Carle Foundation Hospital will break ground on the 60,000 square-foot Mills Breast Cancer Institute fall 2006. The institute will open in spring 2008.

The Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board approved the project on Jan. 23.

The Institute will house both medical professionals and University researchers working to find better prevention, treatment and detection methods of cancer. Carle Clinic Association will provide Oncology, surgery, diagnostics, mammography, stereo tactic biopsies, chemotherapy and social services.

An estimated $31,000,000 will be needed for the construction. Doug and Linda Mills contributed $10,000,000, and $100,000 was raised through a federal grant will also help the costs of construction.

There are many advancements and discoveries that can be made through opening the new facility, said Cathy Emanuel, vice president of business development and strategies for Carle.

“(The institute) will allow us to invest more research focusing specifically on breast cancer,” Emanuel said. “The outcome of this research will change the care and service for our patients.”

The benefits of the Institute will be widespread, said Robert Driver, vice president of funding development.

“I think it will affect a very large swath of Illinois and perhaps others who will want to come to this institute because it is the amalgam of all diagnostic patient care and treatment modalities that affect breast cancer patients,” Driver said.

Mills Breast Cancer Institute will be the future home for continuing the work of 170 current clinical trials.

“We are looking forward to working with the University researchers,” Emanuel said. “All the possibilities with working with the faculty at the University of Illinois are endless.”

One University researcher Benita Katzenellenbogen, Swanlund professor of physiology and cell biology and a professor at the Center of Advanced Study, will continue her work at the Institute.

Katzenellenbogen currently conducts research working with oncologists at Carle. They are looking at the genomes of tumors and identifying the effective treatments for corresponding gene patterns.

“The idea of the research is to assess enough tumors so that we can discern patterns of gene expression that will be predictive for individuals who are most likely to respond to endocrine treatments,” she said. “We hope this aides in identifying the most optimal treatments for patients.”

Katzenellenbogen emphasized improved collaboration and communication resulting from the all-inclusive building.

“It will greatly increase opportunities for valuable research collaboration between (the University) and cancer doctors at Carle,” she said. “We can then translate advances from the lab desk in a sense to the bedside so that the findings not only are of scientific interest but also will be of medical benefit.”

The Institute creates opportunities to better enhance treatment, education and research, Katzenellenbogen said.

“The Mills Breast Cancer Institute will enable the recruitment of outstanding cancer clinicians and MDs in sciences,” Katzenellenbogen said. “The Breast Cancer Institute will provide space and additional support for breast cancer research.”

The breast cancer rates in Illinois and in Champaign County are above the averages, Emanuel said.

“The number of breast cancer deaths in Illinois is one of the top five in the country,” Emanuel said. “The incidents of breast cancer are higher in Champaign County than on average in Illinois. Women over the age of 40 of surrounding Champaign counties on average receive mammograms at a lesser rate than the average in Illinois.”

Driver emphasized the importance of the Mills Breast Cancer Institute in Champaign County.

“We need to have this here and it makes sense to bring together all of these services,” Driver said. “The foundation and the clinic are excited about what this means for our future. The potential is phenomenal.”