James Bearden, III, MD, FACP
South Carolina is fortunate to call James Bearden, III, its own. Since 1969, when he graduated from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, Dr. Bearden has dedicated his life to fighting cancer. With its disproportionate rates of breast, prostate and lung cancer, South Carolina has needed his help.
Dr. Bearden has the distinction of being the first board-certified oncologist in the state of South Carolina. A practicing medical oncologist, he is the vice president of Research at Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System and medical director of Gibbs Cancer Center. He was instrumental in helping the Gibbs Cancer Center become one of only ten community hospitals in the country to participate in the National Cancer Institute’s Community Cancer Centers Program. Dr. Bearden is a member of Health Sciences South Carolina’s Policy Steering Committee.
Gibbs Cancer Center Provides Progressive Cancer Treatment
Gibbs Cancer Center is located on Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System’s campus. For 70 years, its mission has been to use innovative cancer treatment and groundbreaking research to bring the highest quality of care to patients. A nationally recognized cancer treatment and research facility, Gibbs Cancer Center is associated with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the Medical University of South Carolina, and the M.D. Anderson Physicians Network. The Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons and the Joint Commission have recognized the Gibbs Cancer Center as offering high quality cancer care.
At the Gibbs Cancer Center, technology and expertise provide some of the most progressive cancer treatment known today. It also is a part of the NCI Community Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP). NCCCP is a three-year pilot program to test the concept of a national network of community cancer centers to expand cancer research and deliver the latest, most advanced cancer care to a greater number of Americans in the communities in which they live.
The pilot program is designed to encourage the collaboration of private-practice medical, surgical, and radiation oncologists, with close links to NCI research and to the network of 63 NCI-designated Cancer Centers principally based at large research universities.
To date, there have been many clinical trials. Each of these experimental studies allows researchers to obtain critical information that will strengthen the ability to treat cancer, and better yet, prevent it.
