The University of Hawaii Cancer Center and The Queen’s Health Systems are teaming up to provide cutting-edge, comprehensive cancer care to residents under one roof.

The two institutions signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop oncology clinic space at the Cancer Center’s facilities at the UH John A. Burns School of Medicine campus in Kakaako.

“As a member of the Hawaii Cancer Consortium, The Queen’s Health Systems has always been one of the state’s most powerful allies in the fight against cancer,” said UH Cancer Center Director Dr. Naoto Ueno in a statement. “This agreement builds on our mutually beneficial collaboration as we continue to save lives, and help ensure patients in Hawaii and the U.S-affiliated Pacific Islands can continue to benefit from cancer research that yields better preventive care, earlier detection of different types of cancer among different ethnicities, and improved treatment options for cancer patients.”

Queen’s will lease and build out the third and fourth floors of the center’s Ewa wing to offer medical oncology, surgical oncology and chemotherapy infusion services.

UH has already been building out the first and second floors for Hawaii’s first early-phase clinical research center. Construction of Ho‘ola Opens in a new tab, which means healing, is expected to be done by the end of the year.

Ueno said the collaboration will offer Hawaii patients the best standard of multidisciplinary care along with access to early-phase clinical trials without having to fly out of state, which is the center’s goal.

“We have a lot of good clinicians here and we really want to have this sense that everybody can stay on the island,” he said. “You don’t have to go to the continent — that’s the ultimate goal. We want to save lives in Hawaii and the Pacific.”

Darlena Chadwick, executive vice president and chief operating officer of The Queen’s Health Systems, said the move into the UH Cancer Center will expand services in high demand.

“We were really looking at how we serve our community and our patients better, and having everything in that location would be ideal for our patients,” Chadwick said. “They could see their medical oncologist, their surgical oncologist, they could get their infusion treatment, and then if they’re enrolled in a clinical trial or an early phase trial, they can go right downstairs.”

Cancer care services will still be available at individual Queen’s campuses, she said, but the additional clinic at the UH Cancer Center will help minimize the time between diagnosis to treatment for patients, particularly with numerous wait lists.

Queen’s is also expanding its cancer program in West Oahu to accommodate more patients.

In Hawaii, an average of about 7,400 residents are diagnosed with invasive cancer yearly and about 2,400 die from cancer every year. Hawaii is home to more than 65,000 cancer survivors.

Among women, breast cancer remains the most frequently diagnosed cancer in Hawaii. Among men, prostate is the most common cancer. Lung cancer is still the leading cause of cancer deaths among both men and women.

Last fall, the UH Cancer Center renewed its federal five-year designation from the National Cancer Institute, maintaining its position among the top 4% of cancer centers in the U.S.

The designation reflects the center’s ongoing commitment to rigorous state-of-the-art research, along with care standards focusing on Hawaii’s uniquely diverse population, including Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders and Filipinos.

Ho‘ola is a collaborative project with the Hawai‘i Cancer Consortium, which includes partners such as Queen’s and Hawaii Pacific Health. The consortium will work with University Health Partners of Hawaii to make early-phase clinical trial treatments available to residents.

Queen’s does not yet have an estimated cost of construction or timeline for when its UH Cancer Center clinics will be completed, but it will be several years out.

The Queen’s Medical Center has been accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, meaning patients have access to comprehensive care, including a range of state-of-the-art services and equipment.