facility. The three-story facility houses outpatient space for evaluation and treatment of solid tumor neoplasms including: lung, head and neck, sarcoma, GI, and urologic cancers ; breast cancer ; and gynecologic cancers.
Awards and Reception
On July 12, 2013 Markey Cancer Center was designated as a National Cancer Institute facility. Markey is estimated to receive $1.5 million from the NCI annually. Kentucky has increased from 49th to 23rd in screening rates within a decade. Markey patients' have a five-year survival rate in ovarian, lung, brain, prostate, and Stage IV colorectal cancer higher than patients from other centers in Kentucky. Nationally, Markey's five-year survival rates are higher in brain, liver, and prostate cancers than other patients.
