75 years of Making Cancer History
Annual Report 2015
MD Anderson’s 2015 Annual Report highlights achievements and contributions of our faculty, staff and donors in advancing the research, treatment and prevention of cancer. It also provides key financial and statistical data.
It’s a phrase that describes our patients, who, faced with a disease
that is unpredictable and unforgiving, remain strong and determined. It
describes our doctors, researchers, educators and staff, who are
relentless in their drive to stop a plague that robs us all of friends,
family and loved ones.
When President Barack Obama called for a national moon shot to end
cancer, the MD Anderson community and our patients cheered. For nearly
75 years, cancer has been our priority, and we are heartened to see it
elevated to a true national priority.
Collaboration and a unique opportunity led to the world’s first skull
and scalp transplant
Jamie Whittington has an aggressive form of chronic lymphocytic
leukemia, but you’d never know it.
To truly eliminate cancer, MD Anderson must expand its footprint in
Houston and form relationships with hospitals and health systems around
the world.
MD Anderson Melanoma Moon Shot researchers are combining two
immunotherapies for the first time to double-team melanoma that has
spread to other organs and resisted all forms of treatment.
To meet a growing demand for clinical, diagnostic and support services,
ground was broken in 2013 for The Pavilion, an eight-story,
184,800-square-foot facility connected to the Main Building.
Few scientists have devoted as much of their career to understanding how
cancer spreads as Isaiah Fidler, D.V.M., Ph.D.
When Joya Chandra, Ph.D., joined the faculty of MD Anderson’s pediatrics
department in 2002, she felt an immediate kinship with the researchers,
clinicians and, especially, with the students.
A trailblazing oncologist who took on childhood leukemia by introducing
combination chemotherapy — in which anticancer drugs are given
simultaneously rather than singly — retired in September after 50 years
at MD Anderson.
In today’s economy, with government funding for cancer research
difficult to come by, private philanthropy is essential.
A simple yet unprecedented goal drives the big data efforts of MD
Anderson’s Moon Shots Program: to have every patient contribute to and
benefit from the cancer center’s research.
It’s only been a short time since graduation, and already the first
students to earn master’s degrees from the School of Health Professions
are having a global impact.
When a clinical trial for a new breast cancer drug launched recently,
researchers estimated it would take at least two years to enroll the 20
patients needed to make the trial a success. However, within four
months, half the patients had already enrolled — and the drug worked for
all 10.
Teresa Hall’s visit to a gastroenterologist three years ago wasn’t the
first time she’d sought help for troubling symptoms.
A new clinic to identify and monitor those at high risk for developing
pancreatic cancer continues to expand after opening last year.
Building on MD Anderson research, a new company named Codiak Biosciences
has formed to create therapeutic and diagnostic products using exosomes
— small parts of cells that break away and float around the body.
It’s clear that breast cancer screenings save lives. But exactly when
women at average risk of developing breast cancer should begin screening
is much less clear.
Previous Issues
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Annual Report 2014
Cancer can’t surprise us
Annual Report 2013
Open minds, new frontiers
Annual Report 2012
The time is now to educate
Annual Report 2011
From our president
Annual Report 2010
Many voices help tell the story
Annual Report 2009
From the President