About the Vermont Cancer Center
A Comprehensive Clinical and Research Cancer Center
The Vermont Cancer Center is a not-for-profit comprehensive clinical and research cancer center, the only such organization in the state of Vermont. Founded in 1974, the Vermont Cancer Center is located within the University of Vermont (UVM) College of Medicine and enjoys a clinical partnership with Fletcher Allen Health Care, Vermont's academic medical center with UVM. The organization is comprised of more than 120 scientists and physicians engaged in a full range of basic, translational, clinical, and outcomes research that seeks to uncover new knowledge and understanding about cancer and the issues that affect people with the disease.
The Vermont Cancer Center is committed to innovative cancer research, life-saving prevention and treatment programs, public education and scientific collaboration, and serves to influence standards of cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis and care across Vermont and northern New York. High-quality cancer care is provided through the patient care areas at Fletcher Allen, including Hematology/Oncology, Surgical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Gynecologic Oncology, Dermatology, and the Cancer Patient Support Program. With our partners at Fletcher Allen, we are also developing multi-disciplinary treatment centers for specific cancers in order to enhance and provide a single point of access and care for all cancer patients. Multidisciplinary clinics (MDCs) include the Breast Care Center, Upper Gastrointestinal MDC, Lung MDC, and Melanoma (skin cancer) MDC.
A central part of the Vermont Cancer Center's mission is to share with the public — as well as with other cancer providers, researchers, and health care experts — the latest information on cancer prevention and screening, diagnostics and treatment, as well as advances in clinical and laboratory research and issues of survivorship. To that end, the Vermont Cancer Center hosts an annual Breast Cancer Conference for the public, as well as many academic lectures and professional meetings and symposia for cancer care providers and researchers.
Vermont Cancer Center physicians and scientists have also made significant contributions to advances in cancer research that are keys to understanding, preventing and treating this disease. Some of our researchers' achievements include:
- Pioneering a biopsy procedure that has revolutionized the treatment of several forms of cancer.
- Offering life-enhancing treatment options for children with a rare form of cancer.
- Studying how statins, the drugs used to control cholesterol, affect cancer risk and cancer cell growth.
- Helping in the discovery of the inherited risk factors for breast cancer.
- Researching how to make cancer treatments more tolerable by reducing severe side effects.
- Developing Cancer Registries in Vermont for future outreach to the cancer community.
- Assessing and addressing the needs of cancer survivors.
Vermont Cancer Center research is conducted primarily at the University of Vermont and encompasses the following core research programs:
- Cancer Prevention & Control Research, which is developing strategies for preventing and treating common cancers through a better understanding of the behaviors associated with cancer risk, such as the use of tobacco. Additionally, the High Risk Breast Program of Vermont (HRBP), based within the Breast Care Center and the Vermont Cancer Center at the University of Vermont and Fletcher Allen Health Care, is a clinical program with a research focus intended to promote early detection and prevention of breast cancer through screening, treatment, education and research. The Familial Cancer Program is a multidisciplinary program that was also developed at the Vermont Cancer Center at the University of Vermont and Fletcher Allen Health Care, to help individuals, families, and healthcare providers manage cancer risk through state-of-the-art clinical care and research.
- Clinical Research, which facilitates physician-researcher collaboration in developing and evaluating new and more effective therapies and preventive measures. The Vermont Cancer Center is affiliated with Fletcher Allen Health Care and enjoys a variety of collaborations with other regional health care organizations as well, including the Vermont Center for Cancer Medicine, Mountain View Medical at Central Vermont Medical Center, Copley Hospital, and Glens Falls (NY) Hospital.
- Cell Signaling and Growth Control Research, whose primary goal is exploring the switches and checkpoints that determine a cell's fate and identifying the critical differences between normal and cancer cells.
- Genome Stability and Expression Program, which seeks to understand the key molecular mechanisms that lead to genetic alteration and their transition from normal cell to cancer.
For people in our region, having the Vermont Cancer Center in the community means access to the latest in cancer research, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and education. It also means hope for a cure.
