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The purpose of this Chapter is to create the Louisiana Cancer Research Center of L.S.U. Health Sciences Center in New Orleans/Tulane Health Sciences Center with the primary function of conducting research and promoting education in the diagnosis, detection, and treatment of cancer in its pursuit of obtaining National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation for the two health sciences centers in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Data from multiple sources indicate that Louisiana’s citizens suffer disproportionately from a high rate of cancer-induced deaths.  The latest statistics from the American Cancer Society show that Louisiana has the highest cancer mortality rate in the nation.  Approximately one hundred eighty Louisiana citizens die each week from cancer, and the cost to the state’s economy is close to four hundred million dollars per year in lost productivity from excessive early death from cancer.  By coordinating and focusing the cancer research efforts at the Louisiana Cancer Research Center of L.S.U. Health Sciences Center in New Orleans/Tulane Health Sciences Center and by providing modern new research resources and infrastructure, the cancer centers in New Orleans will be able to develop their current facilities and recruit the new faculty members necessary to achieve the designation as an NCI designated cancer center, the recognized gold standard for excellence in cancer research, treatment, and prevention.  There are sixty such centers in the United States, but none in Louisiana, Mississippi, or Arkansas.  The closest NCI designated cancer centers are three hundred fifty miles to the west of New Orleans at the M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston, Texas, and three hundred fifty miles to the northeast of New Orleans at the University of Alabama Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama.

Acts 2002, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 41, §1.