Located on the UC Irvine Medical Center campus, the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center is affiliated with the School of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine. As a university facility, the cancer center offers the expertise of a scientific community that is internationally renowned for its work in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Patient Care
Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, Orange County's only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, is committed to providing the most comprehensive patient care possible with its world-class multidisciplinary team. By combining the efforts of researchers, surgeons, radiation oncologists, medical oncologists, pathologists, nurses, rehabilitation therapists, pharmacists, social workers and dietitians, the cancer center addresses the disease on all levels.

Education
The quest for knowledge is integral to Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center activities include training and educational programs for both basic and clinical faculty, staff, fellows, residents and students. Continuing medical education courses provide practicing physicians from the local community and beyond with information about the latest research and treatments. The cancer center also hosts the annual Allen and Lee-Hwa Chao Lectureship, which draws notable researchers to discuss their work.

Research
One of the major challenges facing cancer doctors is translating the findings of basic research into treatments that can benefit patients. From basic science research to clinical trials, Chao Family Comprehensive Center is fostering bench-to-bedside research. Funding for research at the cancer center comes from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the National Institute of Health (NIH) and other public agencies, in addition to a variety of private sources.

Prevention 
Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center is on the forefront of not only treating cancer, but also preventing it. Our clinical research focuses on colon, liver, oral, pancreatic and prostate cancer prevention, in both Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials.
The cancer center is one of only six institutes in the country chosen by the NCI to lead a chemoprevention consortium. This novel approach aims to accelerate the development of safe and effective cancer-prevention drugs through active collaboration across a network of research institutions.

History of Excellence
In 1994, Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center became an NCI-designated cancer center. To win this coveted designation, a center must conduct clinical and basic population science research, among other criteria. Three years later, the cancer center became Orange County's only facility to earn an even more definitive mark of excellence—NCI designation as a comprehensive cancer center.

UC Irvine also is one of only eight institutions nationwide to be named part of the NCI's Cancer Genetics Network to examine the complex interactions between genes and cancer. UC Irvine is responsible for handling information on cancer cases diagnosed or treated in Orange, San Diego and Imperial counties.