The rededication of the nearly decade-old Tony Teramana Cancer Center in Steubenville says a number of statements about the community and the services available.

There is first-class, cutting edge cancer care available in the Steubenville-Weirton area. No longer do local patients need to take on the trip to Pittsburgh, which can be a burden on families and wearying for patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

The community manages to find a way to support the necessary elements that make the area the kind of place that is a joy in which to reside. While there is nothing joyous about cancer, there is a joy in that, despite economic times that have been tough for decades, the region has found it in its heart and in its wallets to give to support first the establishment of the cancer center in 2000 and its expansion in 2009.

The addition of a second linear accelerator tied in with computer-guided imaging systems means patients can have radiation treatments that are less damaging to healthy tissue, which means less side effects from the treatment. The doubling of the number of chemotherapy bays means more patients can receive treatment.

The president of Trinity Health System, Fred Brower, put it aptly during the rededication ceremony Wednesday when he said it wouldn't matter if all the cutting-edge equipment and services were available in a barn without the great staff, from the doctors to the receptionists, from the radiology technicians to the maintenance workers. Time and again, the Tony Teramana Cancer Center scores high on patient satisfaction surveys.

Time and again families and patients comment about the special qualities shown by the workers at the center, in their ability to be compassionate and understanding while delivering the kinds of treatment that used to be available only in major cities with major university teaching hospitals.

The planners on the staff, the construction crews and the designers all worked together with the staff to ensure the center remained a clean place ready to treat all of its scheduled patients during 10 months of heavy construction.

A special salute is due to those who made sure the extra steps were taken to keep the center's lifesaving work in high gear while building and reconstruction took place.

The center remains a unique place, tying together in a single team the usually competing UPMC and West Penn/Allegheny Health System physicians and researchers. The result is that patients benefit in the Teramana center from the resources brought by two of the world's leading cancer fighting and research hospitals.

The need is great. The doctors and officials at Trinity don't like to say it, but we will. The three-county area is among the nation's leaders in prevalence of certain kinds of cancer.

Thus it is fitting that the area also is a leader in the front-line application of the latest in technology and science, with compassion, in fighting cancer.

We salute those who work at the Tony Teramana Cancer Center and those who have supported it or pledged to provide monetary support. Because of those efforts, the area can count itself among the medical leaders in the United States when it comes to the battle against cancer.