Princess Margaret Cancer Centre

The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, previously called Princess Margaret Hospital, is a scientific research centre and a teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, affiliated with the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine as part of the University Health Network. The hospital now stands as the largest cancer centre in Canada [1] and one of the five largest cancer centres in the world.[2] Along with the Odette Cancer Centre, which is also associated with University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine and is independently the sixth largest cancer centre in North America, it forms one of the largest cluster of cancer hospitals in the world.[3]

Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
University Health Network
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre with banner from The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation's Billion Dollar Challenge
Geography
LocationDowntown Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Organization
Care systemMedicare
TypeSpecialist
Affiliated universityUniversity of Toronto
Faculty of Medicine
PatronAnne, Princess Royal
Services
Emergency departmentNo
Beds220
SpecialityOncology
History
Opened1952
Links
Websitewww.uhn.ca/PrincessMargaret

The hospital is situated near the intersection of University Avenue and College Street within the Discovery District of downtown Toronto, an area with high concentration of biomedical research institutions. Named for Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, the hospital is under the royal patronage of Anne, Princess Royal.

The hospital specializes in the treatment of cancer, and offers the majority of its services to residents of the Greater Toronto Area. It frequently hosts patients from other parts of Canada for access to a high calibre of treatment.. In particular, the hospital offers expertise in the fields of surgical oncology, medical oncology, hematology including bone marrow transplantation, radiation oncology, psychosocial oncology, medical imaging, and radiation therapy.

The hospital houses one of the largest radiation therapy departments in the world. It has 17 radiation treatment machines, all of which are equipped with the latest technologies including IMRT and VMAT, a superficial orthovoltage machine, and operates a Gamma Knife (Perfexion) stereotactic radiosurgery machine in collaboration with Toronto Western Hospital.

Education

As a teaching hospital of the University of Toronto, the hospital provides world class training to various medical professions. Most notable are clinical programs for medical doctors (medical and radiation oncologists) and radiation therapists.

Research

Its related research arm, the Ontario Cancer Institute (OCI), has made world-renowned contributions, and works in conjunction with the hospital in a mutually beneficial relationship. Many researchers at the OCI hold appointments at the University of Toronto, often within the Department of Medical Biophysics. The Princess Margaret's research program ranked fourth in terms of the percentage of publications cited in high-impact oncology journals.[2]

History

The hospital was founded as the Ontario Cancer Institute in 1952 by an Act of the Ontario legislature. Designed by the architect Henry Sproatt, it was originally located at 500 Sherbourne Street (now a condo complex) near the former Wellesley Hospital.

During health restructuring legislated by the Harris Government in the late 1990s Princess Margaret Hospital merged with what was then named The Toronto Hospital, which was the entity formed by the previous merger of the Toronto General Hospital and the Toronto Western Hospital, and the new combined organization was named University Health Network (UHN) with the three separate hospitals maintaining their own identities within the new hospital corporation.

The Journey to Conquer Cancer Run or Walk Event

The 7th annual Journey to Conquer Cancer Run or Walk which is organized by the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation raised $1.7M for charity in 2019 (over $10M since its inception) and takes place annually in May and June with locations in Toronto, Mississauga and Vaughan and offers 5 km, 3 km and 1 km options routed by The Princess Margaret. This event offers teams and individuals the opportunity to raise funds in support of any area of cancer research, clinic, lab or patient care program at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.

Additional images
  • Princess Margaret as seen from the southwest at sunset.
  • The Princess Margaret as seen from the northeast. Mount Sinai Hospital is to the south.

See also

References
  1. International Innovation. "World Leads in the Fight Against Cancer". Web page. pp. 14–15. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
  2. "Scale". The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2017-02-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

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