December 21, 2005                                                                                           Contact: Donna Breckenridge
For Immediate Release                                                                                                               520-626-2277

Arizona Cancer Center signs binational agreement with the University of Sonora

The Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson, Arizona, and the University of Sonora (Unison) in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, recently signed a formal collaborative agreement for future cancer research and education projects.
 
The Cancer Center and Unison already have a joint effort under way, researching cancer risk related to arsenic exposure through a supplement to the Center’s National Cancer Institute-funded GI SPORE grant. The two institutions currently are establishing additional research collaborations in breast and gastric cancers.
 
On December 5-6, 2005, a team of eight members of the Arizona Cancer Center visited Hermosillo, Sonora, to attend the Sonora-Arizona Binational Meeting on Cancer Research, where they formally established the collaboration. The team included Arizona Cancer Center Director David S. Alberts, M.D., and Elena Martínez, Ph.D., co-director for the Center’s Cancer Prevention and Control Program, who coordinated the meeting.
 
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Dr. Alberts; Dr. Pedro Ortega Romero, president of Unison; and Dr. Raymundo Lopez Vucovich, secretary of public health for the state of Sonora.
 
A working meeting, including presentations by investigators from the Cancer Center, Unison, and the office of the secretary of health for Sonora, followed the official signing. Participants identified further areas for collaboration, with the establishment of a cancer registry for Sonora as a top priority. Representatives from the Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora and the Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarollo were also present.
 
The second day of the visit was spent touring the Hospital Oncológico del Estado de Sonora, where additional potential collaborations related specifically to this hospital were discussed.  
 
“I am very excited about this tremendous opportunity for the Arizona Cancer Center,” said Dr. Martínez. “I’m particularly grateful to Dr. Alberts for supporting this effort. I am confident that this agreement will lead to very productive collaborations that will benefit institutions on both sides of the border.”
 
The Arizona Cancer Center is the state’s first National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. With primary locations at the University of Arizona in Tucson and the Virginia Piper Cancer Center in Scottsdale, the Center has more than a dozen research and education offices distributed throughout the state. The Center’s mission is to prevent and cure cancer through patient care, research and education. For more information, go to www.azcc.arizona.edu <http://www.azcc.arizona.edu> .