NCI Community Cancer Center Program
Bringing Advanced Cancer Care
to Underserved Communities
St. Luke’s MSTI was selected in 2010 as a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Community Cancer Center, one of 30 in a national network of centers with a shared mission to expand research and care opportunities at hospitals serving largely rural, suburban, small town, and underserved populations.
As a member of the NCI Community Cancer Center Program (NCCCP),
St. Luke’s MSTI is working to:
• Reduce cancer care disparities by improving and
expanding services for underserved patients,
increasing community outreach activities, and adding
more patient navigation services.
• Increase patient access to and participation in clinical
trials through better patient education and cultural
awareness, and consistent communication with
referring physicians.
• Improve the quality of cancer care, screening, and
prevention by sharing best practices with other NCI
and NCCCP cancer centers and meeting and
exceeding the American Society of Clinical
Oncology (ASCO) Quality Oncology Practice
Initiative (QOPI®) measures.
• Enhance cancer survivorship and supportive care
services with expanded programs.
• Strengthen patient advocacy efforts by building on
relationships with community and national partners,
and engaging with local and state legislators.
• Connect to cancer research data networks and
expand the use of electronic medical records.
• Promote the collection of high quality bio-specimens
for research, such as blood and tissue samples, by
creating a biorepository.
Our Target Populations
While St. Luke’s MSTI is working to increase access
to high quality care for everyone, we place special
emphasis on underserved populations. We have
identified the underserved populations in our region as
people living in rural and “frontier” areas, minorities—particularly people of Hispanic ethnicity—the elderly,
adolescents, and young adults.
For more information on the NCCCP, visit ncccp.cancer.gov.
