The University of Kansas Cancer Center has received a $100 million gift to build a destination cancer center in Kansas City.
This gift is both the largest gift ever given by the Sunderland Foundation and the largest ever received by the University of Kansas and the University of Kansas Health System.
The donation ups the total money raised for the cancer center to $143 million. Earlier this year, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran, R-Kan., secured $43 million in congressionally directed spending to plan and help build research aspects of the facility.
The funding will allow KU Cancer Center's leadership to achieve its goal of bringing the entire cancer community — from physician-scientists to researchers to physicians and clinical staff — all under one roof. Doing so spurs spontaneous and serendipitous collaborations, which often lead to fresh, new thinking needed to solve cancer's most complex puzzles, according to Roy Jensen, MD, vice chancellor and director of the KU Cancer Center.
Patients will have access to more innovative clinical trials and groundbreaking therapies developed on site and the whole patient experience — from nutrition and social workers to pathology and imaging — will occur in one place, according to the health system
The first phase of construction for the facility is expected to break ground in the fall of 2024.
"Our vision is for The University of Kansas Cancer Center to be a beacon of hope and a global destination for both those with cancer and for scientists and clinicians seeking to cure cancer," Dr. Jensen said in a June 27 news release. "This building will be a hub that brings together leading-edge patient care and innovation as we seek to transform both cancer care and cancer research in our quest to cure cancer — together. Patients treated at NCI-designated cancer centers have a 25 percent greater chance of survival compared to other cancer centers because of the enhanced relationship between patient care and research."