The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC) is currently in its 29th year as an NCI-designated CCC and is now requesting continued federal support for the next five years. The OSUCCC named its 4th Director, Michael A. Caligiuri, M.D. in July, 2003 while retaining the former Center Director, Clara D. Bloomfield, M.D., as a Senior Advisor to the OSUCCC. The overall goal remains to reduce cancer morbidity and mortality through continued basic, translational and clinical research. The 183 OSUCCC members are currently served by 13 shared resources and are distributed among 6 Research Programs: Cancer Control, Experimental Therapeutics, Immunology, Molecular Biology and Cancer Genetics, Molecular Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention and Viral Oncogenesis. Since the last competitive renewal, the OSUCCC has shown significant growth as demonstrated by: 1) the recruitment of more than 90 new cancer research faculty to OSU;2) more than a 230% increase in patient accrual to investigator-initiated trials;3) the addition of 6 new shared resources at an institutional investment of over $10.8 M;4) a 144% increase in total NCI funding and a 65% increase in peer-reviewed funding. The OSUCCC has also seen tremendous growth in institutional commitment since 1999 as demonstrated by: 1) a new formal role for the OSUCCC Director within OSU, providing complete oversight of the University-wide cancer funding initiatives, opportunities and cancer grant submissions;2) A seat on the eight-member Medical Center Executive Committee which meets every week with the Senior VP of Health Sciences to plan and evaluate the entire Health System's direction (cancer is the only discipline represented on this Committee);3) a written commitment for the expansion of the Cancer Program facilities that will result in more than a four-fold increase over the current square footage under control of the OSUCCC Director at a cost of approximately $350 M;4) interim laboratory and office space for recruitment until the new facility is constructed;5) an additional $7.0 M of cash annually from OSU for research and infrastructure expansion;and 6) twenty senior faculty slots under the control of the OSUCCC Director, each provided with $100,000 of guaranteed salary in perpetuity. With these new resource commitments in place, the OSUCCC is poised for significant growth and expansion in the next 5 years.