The University of Hawaii Cancer Center has won renewal of its National Cancer Institute designation as well as a $6 million grant to support its research, putting to rest concerns that previously had dogged the center.

The coveted distinction places UH among the top cancer centers in the country. Just 70 of the nation’s 1,000 cancer centers receive NCI designation.

Dr. Randall Holcombe, who took over as director of the cancer center in October 2016, said the NCI designation is critically important.

“It recognizes excellence in research, and it also allows us to recruit some of the very best scientists to Hawaii,” he said. “For Hawaii this means that our family and friends have access to cutting-edge cancer treatments and the highest quality of cancer care.”

The UH facility has been an NCI-designated center since 1996 and has never lost that honor. But a few years ago major budget shortfalls and leadership turmoil prompted speculation that its renewal could be in jeopardy.

The three-year Cancer Center Support Grant that came with renewed NCI designation helps cover equipment and research infrastructure, including clinical trials for patients with cancer and at risk for cancer. The center has made significant advances in understanding the molecular basis for cancer and is assessing cancer risks and prevention in diverse populations.

“The UH Cancer Center keeps treatment in reach for many people in our state,” said U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz. “It is also the only institution in the country researching cancer health disparities in the Native Hawaiian and Asian American communities.”

Official notification of renewal was received late Monday. The Cancer Center’s NCI designation was last renewed in 2012. Typically, renewals are every three to five years, but the center had received an extension.

The center has reorganized to focus on its core mission, which is to reduce the burden of cancer for people in Hawaii and the Pacific. It has a balanced budget this fiscal year. Previously, its budget deficit had run as high as $5 million annually after a key source of revenue, the cigarette tax, dropped dramatically along with the number of smokers.

“We have corrected that deficit with the assistance of the university and the governor’s office, and we are also working very hard to be fiscally responsible for all of the funding that we do get from various sources,” said Holcombe, who formerly was chief medical officer for cancer at Mount Sinai Health System in New York.

In addition to providing education and new treatment options for people in Hawaii, the cancer center plays an important role nationally in clinical trials because of the state’s ethnically diverse population.

“Across the country, 95 percent of people who participate in cancer clinical trials are white,” Holcombe said. “It’s critically important that our population participates so that we make sure that the results are generalizable to different races and ethnicities.”

A major international study of breast cancer treatment, published last month, included 172 Hawaii patients through the UH center’s clinical trials network among its 10,273 participants. It showed that many women with early-stage breast cancer can safely avoid chemotherapy in favor of hormone therapy. Dr. Jeffrey Berenberg of the UH Cancer Center was a co-author.

“That clinical trial has now changed the standard of care,” Holcombe said. “It’s a great success story.”