Roswell Park Earns NCI Designation As Center Of Quantitative Imaging Excellence

BUFFALO, NY — Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center has been named by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as a Center of Quantitative Imaging Excellence. The designation follows Roswell Park's completion of a rigorous qualification program, coordinated by the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) and the American College of Radiology (ACR), that was designed to develop a resource of “trial-ready” sites that can conduct clinical trials using standardized imaging protocols.

Quantitative imaging exploits the information available from advanced imaging technologies by measuring key physiological indicators that can aid in the diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of diseases such as cancer. The Center of Quantitative Imaging Excellence (CQIE) program, available for implementation in the 59 NCI-designated cancer centers, is a collaborative effort developed jointly by ACRIN, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, the Radiological Society of North America, the Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers Alliance and the Society of Nuclear Medicine.

The CQIE program is designed to guide therapy and disease monitoring and to reduce variability in the performance of brain- and body-imaging procedures used to detect tumors early. As part of the qualification process, Roswell Park staff submitted test images, developed a standardized set of quality-control measures and completed a variety of learning modules. Following the initial qualification assessments, centers must earn requalification annually to maintain the designation.

“Technology has changed the tools of the radiology field at a stunning pace, and to accommodate this shift imaging professionals have had to develop new, highly refined skill sets,” said Zachary Grossman, MD, FACR, Chair of Diagnostic Radiology & Nuclear Medicine and a Professor in the Department of Diagnostic Radiology at Roswell Park. “It’s very important that, as an industry and particularly within the oncology field, we share our best practices in a mutual exchange with other nationally recognized programs, and the CQIE program is a great platform for doing just that.”

The mission of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is to understand, prevent and cure cancer. Roswell Park, founded in 1898, was one of the first cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and remains the only facility with this designation in Upstate New York. The Institute is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers; maintains affiliate sites; and is a partner in national and international collaborative programs. For more information, visit Roswell Park’s website at http://www.roswellpark.org, call 1-800-ROSWELL (1-800-767-9355) or email AskRoswell@Roswellpark.org.

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Annie Deck-Miller, Senior Media Relations Manager
716-845-8593; annie.deck-miller@roswellpark.org