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The New Mexico Cancer Care Alliance (NMCCA) is a 501(c)(3) science and education charitable organization.  Our mission is to provide local access to the most up-to-date cancer research for both physicians and patients. 

Helping to Enhance Research in Oncology^SM

(The HERO Program)

NMCCA's HERO Program provides access to the latest information on cancer research for the public and for medical professionals.  Through our HERO Education Outreach Program, we bring nationally-known speakers to Albuquerque and provide local experts to inform people about the latest developments in cancer research and treatment.  Our community newsletter concentrates on one cancer disease site per issue in addition to providing information about NMCCA s recent efforts.

HERO Recognition Breakfast

Once each year, NMCCA honors those brave individuals who display personal courage and offer hope to future cancer patients, our

heroes--the participants in NMCCA cancer research studies.

NMCCA Board of Directors

NMCCA is pleased to have on our board many prominent cancer physicians and administrators of the major healthcare institutions in Albuquerque and Santa Fe.  For a full list of the members of the Board of Directors and their professional affiliations, click below.

NMCCA is a network of the healthcare institutions and approximately 93 cancer treatment physicians in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Cruces, New Mexico and is in the process of expanding throughout the state.  Many Alliance physicians treat patients from throughout the state of New Mexico.

The physicians come from both private practice and these major healthcare systems. 

Lovelace through

      Lovelace Medical Center Downtown

      Lovelace Westside Medical Center

      Lovelace Women's Hospital

New Mexico Veterans Affairs Medical Center

      Presbyterian Hospital

      Presbyterian Baseman Hospital

      Presbyterian Medical Group

Our Goals

1. Make it easier for cancer patients to participate in a clinical trial
   Click here for information about clinical trials.  To see a list of available clinical trials, click here.
   A local clinical trial allows patients to remain in their home and community as much as possible while receiving care from a physician they know. Additionally, their family, friends and loved ones are nearby. Having a support group nearby during treatment greatly benefits patients.
2. Increase the quality of cancer care in New Mexico
   Clinical research studies (also known as clinical trials) are medical research studies involving people. Cancer clinical research studies test experimental drugs, new combinations of treatments, new approaches to surgery or radiation, or other previously untried methods for treating cancer. A clinical trial has the potential to increase the quality of care patients receive in the long term because it makes medical research more accurate and in the short term because the patient's treatment is followed closely by the cancer research staff.
3. Ensure access for all New Mexicans to the best cancer therapies offered through clinical research studies.

• There are many reasons, economic and emotional, that patients do not participate in clinical research studies.  One possibility is that some patients may not be aware of the level of care, including clinical trials, available in New Mexico. These patients may believe they must look for treatment at cancer centers elsewhere in the US and may decide not to participate in a cancer clinical trial because traveling outside the state for treatment is too costly.
• Having clinical research studies available locally can reassure a patient that they can manage the costs and their support system will remain nearby during their treatment.

Our Strategies

1. Provide the structure needed to make participating in a clinical research study easier for New Mexico cancer patients.
   NMCCA will work with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and private organizations to bring clinical trials to the state. NCI-sponsored studies, in particular, usually provide physicians with greater access to new, experimental anti-cancer agents. Through NMCCA, community specialists can receive access to these agents, enroll patients in clinical studies and treat them according to research protocols in their own New Mexico-based practices.
   
2.  Provide public education on medical issues for cancer

For patients

NMCCA sponsors its own and co-sponsors with other local organizations educational events to help patients understand and participate in the management of their disease. Co-sponsoring events allows us to provide timely and informative workshops and seminars for patients to learn about the latest cancer treatments. 

Examples

• In February 2007, NMCCA co-sponsored the Pink Shawl Program luncheon, health fair and Powwow to bring breast health information to Native Americans in a traditional manner.
• In April 2007, NMCCA co-sponsored Paving the Way with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to provide basic information about what a clinical research study is and is not and how research studies have tailored treatments for blood cancers.
• NMCCA is a member of the Albuquerque Cancer Coalition, a group of 25 cancer support and treatment organizations dedicated to informing the community about available resources, to educating and advocating for patients, to meet the needs of cancer patients and their families.To visit the ACC web site, please click here.
• Finally, this web site, tailored to New Mexicans, provides links to local and national cancer organizations, the ACC web site and includes a community calendar of events.

  View our Calendar of Events.

For medical professionals

NMCCA Professional Education Outreach Program provides educational seminars for NM cancer specialists and their staff. These seminars, frequently offering continuing education credits, feature speakers who are national experts on current developments in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of various types of cancer. Medical professionals will learn new standard-of-care developments and be better able to adhere to the best clinical practices when caring for patients, thus improving the quality of care.

Research Cures Cancer!

NMCCA firmly believes that the knowledge gained through current cancer research studies will someday provide the answers that will allow physicians to prolong remission, improve the quality of a patient's life and even find a cure for some cancers. 

To all those who are HEROs and taking part in clinical research studies today and in the future...

Thank you!