In partnership with Bon Secours St. Francis Health System

St. Francis Cancer Center, part of the Bon Secours St. Francis Health System, is one of the foremost centers for oncology trial research in America. And it’s right here in Greenville.

“We try to get the leading-edge treatments of tomorrow to our patients today,” says Kristina Stoeppler, director of Clinical Research.

The majority of health care systems of similar size to St. Francis Cancer Center do not have the ability to do high level research. Through strategic partners in the pharmaceutical industry and cooperative groups funded through the National Cancer Institute, they are able to run clinical trials that not only give patients hope, but advance the future of the field.

“This is not a common thing for hospitals and cancer centers,” says Stephen Dyar, MD, medical director of Oncology Operations.

Usually, clinical trials are conducted through large universities like Duke, Vanderbilt or Emory. Having local access to advanced research—for a city the size of Greenville and a health system the size of Bon Secours St. Francis—is extremely rare. According to Dr. Dyar and Stoeppler, the health system’s goals are taking care of the patients and advancing the science behind future treatments.

St. Francis Cancer Center works with pharmaceutical partners to provide broader treatment options for patients, and helps the partners in moving new agents to market. The drugs typically would cost thousands of dollars, but in a trial setting, they are made accessible to patients without discriminating on the basis of ability to pay. Currently, St. Francis Cancer Center has two main research foci: Immunotherapy and Targeted Medicines, to determine whether these treatments are effective alternatives to toxic chemotherapies.

Immunotherapy activates the body’s immune system to recognize and combat cancer. Targeted trials study the DNA sequence to discover why the tumor occurred, looking deeper into the cellular structure to target the cancer catalyst. Many patients have run out of FDA-approved options. The clinical trials at St. Francis Cancer Center encourage patients just knowing these options are viable.

“It gives patients a sense of purpose to know that they are making a contribution—you hear that from almost every patient that signs up. They are willing to go through biopsies and additional blood withdrawal and more because they know that some good can come from what they are going through,” says Stoeppler.

Patients don’t have to travel to an academic hospital to get world-class medical care, it’s right here in Greenville. Trials could be ongoing for months or even years but Bon Secours St. Francis Health System’s mission is simple, “to bring compassion to health care and to be good help to those in need” in the Upstate.

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