The CHRISTUS Stehlin Foundation has earned an international reputation for its pioneering treatment and research programs in the fight against cancer. Since 1970, we have witnessed not only life-saving treatments and research for patients with cancer, but the emergence of a unique working philosophy that has set our team apart from other cancer centers in the world. During the past 31 years, we have pioneered some notable firsts which have established our reputation internationally as a premier cancer research and treatment facility. Some of the accomplishments include:

TRIPARTNERSHIP
The concept of tripartnership is simple: a three-part approach teaming the patient, the physician and the research scientist in their shared fight against cancer. Neither is ever isolated from the other, and within this unique commitment, the intrinsic dignity of the patient remains supreme.

PARTIAL MASTECTOMY FOR BREAST CANCER
Stehlin Foundation surgeons in 1970 were among the first in North America to recommend breast conserving treatment on selected cancer patients with a combination of partial mastectomy (lumpectomy) followed by radiotherapy. Our 25 year study of breast cancer patients showed the less radical procedure offered equal survival rates, without the mutilation and severe psychological consequences of breast removal. By 1990, the National Cancer Institute recognized the modified procedure as “the treatment of choice” for selected patients with breast cancer.

RESEARCH LIMITED TO INVESTIGATIONS WITH HUMAN CANCERS
Unlike the vast majority of cancer research conducted on tumors arising in laboratory animals, all laboratory work of the CHRISTUS Stehlin Foundation is conducted on cancers removed from patients. To our knowledge, we are the only research laboratory in the world limiting its investigations to human cancers.The express purpose of our laboratory is to conduct research which can be applied directly to improving the treatment of the patient with cancer.

DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF THE NUDE MOUSE
The CHRISTUS Stehlin Foundation pioneered the development and use of the nude mouse in cancer research, establishing that if an anticancer drug works against a human tumor implanted in the nude mouse, the majority of the time the drug will also be effective in treating the patient from whom the tumor was removed.
As a result of our successful work over a period of more than 26 years, the nude mouse now represents the final non-human studies required by the National Cancer Institute for determining the effectiveness of potential anticancer agents. Many scientists around the world consider the nude mouse one of the 20th century’s most significant breakthroughs in cancer research.

EFFECTS OF HEAT ON CANCER
Foundation researchers were the first to demonstrate the selective sensitivity of cancer cells to heat. Our initial work was published in 1973. As a result of this research, numerous institutions throughout the world are now investigating the effects of heat on cancer.

HYPERTHERMIC PERFUSION
Our physicians were the first to combine heat and chemotherapy (hyperthermic perfusion) for the treatment of patients with advanced melanomas of the arms and legs, essentially eliminating the need for amputation and dramatically improving survival rates by 300%. The entire issue of the June 1988 Houston Medical Journal was devoted to our research and clinical work with malignant melanomas. Over 3500 patients with various skin cancers have been seen by our physicians.

PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS
The CHRISTUS Stehlin Foundation was among the first to recognize the importance of addressing the psychological needs of cancer patients, establishing the “Living Room” in 1980 on our 42-bed oncology unit at St. Joseph Hospital as a meeting place for hope, faith, laughter and love. Here, patients in a homelike setting can see family and friends, read, watch television, and generally find relief from the hospital atmosphere. The “Living Room” quickly became a prototype for cancer treatment centers around the world.

LIVER CANCER STUDIES
The CHRISTUS Stehlin Foundation conducted one of the largest studies of liver cancer ever reported by a single institution in the medical literature. The study, published in The Annals of Surgery in 1988, involved 414 of our patients.

REGIONAL INTRA-ARTERIAL CHEMOTHERAPY
Our physicians were the leaders in the development of regional intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy, in which large concentrations of anticancer drugs can be delivered directly to specific organs or areas of the body affected by cancer.

EDUCATION
Since 1980, our award-winning Educational Scholarship Program has provided opportunities for outstanding high school and college students who want to pursue careers in science or medicine to work in the research laboratory, observe human surgery and make rounds with physicians.
The students not only gain invaluable hands-on experience in the research and medical arenas, but are also paid by the Foundation for their work, with the understanding that these funds are earmarked to defray their educational expenses.
Our scientists and physicians share regularly their innovative research discoveries and treatment methods through more than 500 articles in top national and international scientific publications.

CAMPTOTHECIN
The CHRISTUS Stehlin Foundation for Cancer Research is recognized as one of the international leaders in the development and clinical (human) studies of a new family of anticancer drugs, the Camptothecins. 9-NitroCamptothecin, developed at our research facility, is now in clinical trials at approximately 150 cancer institutions across the United States. The drug has generated much excitement in the medical community.
We are firmly convinced that the Camptothecin family of drugs holds great promise in cancer chemotherapy. The New York Academy of Sciences wrote, “The plant product, camptothecin and its derivatives, are rapidly establishing themselves as the most promising group of new anticancer drugs. Compared to other anticancer drugs at similar stages of development, camptothecins have demonstrated a much higher anticancer activity. Camptothecins can be envisioned as the ultimate anticancer drugs when fully developed.”