Posted on October 25, 2001 at 2:24 p.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Some 30 years ago, school kids and community leaders gave dimes and dollars to build a cancer research institute at UAB. Since then, the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center has made fundamental discoveries in the nature of the disease, helped develop innovative weapons to combat it, and touched many thousands of people across the state and region with prevention, diagnosis and treatment programs.

Alabama’s leading cancer center was founded in 1971, the same year the “war on cancer” was declared and the National Cancer Act signed. UAB was one of the first eight institutions to be pressed into battle as a “comprehensive” center. It still is one of the most accomplished of what are 41 such centers across the nation.

The federal government’s interest in making cancer research and treatment a priority dovetailed with Alabama citizens’ concern over the death of Gov. Lurleen Wallace from the disease, according to Dr. Albert F. LoBuglio, director of the cancer center since 1983.

“Governor Wallace had to go to Texas for treatment of uterine cancer because state-of-the-art cancer care was not available here,” LoBuglio noted. “After her death in 1968, a grassroots fundraising effort by community leaders and UAB raised $5 million for a new cancer facility. That money helped build UAB’s Wallace Tumor Institute and was a prime reason we were picked by the National Cancer Institute as the lead center in the Southeast.”

UAB began planning for its cancer center with a quarter-million dollar grant. This year the center will corral more than $80 million in contracts and grants, fully a fourth of all such money flowing into the university.

“We truly have fulfilled the dream of UAB pioneers to become international leaders in this field,” he said. “Some of the world’s top researchers and doctors have been brought here. What is exciting to us is the development of our system that allows basic research findings to be rapidly translated into clinical trials and patient care.”

Funding initiatives by the National Cancer Institute and others have allowed UAB’s cancer center to amass strengths in several areas. The NCI’s Special Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grants were awarded to UAB for ovarian cancer in 1998 and breast cancer in 1999. LoBuglio said forces are being marshalled to apply for SPORE grants for brain, cervical and prostate cancer.

“We are staying abreast of and participating in the advancement of knowledge about cancer,” he said. “The last decade saw great advances in human genetics, and the current decade may be known for what we will learn about the proteins that perform the specific tasks dictated by genetic material. Already, we have developed significant resources for this purpose, and it is our plan to be a major center the field of proteomics.”

Facilities for the cancer center’s research, patient care, community and other activities are in a growth phase:

• The Hugh Kaul Genetics Building opened earlier this year and will be a hub of cancer research activity.
  
  
• The UAB Cancer Center at Acton Road, a patient care building, will soon take physicians into one of the region’s highest growth areas.
  
  
• A new research building for gene therapy will open next year on campus.
  
  
• In 2003, the UAB Hospital North Pavilion will open with additional space for the cancer center.

History of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center

1968
Death of Governor Lurleen B. Wallace from cancer initiates statewide Cancer Crusade.

1970
UAB Cancer Program organized and Dr. John Durant appointed director.

1971
President Nixon signs the National Cancer Act; UAB funded as one of eleven NCI supported cancer programs. A $254,334 planning grant is awarded.

1972
NCI construction grant awarded for Wallace Tumor Institute.

1973
Courage Crusade raises $5 million. Additional NCI construction grant and state funds provide $15 million for Wallace Tumor Institute and Wallace patient tower.

1975
Program leadership recruited; Dr. Max Cooper (Immunobiology); Dr. Charles Bugg (X-ray crystallography); Dr. William Crist (Pediatric Oncology); Dr. Richard Compans (Virology); Dr. Seng-Jaw Soong (Biostatistics); Dr. Charles Balch (Surgical Oncology). Southeastern Cancer Study Group based at UAB with Dr. John Durant as chairman.

1976
Wallace Tumor Institute occupied. Cancer Center has 94 members with $6.5 million in research support.

1977
Drs. Richard Whitley and Charles Alford demonstrate for the first time that a viral disease can be treated successfully with intravenous drugs.

1979
Lurleen B. Wallace Patient Tower opens.

1980
Toll-free telephone Cancer Information Service funded by NCI. Center membership is 124 with $12 million in research support.

1981
Nutrition Center funded by NCI and Special Laboratory Building for Cancer Research built for potentially dangerous DNA and viral research.

1982/1983
Dr. Durant leaves UAB to become president of Fox Chase Cancer Center. Dr. Albert LoBuglio recruited from University of Michigan to direct the Cancer Center and the Division of Hematology/Oncology.

1984/1985
New program leadership recruited: Dr Robert B. Wells (Molecular Genetics); Dr. Robert Diasio (Cancer Pharmacology); Dr. Carlos Krumdieck (Nutrition); Dr. Donald Miller (Human Genetics); Dr. George Shaw and Dr. Beatrice Hahn (AIDS). Cancer Center Supporters Board organized with Lella Bromberg as its first president. Monoclonal Antibody Group recruited and organized.

1986
Dr. Merle Salter appointed Chairman of Radiation Oncology. Supporters hold first fund-raising gala.

1987
Cancer Center Supporters purchase one of the first DNA sequencers in the nation and Center carries out the first trial ever of genetically engineered monoclonal antibody.

1988
Dr. Max Cooper elected to the National Academy of Science and named as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator — both firsts in Alabama. Cancer Center has $28 million in research support.

1989
Center awarded $4.8 million for monoclonal antibody trials with intravenous drugs in competition with 30 other institutions.

1990
Drs. Robert Castleberry and Peter Emanuel develop the first successful treatment for childhood monocytic leukemia.

1991
Bone marrow transplant unit opened under direction of newly recruited Dr. William Vaughan. Dr. Larry DeLucas selected to be the nation's first civilian scientist-astronaut on the Space Shuttle Columbia.

1992
Three-story addition to Wallace Tumor Institute adds 45,000 square feet of research space. Drs. Edward Partridge and John Carpenter funded for cancer control program in Alabama's Black Belt. Drs. Tom Broker and Louise Chow recruited for cervical cancer program with provision of laboratory equipment by Cancer Center Supporters.

1993
Center launches its gene therapy research effort under the direction of newly recruited Dr. David T. Curiel. Dr. LoBuglio receives the UAB President's Medal.

1994
Center carries out novel trial of Rituxan, monoclonal antibody, leading to its subsequent FDA approval for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Tade Thurston Memorial Breast Cancer Laboratory established. Interdisciplinary Breast Cancer Clinic established in the Kirklin Clinic. Evalina B. Spencer Chair in Oncology established; Dr. Albert LoBuglio named first recipient.

1995
Herceptin antibody trials in breast cancer continue Center's leadership in successful monoclonal antibody trials. "A Tribe of Warrior Women" photo exhibit is commissioned by the Center to salute Alabama breast cancer survivors, photographer Melissa Springer; coordinator, Madeline Harris.

1996
Portrait of major Cancer Center supporters, Emmie and Herman Bolden, unveiled on 5th floor of Wallace Tumor Institute. Cancer Center Research Retreat initiated to recognize faculty and trainees with the John Durant Awards for Research Excellence.

1997
Dr. James Bonner recruited from the Mayo Clinic to chair the Department of Radiation Oncology and hold the Merle Salter Chair in Radiation Oncology. Jeanne and Ann Griffin Chair for Women's Cancer established; Dr. David T. Curiel named first recipient. Novel gene therapy trial for ovarian cancer directed by Dr. Ronald Alvarez and Dr. David T. Curiel.

1998
Drs. Albert Oberman and Mona Fouad direct $8 million NCI Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer screening trial. Cancer Center research support exceeds $65 million.

1999
Dr. Edward Partridge directs newly funded $9 million SPORE grant in ovarian cancer. Dr. Soong receives first Cancer Center Distinguished Faculty Award.

2000
Dr. Kirby Bland recruited as chair of surgery and deputy director of the Cancer Center. Dr. Kirby Bland directs newly funded $13.8 million SPORE grant in breast cancer. Dr. John Rinehart recruited to be Center's associate director of clinical research. Cancer Center leads NCI partnership with University of Southern Mississippi to establish the Deep South Network for Cancer Control to eliminate disparity in cancer deaths between blacks and whites. Center receives $2.2 million from Avon Products Foundation for breast cancer research. Dr. Ed Partridge receives the Cancer Center's 2000 Distinguished Faculty Award.

2001
Voncile Johnson Nelson Shealy estate names Cancer Center as beneficiary of $7.5 million. Center receives additional $2 million from Avon Products Foundation for breast cancer research. Dr. Michael Ruppert describes novel cancer-causing gene (GKLF) involved in breast and head/neck cancers. New Cancer Center physicians clinic constructed at Acton Road and Interstate 459 to provide cancer services to over-the-mountain patients. Dr. Carla Falkson recruited from South Africa; named an Avon Scholar and co-director of the Women's Cancer Program. Center research support exceeds $80 million annually.

Timeline courtesy of Cancer Center magazine, Fall 2000, Volume XVI, Number 2. Published by the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.