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The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins was one of the first cancer centers in the country designated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as a Comprehensive Cancer Center established under the National Cancer Act. It is the only NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center in the state of Maryland. This designation means the Center has active programs in clinical research, laboratory research, education, community outreach, and prevention and control. It has won further recognition as one of the first “Centers of Excellence.”

Well known for its excellence in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer, the Center is dedicated to better understanding human cancers and developing multidisciplinary therapeutic approaches for the treatment of solid tumors and hematological malignancies.

A leader on many fronts, the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center is internationally recognized for its programs in the molecular genetics of cancer, bone marrow transplantation, new drug development, pediatric oncology, radiation oncology, brain tumor research and treatment, and esophageal cancer research, treatment and prevention. The Center is also highly regarded for its premiere research involving the genetic basis of colon cancer, the treatment of cancer pain, gene therapy, and new therapeutic approaches for breast cancer.

The Kimmel Cancer Center encompasses a wide spectrum of specialty programs in breast, colon, melanoma, hematologic malignancies, and head and neck cancers. Additionally, those at high-risk for breast, ovarian, colon, and other cancers may seek information about early detection, prevention, and genetic counseling through a comprehensive genetics service.

As pioneers in the genetic revolution, Hopkins is identifying and studying high-risk populations and was the first to develop blood tests to identify inherited genetic mutations which lead to a cancer predisposition. This leadership role earned the Kimmel Cancer Center a five-year, $3.8 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to establish the Mid-Atlantic Cancer Genetics Network, one of just eight institutions in the country charged with learning more about the genetic basis of cancer susceptibility and translating this new knowledge to patient care.

The Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins also offers family and patient services including oncology social work, pastoral care, a Cancer Counseling Center, survivors and palliative care programs, outpatient pharmacy, home care, patient and family education, and two on-campus residences for out-of-town patients and their families. The Kimmel Cancer Center's nurses are on the cutting edge of clinical care, conducting research and developing models for patient care. Our nursing teams are trained to provide top-notch service – whether it be round-the-clock care in our inpatient units, continual diagnosis and therapy at our outpatient clinics, or detailed monitoring during our clinical trials research.

Patients receive the utmost attention and quality care. With so many professional registered nurses practicing in different roles, serve broad range of oncology expertise, ensuring that care is tailored to patients’ specific needs.

We also specialize in compassion and hope. We comfort. We monitor. We teach at the bedside. All this contributes to a highly professional nursing environment – a fact acknowledged by the Cancer Center's elite designation as a Magnet hospital, the highest nursing honor in the world that a hospital can receive.

Hopkins has furthered its commitment to excellence in patient care and research by building three new facilities to enhance the Kimmel Cancer Center's ongoing programs and services and promote new developments in cancer research, treatment, and prevention.

The Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Building is the clinical cancer facility, housing patient services, radiation treatment facilities, operating rooms, surgical intensive care units, and outpatient chemotherapy. The Bunting • Blaustein Cancer Research Building is a ten-story laboratory research facility with programs in cancer biology, hematological malignancies, urological oncology, gastrointestinal cancer, solid tumor research, pharmacology, and experimental therapeutics, and cancer prevention and control. And, in 2006, the Kimmel Cancer Center opened the Koch Cancer Research Building, which mirrors and connects to the Bunting • Blaustein Building.

The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center has, over the last decade, reduced hospital stays and treatment-related complication resulting in a dramatic cut in costs for even the most intensive therapies. At the same time, they dramatically advance medical knowledge, contributing to future savings in terms of both human and monetary costs. The institution is committed to its mission of teaching, research, and patient care.

Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
Adult Oncology Services

Introduction

Since its inception in 1973, the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins has been dedicated to better understanding human cancers and finding more effective treatments. One of only 41 cancer centers in the country designated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as a Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Kimmel Cancer Center has active programs in clinical research, laboratory research, education, community outreach, and prevention and control. The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins is the only such NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center in the state of Maryland. Patients who visit the Kimmel Cancer Center have access to some of the most innovative and advanced therapies in the world. Because Center clinicians and research scientists work closely together, new drugs and treatments developed in the laboratory are quickly transferred to the clinical setting, offering patients improved therapeutic options.

The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins encompasses a wide spectrum of specialty programs for both adults and children coping with cancer, including bone marrow transplantation and new drug development. Additionally, those at high risk for breast, ovarian, colon, and other cancers may seek information about early detection, prevention, and genetic counseling through a comprehensive genetics service.

The Center also offers family and patient services that include a Cancer Counseling Center, survivors and palliative care programs, patient and family education, and two residences for patients traveling from out-of-town to receive treatment.

Hopkins furthered its commitment to excellence in patient care and research by building three new facilities that enhance ongoing programs and services and promote new developments in cancer research, treatment, and prevention: the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Building, a new clinical care cancer facility, opened in the fall of 2000; and the Bunting • Blaustein Building, a state-of-the-art cancer research and teaching building, which opened in late 1999; and, in 2006, the Kimmel Cancer Center opened the Koch Cancer Research Building.

General Information

Facility

The main clinical site for the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins is located on the campus of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in East Baltimore, Maryland. Most of the clinical activity for adult patients occurs in the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Building. Other programs are held elsewhere on campus, or in our satellite clinics in Baltimore County.

Details:

• 350,000 net square feet
• 9 floors
• 3 floors underground, a portion of which is designated for patient and visitor parking
• Glass-enclosed walkway connects to main hospital building
• Ambulatory Services
• Inpatient and Outpatient Surgical Center
• 16 Operating Suites
• Post-anesthesia care unit
• 62 Medical Oncology Beds (includes Hematologic Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplant, IPOP and HIPOP)
• Infusion Center
• 72 surgical beds
• 20 intensive and intermediate care beds
• Anesthesiology
• Inpatient/Outpatient Continuum of Care (IPOP and HIPOP)
• Gynecologic Oncology, Gynecology, Urogynecology, Reproductive Endocrinology
• Image Recovery
• Pathology
• Duffey Patient and Family Services
• Duffey Pain and Palliative Care Program
• Outpatient Pharmacy
• Physical Therapy
• Radiology
• Radiation Oncology
• Chapel, Auditorium, Conference Rooms, and a Juice Bar/Coffee Shop
• Staff Dining room

Travel Assistance

Johns Hopkins USA is a single point of contact to Johns Hopkins services and medical facilities. Trained professionals help plan patient visits, from appointments to travel arrangements. Hopkins USA is available any time between 8:30 AM and 4:30 PM Eastern time Monday through Friday by calling 410.847.3582.

Lodging 

The Kimmel Cancer Center’s Housing Referral Service assists patients and their guests by providing information about available housing options, including nearby residential facilities, hotel accommodations and apartment leasing.   The Housing Referral Service operates Monday through Friday and can be reached by dialing 410-614-6527 or visiting the Duffey Patient and Family Services Suite.

There are two on-campus Johns Hopkins residential facilities.  The Joanne Rockwell Memorial House and The Hackerman-Patz House offer short-term or long-term housing options for adults (12 years and older) in a homelike environment.  Both houses are located across the street from the main hospital entrance on Wolfe Street and offer a total of 20 guest rooms. Designed to provide housing for cancer patients and their families, these facilities can accommodate other patients when space availability allows. Nightly rates are $46 with a 10 percent discount for 30 consecutive days or longer. Patients can secure these accommodations by calling 410.614.6527 and reserving a place on the waiting list.

Guest Services at Hopkins provides the best means for reserving hotel rooms and ensuring a reduced, Johns Hopkins rate. The price for a one-night stay ranges from approximately $80–$160.  For more information, contact Guest Services at 800.225.2201 or 410.614.1911.

Treatment

Multidisciplinary Clinics

See list below. Contact number for all clinics is 410.955.8964.

Stem Cell Transplant Program

Diseases Treated

• AML, ALL, CML, CLL
• Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
• Hodgkin's disease
• Multiple Myeloma
• Myelodysplastic Syndrome
• Solid tumors: Breast cancer, Ovarian cancer, Testicular cancer, Pediatric solid tumors
• Anemias: Aplastic Anemia, Fanconi Anemia, Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria
• Inherited diseases: immune deficiencies, metabolic disease, hemoglobinopathies
• Severe autoimmune diseases

Types of Transplants Offered

• Allogeneic-related and allogeneic-unrelated
• Mini transplants (includes matched and mismatched donors)
• Syngeneic
• Autologous

New Approaches Being Developed at Johns Hopkins

• Boosting the patient's immune system after BMT to fight cancer, including tumor vaccines
• Purging agents for autologous BMT, especially in leukemia
• Engineering of allogeneic transplants to reduce GVHD while maintaining GVL
• Autologous BMT for chronic myeloid leukemia
• Prevention and treatment of GVHD
• Isolation and expansion of stem cells for BMT
• Outpatient BMT (IPOP)
• Non-myeloablative or 'mini-BMT'
• High-dose therapy for severe autoimmune diseases

Alternative/Complementary Medicine
The Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Center has been given access to space in two new cancer buildings, the Harry and Jeannette Weinberg building, which houses the comprehensive clinical services, and the Bunting ♦ Blaustein Cancer Research Building. The CAM Center is currently focusing on three aspects of cancer research:

• Immune surveillance
• Neuroendocrine stress
• Oxidative stress

Our research program focuses on gender-specific cancers, initially breast and prostate cancers. In addition, acupuncture services are offered.

Cancer Prevention and Screening

The Cancer Risk Assessment Program – 410.614.6319
Provides patients and families with screening, genetic counseling, and assessment for those at high risk for cancer.

The Johns Hopkins Breast and Ovarian Surveillance Service (BOSS) – 410.502.7082
BOSS offers screening services covering the following:

• Review of family history and other risk factors
• Provide individualized risk assessment
• Perform a clinical breast exam and instruct you in breast self-exam
• Discuss and offer genetic testing to evaluate inherited cancer susceptibility
• Provide individualized cancer prevention and screening information

The Hereditary Colorectal Cancer Registry – 410.955.3875 (local) 888.77.COLON / 888.772.6566 (national)
The Registry maintains a database of affected families and tracks their risk of contracting the disease.

Community Screening
The Cigarette Restitution Fund provides Hopkins with a public health grant for the development of community-based cancer prevention, education, and screening programs. Called the Baltimore City Cancer Plan, Hopkins clinicians are collaborating with colleagues at University of Maryland, Sinai Hospital, the Baltimore City Health Department, and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The first project is focused on prostate education and screening. The grant provides for prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing and digital rectal exams performed at designated community sites by Hopkins physicians and nurses as well as any necessary follow-up care or treatment.

Support Services

The Harry J. Duffey Family Patient and Family Services Program at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins assists patients and families throughout their cancer experience. Comprehensive services and resources are available to address the psychosocial needs of patients and families across the entire continuum of the disease from diagnosis to “living with cancer” to palliative care.

The Duffey Program is comprised of the following:

• Oncology Social Work
• Cancer Counseling Center
• The Residential Living Program
• Housing Referral Service
• Community Referral and Transportation Coordination
• Living with Cancer Support and Education Program
• Pastoral Care
• Pain and Palliative Care Program

Services offered include:

• Problem-solving skills tailored to cancer and cancer treatment
• Comprehensive cancer information
• Cancer counseling for individuals, couples, family members, and friends
• Support groups
• Strategies for managing emotions, pain, and fatigue
• Spiritual guidance through non-denominational chaplaincy
• Ways to overcome communication barriers with the health care team
• Keys to learning how the hospital system works
• Ways to talk to children and loved ones about cancer and cancer treatment
• Identification of community support resources, including home care
• Temporary housing resources in Baltimore
• Transportation resources
• Keys to understanding medical insurance and payment issues

The Duffey Family Pain and Palliative Care Program focuses on the whole person: body, mind and spirit.  Our multidisciplinary team of experts, focus on comfort and symptom management, open communication with family and the treatment team and recognizes the dignity and spirit of each person.
 
At the Kimmel Cancer Center, our goal is patient comfort during treatment.  With the help of our Pain and Palliative Care Team, patients and their families can be assured that they will receive guidance and support with difficult decisions, emotional support for their entire family, and expert treatment of pain and other symptoms.  Overall, the Pain and Palliative Care staff focus on the importance of quality of life during and after treatment.

When it comes to chronic cancer pain, patients need additional support and education.  To help patients cope with chronic pain associated with cancer, our cancer pain experts developed an interactive web-based program that provides patients with practical tools in which to manage their pain (www.cancerpain.jhmi.edu), to rate their pain experience, and to learn how to solve the most common cancer pain-related problems.  .

Supportive Care

The Johns Hopkins Home Care Group – 410.288.8100
Johns Hopkins Home Care Group (JHHCG) offers a broad range of services and products with specialization in the oncology home care needs of adult and pediatric patients throughout Central Maryland.  In addition to home care visits by experienced nurses, respiratory therapists, physical, occupational and speech therapists, home health aides and social workers, JHHCG provides a complete line of respiratory and durable medical equipment and supplies,   Home Infusion medications and nutritional products are dispensed and managed by an expert team of clinical infusion pharmacy specialists, dieticians, and a highly experienced infusion nursing team. 

The Johns Hopkins Outpatient Pharmacy at Weinberg –  410.955.5747
Monday - Friday 9:00 AM  - 7:00 PM., Saturday - Sunday 10:00 AM .- 6:00 PM.
The Johns Hopkins Outpatient Pharmacy is a full-service pharmacy specializing in hematology /oncology outpatient prescription dispensing and patient consultation.  Specialty medications used in oncology are readily available for the convenience of patients.  Most major insurance plans are accepted.  The outpatient pharmacy is located on the first floor of the Weinberg Building.

The Image Recovery Center – 410.502.5623, http://www.imagerecovery.com
Every cancer center patient can receive a complimentary consultation to discuss appearance changes that may occur during treatment. Services are provided for adults and children. In-room service is available. The Image Recovery Center is located on the first floor of the Weinberg Building.

Nutrition Services – 410.955.8152
Offers patients specialized nutrition assessments, personalized dietary plans, and nutritional counseling.

Cooperative Group Membership

Clinical and Research Efforts

Adult Oncology Program

The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins
Pediatric Oncology Services 

Introduction

The Pediatric Oncology Program stands at the forefront of childhood cancer research and patient care. All Pediatric Oncology faculty members are board certified or eligible and are internationally recognized as leaders in their field. Other pediatric sub-specialists participate closely in both investigative work and clinical care with colleagues in surgery and neurosurgery, urology, gastroenterology, otolaryngology, orthopedics, critical care, psychiatry, and radiation oncology. Their programs also interface with the cutting edge work being done in medical oncology at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, particularly in the areas of leukemia, Hodgkin lymphoma, brain tumors, bone marrow transplantation, sarcomas, histiocytosis, and the development of novel differentiation therapies and cancer vaccines. The Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Programs at Johns Hopkins has also programmatically partnered with the Pediatric Oncology Branch at the National Cancer Institutes at NIH, most notably with a joint fellowship training program in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology. The faculty emphasizes translational laboratory and clinical research, which has had significant impact on cancer therapy. The Pediatric Oncology Program is a division of The Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins.

The pediatric oncologists have expertise in the management of all childhood cancers and are world-renowned experts in the areas listed below.

General Information

Clinical and Research Information

Research Efforts

The Division of Pediatric Oncology is committed to the discovery and translation of new knowledge into more effective and less toxic therapies for children and adolescents with cancer. Research on the basic biology of how cancer develops and how cancer cells grow and avoid recognition by the immune system should lead to novel and more specific targets to treat cancer. The extensive interactions of Physician-Scientists in the Division of Pediatric Oncology with members of Medical Oncology at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Johns Hopkins Medical and Graduate School Campuses, and colleagues at the National Institutes of Health optimize the ability to rapidly translate new discoveries into treatments.

Investigators are working to gain an understanding of how the survival, proliferation, and differentiation of normal and malignant stem cells are regulated. Researchers hope to translate their findings into improved therapies, specifically blood and bone marrow transplantation and gene therapy. Researchers are also gaining molecular insights into the normal function of blood cells and how they proliferate in order to form a better understanding of how leukemias originate so they may develop novel therapies for this common type of childhood cancer.

Special Expertise/Descriptions

Aplastic Anemia and Autoimmune Disorders

In collaboration with Medical Oncology, a novel approach to treating patients with these disorders using high-dose cyclophosphamide, rather than using bone marrow transplantation, is being tested. Thus far, this approach has shown excellent results.

Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcomas

Johns Hopkins operates a multidisciplinary program led by national experts in the chemotherapy, radiation oncology, orthopedic surgery, and pathology of bone sarcomas. New approaches to therapy are being developed. In collaboration with Radiation Therapy, a protocol has been developed using the radioactive isotope Samarium 153 to treat patients with osteosarcoma. 

Bone Marrow Transplant

The Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplantation Service is an international leader, attracting patients from around the world, and is renowned for performing mismatched and unrelated transplants in children.  Johns Hopkins performs BMT for solid tumors such as neuroblastoma, Wilms’ Tumor, Retinoblastoma, Ewing’s sarcoma, hepatoblastoma, and hematologic malignancies as well as for the range of non-malignant diseases of cells derived from the hematopoietic stem cell.  Pediatric BMT patients have access to the same services provided in the adult program, including the Cell Therapy Laboratory and the Graft vs. Host Disease Clinic.

The ability to isolate stem cells, the cells in the bone marrow that give rise to all blood cells, was made possible through a discovery made by Pediatric Oncology researchers. This new technology has improved the success of bone marrow transplants and reduced both recovery time and potentially fatal complications, such as bleeding and infection. Their oncologists also developed multiple approaches for autologous and allogeneic bone marrow transplant, including non-total body irradiation preparative regimens, CD34+ stem cell purification for resistant pediatric solid tumors, and CD34+ stem cell purification for T-cell depletion in allogeneic bone marrow transplant. New programs using nonmyeloablative approaches for treating patients with nonmalignant conditions as well as cancer are currently being tested. Novel clinical trials are ongoing to make unrelated and haploidentical bone marrow transplantation safer and more effective. Expansion of progenitor cells from cord blood for transplantation is also being explored.

Histiocytic Disorders

The division has a comprehensive program of consultation and care for treatment of patients with Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH) and other forms of histiocytosis. In addition, research is being directed toward the development of antibody-targeted approaches for diagnosis and treatment of patients with LCH.

Hodgkin Disease

Recognized as national experts in treating Hodgkin disease with chemotherapy and radiotherapy, Johns Hopkins places emphasis on long-term survivors and late effects of treatment. Investigators at Johns Hopkins are leading the national Children’s Oncology Group trial testing immunomodulation after bone marrow transplantation inpatients with Hodgkin disease. Additional research involves the immunologic responses to EBV antigens in HD patients and investigations of the Biology of this disease.

Immunology of Cancer

Researchers are developing molecular/immunologic detection of cancer cells and prognostic features. Vaccination approaches for leukemia, lymphomas, and solid tumors are actively being developed and tested.

Late Effects and Survivorship

The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Hopkins operates a long-term childhood cancer survivors follow-up program as a multidisciplinary regional resource. Research studies in long-term effects of cytotoxic effects are ongoing. Specific emphasis includes cardiac function in survivors of Hodgkin’s disease, mechanisms of fatigue in long-term survivors, neuro-cognitive effects of ALL therapy, and design of follow-up programs for adult survivors of childhood cancers.  A comprehensive survivorship program that spans pediatric and adult age groups is being developed.

Leukemia

The first studies on the use of timed sequential therapy for the treatment of patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) took place at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and set the foundation for the current clinical trials using this approach. Members of the Division have been instrumental in the discovery of genes involved in the regulation of growth, programmed cell death, and drug resistance of leukemia cells. This work has contributed to the development of several novel treatment approaches including antibody directed targeting, novel approaches to differentiation therapy, and vaccination approaches for patients with AML. Novel clinical trials using discoveries made by Johns Hopkins investigators are being tested in patients with highly resistant leukemia.

Neuro-Oncology

Pediatric brain tumors are the group of tumors with the highest mortality rate of any tumors as a group in children.  Johns Hopkins has pioneered many upfront approaches to the most deadly brain tumors, which has been widely adopted by other cancer facilities and in cooperative group settings. Combined modality approaches using surgery, chemotherapy, and irradiation have greatly reduced relapses for many types of solid tumors, including brain tumors.

Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Vaccine development for the treatment of EBV- (Epstein-Barr Virus) related lymphoma is a major focus of the center. In addition, the use of autologous transplantation and non-myeloablative transplant approaches are being tested.

Chemotherapy Resistant Cancers

Investigators are developing new treatment strategies to overcome resistant cancers through the identification of specific mechanisms that lead to resistance to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Phase I and II trials testing new approaches are available.

Statistics

Percent of children treated in each age range

Pediatric Oncology Program Fiscal Year 2005

Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
Genetic Counseling and Testing Service

The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins operates a Cancer Risk Assessment Program. The program is composed of three clinics: the Breast and Ovarian Surveillance Service, the Colon Cancer Risk Assessment Service, and the Familial Cancer Service. The Familial Cancer Service is available to address familial forms of cancer and concerns not related to breast, ovarian, or colon cancer. The multidisciplinary consultation service provides genetic counseling and risk assessment to cancer patients, their families, and high-risk individuals. The Cancer Risk Assessment team includes individuals trained in oncology, gastroenterology, genetics, epidemiology, genetic counseling, psychology, and nursing.

The Sidney Kimmel Oncology Center provides a full range of genetic counseling, testing, screening, and research. The following sets out the components of the comprehensive genetic testing program:

Intake Process

Testing

Post-Test Counseling and Follow-Up

Research

Other Components of Genetic Services

Last updated: 2/20/2008