Bringing Tomorrow's Treatments to More Patients Today
Like only Markey can
The University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center was recently named Kentucky’s first and only NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center – the highest level of recognition in the field. We are proud to lead the way in treating, diagnosing and preventing cancer.
Our status as an NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center gives us the ability to perform innovative clinical trials. This means we can provide our patients with direct access to leading-edge treatments they can’t get anywhere else.
A ‘patient-first’ approach
John Villano, MD, medical director of the Precision Medicine Clinic for Research, leads a talented team of doctors and researchers at the UK Markey Cancer Center.
“We want to not only provide drug discovery,” Dr. Villano said, “but opportunities for research to bring new therapeutic treatments to larger and unique patient populations.”
Dr. Villano and his team are focused on finding advancements in genomics and targeted therapies to not only treat a patient’s cancer but to help them find relief while going through treatment.
“There are so many quality-of-life aspects to cancer care that we sometimes forget,” Dr. Villano said. “We forget about how the individual patient could benefit [from research and drugs]. We want to provide a method of evaluating and understanding the process so we can benefit not only a patient’s cancer treatment but also their quality of life.”
The importance of diversity in clinical trials
Markey Cancer Center physician-scientists Zhonglin Hao, MD, and Eddy Yang, MD, have decades of experience in translating lab discoveries into clinical trials — trials that include all kinds of participants.
“You need a diverse population of participants to really know that a clinical trial is successful,” Dr. Yang said. “You could have a very high-impact trial with great results, but if the patient population is 90% Caucasian, the results might not be applicable to other ethnicities and races.”
People from various backgrounds must be represented in studies so the insights gained accurately reflect how different treatments affect different segments of Kentucky’s population.
“Diversity also includes age, which can be quite a barrier,” Dr. Hao said. “A lot of providers are hesitant to enroll patients after the age of 80. If they are healthy enough to participate in a trial, I tell my patients over 80 ‘We’re going to let you try.’ We have spent so much time developing wonderful trials and drugs. Everyone who could benefit from them should get that opportunity.”
The goal
Markey Cancer Center’s mission remains clear: Develop new drugs and therapies to improve quality of life and outcomes for patients receiving cancer treatment – for those in Kentucky and beyond.
