Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada has cut the ribbon on its new flagship clinic in the Las Vegas Medical District, giving downtown patients on-site PET/CT imaging, genetic counseling and access to clinical trials without trekking across the valley. Staff, clinicians and city leaders turned out Thursday for the opening, as the center begins seeing patients in what officials hope will become a major medical hub.
Ribbon Cutting in the Medical District
The grand opening and tours were covered by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which shared video of staff and local officials walking through the new space and spotlighting its services. According to that report, speakers stressed how having infusion, imaging and clinical trial matching under the same roof, just steps from the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV, is meant to streamline care for patients already juggling appointments and treatments.
New Research Partnership
Comprehensive announced on May 8 that it is teaming up with the Sarah Cannon Research Institute to grow community-based clinical trials in Southern Nevada, according to a press release from Comprehensive Cancer Centers. “Our collaboration with Sarah Cannon Research Institute represents a meaningful step forward,” Lisa Santwer, the practice’s executive director, said in the release. The Sarah Cannon Research Institute notes that it has conducted more than 900 first-in-human clinical trials and operates a national network of research sites, a scale partners say will shape what is available to local patients.
Center Size and Local Ties
The downtown clinic sits inside the Molasky Corporate Center and was previously described as a roughly 15,000-square-foot flagship location. As reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the site was expected to deepen connections with nearby hospitals and to host rotating medical and nursing students from regional training programs, tying the facility into the district’s education pipeline.
Services and Trials on Site
Comprehensive’s Las Vegas Medical District page lists medical oncology, infusion services, diagnostic PET/CT and genetic counseling among the offerings at the new center, and notes that the practice participates in more than 170 Phase I–III clinical trials each year. Comprehensive Cancer Centers also reports that its research programs have contributed to the development of more than 100 FDA-approved cancer therapies.
Why It Matters
Clinicians and patient advocates say putting this level of care in the heart of the city should trim travel and wait times for many Southern Nevada patients while opening doors to experimental therapies that were previously clustered at larger academic centers. Administrators are framing the flagship clinic as one more step in a broader push to build out specialty care, training and research across the Las Vegas Medical District.
