Becker's Hospital Review has named "70 Hospitals and Health Systems With Great Oncology Programs." These hospitals are on the cutting edge of cancer treatment, prevention and research, and the Becker's Hospital Review editorial team selected them based on clinical accolades, quality care and contributions to the field of oncology.
These hospitals have been recognized for excellence in this specialty by reputable healthcare rating resources, including U.S. News & World Report, HealthGrades, Thomson Reuters, the National Cancer Institute, the American College of Surgeons and the American Nurses Credentialing Center. They have demonstrated continual innovation in treatments and services, patient-centered care and the achievement of clinical milestones and groundbreaking discoveries.
Note: This list is not an endorsement of included hospitals or associated healthcare providers, and hospitals cannot pay to be included on this list. The following content should be used for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute professional medical advice. Hospitals are presented in alphabetical order.
Atlantic Health Carol G. Simon Cancer Center (Morristown and Summit, N.J.). Atlantic Health System is a major clinical research affiliate of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, which includes 16 hospitals across the state. It is one of the only hospitals in the region to offer the Prostate Navigate Program — a patient-centered, multidisciplinary consultation service that helps patients select their preferred method of prostate cancer treatment. The center has received the American College of Surgeons Outstanding Achievement Award for cancer care, which is awarded to less than 15 percent of hospitals in the country.
Barnes-Jewish Hospital (St. Louis). The Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine was named a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute in 2005. Siteman offers approximately 250 clinical trials for patients, and more than 150 families visit the center's hereditary cancer program each year, which helps people with a family history of cancer assess their risk. In August, Siteman celebrated its 5,000th bone marrow transplant since 1982.
Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine (Houston). The Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine is a consortium made up of Baylor College of Medicine and its three primary teaching hospital affiliates — Ben Taub General Hospital, Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Texas Children's Hospital. It's one of three cancer centers in Texas recognized by the National Cancer Institute. With an office of outreach and disparities, Baylor works to enhance the enrollment of under-represented minorities in clinical trials and to reduce disparities in cancer care.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Boston). The Cancer Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center includes 19 specialty programs in oncology along with eight multidisciplinary clinics that use a team-based approach. It is one of only 34 centers in the country to receive the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. BIDMC's Pier Paolo Pandolfi, MD, PhD, received the 2011 International Award for Cancer Research from the Pezcoller Foundation-American Association of Cancer Research for the advancements he made in cancer genetics.
Carolinas Medical Center (Charlotte, N.C.). The Blumenthal Cancer Center is nationally accredited by the American College of Surgeons and received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer in May. The cancer program of Carolinas Medical Center is now organized within the Levine Cancer Institute, an entity Carolinas Healthcare System formed in 2010 to combine cancer programs across its hospitals. It is headquartered on the Carolinas Medical Center campus, and the facility is expected to open in fall 2012.
Cedars Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles). The Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Cedars Sinai offers multidisciplinary teams, with many of the center's physicians being published authors and prominent researchers in oncology. The center uses disease-specific tumor boards to help patients design their treatment plans. Cedars Sinai includes a 24-hour outpatient cancer center, which sees more than 9,000 patients each year. The center is home to basic and clinical oncology research along with clinical trials. It recently partnered with a research institute in Arizona to offer joint clinical trials for new anti-cancer therapies aimed at molecular cancer targets.
City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center (Duarte, Calif.). City of Hope was founded in 1913 and has performed more than 10,000 bone marrow and stem cell transplants, making it one of the largest such programs in the world. More than 3,000 clinical trials are held at City of Hope at any given time, and roughly 40 percent of patients participate in them — compared with a national average of less than 5 percent. City of Hope is currently the only institution in the world to hold clinical studies with genetically engineered T-cells to recognize glioma, a terminal form of brain cancer.
Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland). With a focus on the patient experience, patients visiting the Taussig Cancer Institute at Cleveland Clinic can participate in support groups, art therapy and even high tea as a pleasant diversion from their rounds of treatment. Taussig is a partner with Case Comprehensive Cancer Center in Cleveland, which is a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. In May, Cleveland Clinic researchers made strides in the first-of-its-kind vaccine to prevent breast cancer, a groundbreaking development in oncology. Enrollment in human trials for that vaccine may begin in 2012.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston). Dana-Farber, which was founded in 1947, collaborates with Brigham and Women's Hospital for oncology services and is a teaching hospital affiliated with Harvard Medical School. It recently opened its Yawkey Center for Cancer Care, a new 14-story facility with 104 exam rooms and 139 infusion chairs — a 30 percent increase from the current capacity on Dana-Farber's main campus. Dana-Farber's clinical reach is quite extensive: It sees more than 300,000 patient visits each year and offers roughly 700 clinical trials. Dana-Farber is a Comprehensive Cancer Center as designated by the National Cancer Institute.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (Lebonon, N.H.). The Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center includes more than 200 oncologists and 135 research investigators and offers at least 100 clinical trials to patients at any one time. Multidisciplinary teams develop treatment plans individually for each of the 31,000 patients that visit Dartmouth for oncology services each year. In October, the center earned a five-year, $6.1 million grant from the National Cancer Institute for research at its breast cancer screening center — one of three such facilities in the nation.
Duke University Hospital (Durham, N.C.). Duke Cancer Institute serves nearly 6,000 new cancer patients each year and has clinical research partnerships in India, China, Singapore and throughout the United States. It is a comprehensive cancer center as designated by the National Cancer Institute and is also part of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, which is comprised of 21 cancer centers across the country. The center is home to more than 300 researchers and oncologists. Duke scientists recently found a protein in breast cancer cells that may fuel aggressive tumors and could make an effective target for new drugs.
Emory University Hospital (Atlanta). Emory's Winship Cancer Institute is the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in the state of Georgia. It was founded in 1937 through a donation from the then-president of Coca-Cola, Robert Woodruff, who lost his mother to cancer that same year. The center takes a multidisciplinary approach to cancer treatment and teams of experts meet every day to plan the most advanced care for patients. In 2011, it partnered with Advance Particle Therapy to develop the Georgia Proton Therapy Center — the state's first proton therapy facility.
Fox Chase Cancer Center (Philadelphia). Fox Chase was founded in 1974 and was designated by the National Cancer Institute as a Comprehensive Cancer Center that same year. In a move reflecting its transparency, Fox Chase recently became one of the first cancer centers in the country to publish its clinical outcomes for breast, colorectal, lung and prostate cancer. In nearly all five categories, the outcomes are better compared to those of large and small community hospital cancer programs. Scientists at Fox Chase have cataloged and cross-indexed the actions of 178 candidate drugs capable of blocking the activity of one or more of 300 enzymes, including enzymes critical for cancer.
Froedtert Hospital (Milwaukee). Froedtert Hospital's Clinical Cancer Center includes more than 200 oncologists, physicians and scientists in 13 disease-specific cancer programs. The center operates under a patient-centered "hub model," where physicians are grouped by the kinds of cancer they treat, not the type of service they provide. It was recognized as a regional leader in cancer care in U.S. News & World Report's 2011 Best Hospitals list. The hospital, which uses tumor boards to develop patient-specific treatment plans, is also part of a cancer care network with two other local hospitals.
Geisinger Cancer Institute (Danville, Pa.). The Geisinger Cancer Institute employs a multidisciplinary and team-based approach to cancer care, providing patients with access to several physicians at once. Geisinger is a National Cancer Institute Community Cancer Centers Program site, of which there are only 30 in the country. These organizations receive funds from NCI to advance cancer care in rural or underserved populations. Geisinger's teams focus on symptom management, and nurse navigators are assigned to patients to help them along the continuum of cancer care. There are roughly 100 Phase I-III clinical trials open to Geisinger patients at any one time, and the institute recently found an advanced radiation treatment that can drastically shorten radiation treatment time for some breast cancer patients.
Georgetown University Medical Center (Washington, D.C.). The Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center was established in 1970 and named after the late football coach Vince Lombardi, who received treatment for colon cancer at Georgetown. As the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Washington, D.C.-area, it recently led a large national study that found screening current or former heavy smokers with a CT scan can reduce deaths from lung cancer by 20 percent.
Hackensack (N.J.) University Medical Center. The John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center has 14 specialized divisions for oncology with teams of experts that treat each specific type of cancer. It currently offers more than 150 clinical trials, both those conducted independently with others held through partnerships and research consortiums. Hackensack's new $130 million cancer facility opened in 2011, featuring generous amounts of natural sunlight and a 24-foot waterfall in the lobby. It also offers extensive patient support services, including free yoga classes to complement chemotherapy and group cooking classes taught by nutritionists.
Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian (Newport Beach, Calif.). Hoag Cancer Institute is the largest cancer program in southern California outside of Los Angeles County. It treats more than 2,200 new cancer patients each year and continues to include some of the most cutting-edge oncology services in the state. For instance, Hoag includes the first breast care center in California and one of only a handful in the country to offer 3-D digital breast tomosynthesis for breast cancer screening.
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia). The Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania has been continuously designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute since 1973. In addition to its physicians, the center is home to more than 400 basic, translational and clinical scientists. In the past decade, the Abramson Cancer Center has made important breakthroughs in stem cell maintenance and the use of MRIs for breast cancer screening. The center has received extensive recognition for its breast cancer program, including recognition by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers.
Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center (Indianapolis). The IU Simon Cancer Center was founded in 1992 and has been a National Cancer Institute-designated institution since 1999. The center's physicians, who are primarily faculty of the IU School of Medicine, lead approximately 300 clinical trials for pediatric and adult patients. It also established the Indiana Cancer Consortium in collaboration with the American Cancer Society and Indiana Department of Health. Cancer advocate Lance Armstrong received treatment for testicular cancer at IU Simon in 1996 and proceeded to win the Tour de France seven times.
Johns Hopkins Medicine (Baltimore). The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins opened in 1973 and was one of the first facilities designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute. The center used a $30 million gift from the Commonwealth Foundation for Cancer Research to establish its Center for Personalized Cancer Medicine, which accelerates the development of cancer therapies based on patients' individual genetic "fingerprint." Recently, scientists from Kimmel Cancer Center revealed the cause of tumors when they completed a map of genetic mutations occurring in the oligodendroglioma form of brain cancer.
Loyola University Medical Center (Maywood, Ill.). Loyola's Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center is named after Joseph Bernadin, the former Archbishop of Chicago who received treatment at Loyola before dying of pancreatic cancer in 1996. Loyola's head and neck cancer program is one of five of its kind in the country, and its bone marrow transplant program is one of the largest in the nation. Since 1994, patients have participated in more than 200 clinical trials for cancer at Loyola, allowing them to receive therapies not yet available at community hospitals. In 2012, Loyola will kick off a new cancer research program on immune system therapy for metastatic melanoma — the only one its kind in the Midwest.
Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston). Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center was founded in 1986 and is now comprised of 18 clinical oncology programs. Multidisciplinary teams of physicians, nurses, social workers and other health professionals help tailor patients' treatment and make their care experience seamless. Massachusetts General is a member of the research consortium and National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center known as DF/HCC, which includes Dana-Farber and Harvard Cancer Center.
Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.). Mayo Clinic Cancer Center's three campuses — Rochester along with Jacksonville, Fla., and Phoenix — extend its geographic breadth and boost patient access for the more than 19,500 new cancer patients who visit Mayo Clinic each year. As a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center, Mayo receives more than $100 million in competitive peer review grants and hosts hundreds of clinical trials. Last year, Mayo announced plans to establish a proton beam therapy program, which will include rare and state-of-the-art pencil beam scanning.
Moffitt Cancer Center (Tampa, Fla.). H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center opened its doors in 1986 and was designated by the National Cancer Institute as a Comprehensive Cancer Center in 2001. Moffitt uses a holistic approach it calls Total Cancer Care, which provides individualized, evidence-based treatment decisions based on the large-scale integration of information technology, clinical research and health outcomes. Moffitt also extends a large amount of services to preventive care, such as its center dedicated to cancer screening and prevention, including genetic counseling.
Montefiore Medical Center (Bronx, N.Y.). The Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care is partnered for research with the Albert Einstein Cancer Center, which was one of the first cancer centers to receive National Cancer Institute designation in 1972. Current Phase I studies for Montefiore patients include examining the use of Taxol, a drug that has already received FDA approval to fight breast cancer and ovarian cancer, to treat different types of cancer.
Nebraska Medical Center (Omaha). Nebraska Medical Center is a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Its oncology program has received accreditation from the National Cancer Institute and the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, among other organizations. Nebraska Medical Center also offers extensive support services to patients, such as its survivorship program for patients who have completed treatment and need assistance in the transition back to a primary care routine and everyday life.
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (New York). The Cancer Centers of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital include two institutions — the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian /Columbia University Medical Center; and the Weill Cornell Cancer Center of NewYork Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Weill Cornell physician-scientists have been responsible for many medical advances in oncology, such as the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer. The cancer centers currently receive more than $33 million from the National Cancer Institute for research, with another $95 million going toward peer-reviewed cancer research funding.
NorthShore University HealthSystem (Evanston, Ill.). NorthShore Kellogg Cancer Center has three sites in Chicago's northwest suburbs. An academic affiliation with the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine enables NorthShore, a teaching hospital, to further align research efforts and clinical trials with one of the country's most prestigious medical schools. The center uses a multidisciplinary approach to create tailored cancer care plans, and its Guided Patient Support Program provides new patients with nurse navigators, financial advocates, nutritional counselors and other medical practitioners to ease the care process.
Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Chicago). Northwestern Memorial is affiliated with the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, a National Cancer Institute-designated center founded in 1974 and located on the hospital's campus. It treats more than 10,000 new cancer patients each year and was the site at which the late Maggie Daley, wife of former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, received treatment for metastatic breast cancer. Ms. Daley died in November after a nine-year battle — triple the average survival rate for that type of cancer. The Maggie Daley Center for Women's Cancer Care at Northwestern continues to thrive in her honor.
Norton Hospital (Louisville, Ky.). More than 50,000 cancer patients visit Norton Cancer Institute each year. The institute was recently selected as one of 14 new pilot sites — one of 30 sites throughout the country — to participate in the NCI's Community Cancer Centers Program network. The network aims to reduce cancer care disparities and increase patient participation in clinical trials. Norton also offers a behavioral oncology program to deal with cancer-related distress, a survivorship program and patient navigation system to enhance and streamline the patient experience.
NYU Langone Medical Center (New York). Part of NYU Langone, the NYU Cancer Institute is a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in Manhattan that offers state-of-the-art care and services. It includes programs focusing on the social disparities in cancer care and molecular-targeted therapy, among other innovative initiatives. In November, researchers from NYU Cancer Institute discovered a new potential therapeutic target for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, an aggressive and common type of blood cancer in adults.
Ohio State University Medical Center (Columbus, Ohio). The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital was established in 1973 and received NCI designation in 1976. As Ohio's only freestanding cancer hospital, OSUCCC–James is expanding its reach even further as it began a $1 billion expansion of its facilities in 2009. It is one of seven centers in the country funded by the National Cancer Institute to conduct phase I and phase II clinical trials for new anti-cancer drugs.
Oklahoma University Medical Center (Oklahoma City). The first patients received treatment in Oklahoma University Cancer Institute's new Peggy and Charles Stephenson Cancer Center facility in July. The new building features a healing garden, wig salon, game rooms and a pager system where patients' families can be notified via pager when treatment has ended. In addition to the Peggy and Charles Stephenson Cancer Center facility, there is also a new branch of the Cancer Center on the OU-Tulsa Schusterman Center campus. OUCI offers the state's only Phase I clinical trials center for cancer patients — the second-closest location is MD Anderson in Houston, nearly 500 miles away.
Providence Regional Medical Center (Everett, Wash.). The cancer program at Providence Regional Medical Center is a partnership between the hospital and three medical groups: The Everett Clinic, Western Washington Medical Group and Northwest Washington Radiation Oncology Associates. The Cancer Partnership, as it's called, formed in 2007 and is accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. The hospital offers 20 clinical trials for patients, and it recently invested more than $10 million in groundbreaking cancer technology.
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (New Brunswick, N.J.). Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital has dedicated an entire 123-bed hospital to its cancer program: The Cancer Hospital of New Jersey. The hospital is also the flagship hospital of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, a hub for innovative oncology research that receives more than $80 million each year in grants. RWJU Hospital is the only organization in the state with a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Program. It has also been accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer.
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (Los Angeles). The Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA Medical Center is one of the largest National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the country. It includes more than 240 physicians and scientists and sees upwards of 20,000 patient visits each year. President Barack Obama recently named UCLA cancer researcher Owen Witte, MD, to the President's Cancer Panel, which monitors the National Cancer Program's progress. UCLA's care spans beyond cancer treatment to encompass the entire cancer experience. In partnership with the Lance Armstrong Foundation, the UCLA-Livestrong Survivorship Center of Excellence provides a plethora of resources to cancer survivors.
Roswell Park Cancer Institute (Buffalo, N.Y.). Founded in 1898, Roswell Park was the country's first cancer center and remains the first and only facility in upstate New York designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute. It's accredited by the National Comprehensive Cancer Center Network, the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer and several other oncology-related organizations. Its patient satisfaction scores are consistently well-above the national average. In the past 10 years, the center has added more than 1,000 new jobs, dedicated an entire hospital facility to Phase I cancer research and formed international strategic partnerships with researchers.
Rush University Medical Center (Chicago). The Rush University Cancer Center, which has been approved by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, recently completed its outpatient cancer center with an expanded chemotherapy space and more rooms for complementary therapies. The center includes comprehensive clinics for eight specific types of cancer, where patients can receive the full spectrum of care from diagnosis to treatment and supportive services. The center also includes an integrative medicine program, which provides complementary therapies for patients such as counseling, yoga, acupuncture and massage therapy.
Sanford Health (Fargo, N.D. and Sioux Falls, S.D.). Comprising Sanford Cancer, the Sanford Cancer Center is in Sioux Falls while Roger Maris Cancer Center is in Fargo. Sanford Cancer was recently selected by the National Cancer Institute to participate in its NCI Community Cancer Centers Program to expand oncology research and reduce disparities in care. Sanford recently launched its Edith Breast Cancer program, which has been recognized by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers. It will be housed in a new facility on the Roger Maris campus that is still underway, but the program will be integrated to both locations in Fargo and Sioux Falls.
Shands at the University of Florida (Gainesville). The University of Florida Shands Cancer Center is home to more than 250 researchers and clinicians from the University of Florida and Shands HealthCare. Approximately 3,000 new cancer cases are diagnosed at Shands each year. In 2010, the UF Breast Center became the first program in the state to use an Intrabeam radiation treatment system. It also teamed up with Moffitt Cancer Center to study fertility concerns for young cancer patients and earned accreditation from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer.
Skyline Medical Center (Nashville, Tenn.). Skyline Medical Center is part of the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center Network, which consists of eight medical facilities in Tennessee caring for cancer patients. Skyline's program has earned a national three-year-accreditation from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, and its network program includes more than 100 multidisciplinary oncologists. It's also affiliated with the Sarah Cannon Research Institute, which allows patients to participate in oncology clinical trials.
Stanford Hospital & Clinics (Palo Alto, Calif.). Stanford Clinical Cancer Center operates on a multidisciplinary approach, where patients can request their care be discussed by a tumor board. This group, comprised of several specialists, surgeons and pathologists, collectively designs the best treatment plan for each patient. Medical teams are involved in more than 300 clinical trials at Stanford, and the center offers a patient-centered approach to care such as valet parking and concierge services. Stanford's Edward Damrose, MD, has successfully removed cancer from patients' larynxes while preserving their voice, making him one of the nation's few experts to master the surgical procedure.
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (Philadelphia). With National Cancer Institute-designation, the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson includes surgeons who have received the highest possible recognition from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. Jefferson was the first hospital in the country to receive FDA approval for the use of a new diagnostic tool that tests melanoma patients for a certain type of gene mutation. It offers progressive treatment options and more than 120 clinical trials to patients at any one time, along with services to support their emotional well-being — such as its wig program to help patients ease embarrassment caused by hair loss.
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. UPMC partners in cancer care with the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, which combines UPMC's medical expertise with the academic research at the University of Pittsburgh. UPMC Cancer Centers include more than 1,700 physicians, scientists and other healthcare professionals in 14 areas of expertise on specific types or treatments of cancer. The Hillman Cancer Center, a five-story facility located on the UPMC Shadyside campus, is the flagship facility for the UPMC Cancer Centers network. UPMC received nearly $174 million in government funding for cancer research in 2011, making it the National Cancer Institute's 12th most-funded research institution.
University Hospitals Case Medical Center (Cleveland). University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center recently opened in spring 2011, combining all of the departments of UH Ireland Cancer Center under one roof with 120 beds. It has 12 multidisciplinary teams to treat specific types of cancer and is a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, offering more than 300 clinical trials to patients. Phillips Healthcare, an imaging manufacturer, has pledged to invest in UH Seidman, and the hospital will house one of the world's first PET/MRI machines as a result.
University of Alabama Hospital at Birmingham. The UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center within a six-state region including Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, South Carolina and Georgia. The center is home to more than 330 oncologists, physicians and researchers and treats approximately 5,000 new cancer patients each year. In 2010, the center received more than $110 million from NCI for cancer research. It is also a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
University of Arizona Medical Center (Tucson). University of Arizona Medical Center is the clinical affiliate of University of Arizona Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center established in 1976. ACC patients receive inpatient and outpatient care from the UA Medical Center physicians. ACC is home to more than 300 oncologists and scientists, and it was recently awarded more than $19.5 million in grants to study skin cancer and colorectal cancer. It also offers the only genetic counselor in Tucson who specializes in cancer.
University of California, Davis Medical Center (Sacramento). UC Davis Cancer Center is the only National Cancer Institute-designated center serving California's Central Valley region of roughly 6 million people. More than 9,000 adults and children visit the center each year for cancer care and the opportunity to participate in any of more than 150 clinical trials. UC Davis was the first cancer center to partner with a national laboratory, Lawrence Livermore (Calif.) National Laboratory, and it receives approximately $134 million in annual research grants.
University of California, Irvine Medical Center (Irvine). The Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UC Irvine is a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. UC Irvine also is one of only eight institutions nationwide to be named part of the NCI's Cancer Genetics Network, which examines complex interactions between genes and cancer. It has organized its translational research efforts into four areas of cancer — prostate, melanoma, cervical and breast — with multidisciplinary teams working on each. The center saw roughly 50,000 outpatient visits from 2010 to 2011 and receives approximately $15 million in NCI funding each year.
UC San Diego Medical Center (San Diego). The UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center was established in 1979 and received designation from the National Cancer Institute as a Comprehensive Cancer Center in 2001. Moores Cancer Center emphasizes a shared focus on bench-to-bedside research, preventive care and multidisciplinary treatment and has made waves in the field of cancer care. Its researchers pioneered intraperitoneal chemotherapy, which delivers high doses of anti-cancer drugs directly to ovarian tumors. In 2006, the federal government named that procedure, IP chemotherapy, as the new standard of treatment for ovarian cancer.
UCSF Medical Center (San Francisco). The Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCSF Medical Center received National Cancer Institute-designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center in 1999 and it has attained the highest level of research funding from the NCI among cancer centers in the state. The center's contributions to cancer care, research and prevention go back decades. In 1989, two UCSF physicians earned the Nobel Prize in Medicine when they discovered the existence of cancer-causing oncogenes — a significant development in the genetic causes of cancer.
University of Chicago Medical Center (Chicago). The University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center offers services not commonly accessible to patients, such as a childhood cancer survivors' center. The center includes more than 200 oncology specialists, offers the most cancer clinical trials in the state and receives the most funding from the National Cancer Institute out of any organization in Illinois. President Obama awarded the Medal of Freedom — America's highest civilian honor — to University of Chicago's Janet D. Rowley, MD, in 2009. Dr. Rowley was the first scientist to identify chromosomal causes of leukemia and other cancers.
University of Colorado Hospital (Aurora). University of Colorado Cancer Center at UCH is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the greater Denver area. Its five-year survival rates for patients with lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer and melanoma exceed state and national averages. The center includes a Radiation Oncology Clinic, a multidisciplinary treatment program that specializes in minimally invasive radiation treatments. Washington State Sen. Andy Hill is receiving treatment for stage IV lung cancer at UCH's cancer center and is enrolled in a clinical trial in the hospital's Thoracic Oncology Program.
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (Iowa City). University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center was founded in 1980. It's the only center in the state that has been designated by the National Cancer Institute as a Comprehensive Cancer Center, a title it has held since 2000. In 2009, it received $74.2 million in cancer-related research funding and opened 221 clinical trials for cancer patients. Researchers from Holden have made major contributions to the field of oncology, such as a vaccine currently in clinical trial to treat and prevent prostate cancer.
University of Kansas Medical Center (Kansas City). The University of Kansas Cancer Center has earned the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. The center is partnered with the Kansas Masonic Cancer Research Institute, which is furthering KU Cancer Center's cause to achieve designation by the National Cancer Institute, for which it has already applied. Researchers at the center have recently started a clinical trial targeting the most common form of adult leukemia with a drug that was first approved to treat arthritis more than 25 years ago.
University of Maryland Medical Center (Baltimore). With roots stemming back to 1965, the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center is a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center and is also accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. The center also has major partnerships with the state of Maryland, the American Cancer Society and other cancer organizations in the private industry. In March 2011, Director Kevin J. Cullen, MD, was named to serve a six-year appointment on the National Cancer Advisory Board by President Obama. Dr. Cullen led a landmark study that linked HPV to racial disparities in survival rates for head-and-neck cancer.
University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers (Ann Arbor). The U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center has been recognized by the National Cancer Institute as a comprehensive institution. It was also a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Center Network, which is comprised of 21 cancer centers around the country. In 2010, the center saw nearly 84,000 outpatient visits. More than 350 U-M faculty members provide care to patients while also collaborating on oncology research. Each year, the institute receives about $79.5 million in grants from various cancer agencies.
University of Minnesota Medical Center (Minneapolis). University of Minnesota Medical Center is partnered with the university's Masonic Cancer Center, which was founded in 1991. As a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, Masonic is a leader in cancer research — the world's first successful bone marrow transplant for Burkitt's lymphoma was performed here. The center was recently qualified in the National Cancer Institute Centers of Quantitative Imaging Excellence program, meaning its imaging services are advanced enough for use in NCI clinical trials.
University of North Carolina Hospitals (Chapel Hill). The N.C. Cancer Hospital is the clinical home to UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center that was established in 1975. N.C. Hospital was completed in 2009 and is now home to 110 faculty physicians, all of whom are members of UNC Cancer Care. The hospital sees more than 100,000 patient visits each year. It offers more than 225 clinical trials and more than 300 scientists who help translate research into treatment options for patients.
University of Rochester (N.Y.) Medical Center. Radiation oncology experts at University of Rochester's Wilmot Cancer Center were the first to successfully take a new brain cancer treatment — shaped-beam radiosurgery — and apply it to patients suffering from cancer that spread to the lungs and other organs. Scientists from the center also discovered a method to protect against HPV strains, which led to the first anti-cancer and HPV vaccine approved by the FDA in 2006. The National Cancer Institute recently awarded Wilmot a five-year grant of $2.6 million to help young smokers quit.
USC Norris Cancer Hospital (Los Angeles). The USC Norris Comprehensive Center includes approximately 200 basic and scientists and physicians from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. It has held National Cancer Institute-designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center since 1973, when it was one of only eight in the nation. The center currently holds roughly $134 million in oncology research grants. It includes USC Norris Cancer Hospital, one of only a handful facilities in Southern California built exclusively for cancer patient care. In November 2011, the American Cancer Society awarded the cancer center's director, Peter A. Jones, PhD, the Medal of Honor for his research into the epigenetics of cancer.
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston). MD Anderson ranks first in the country for number of grants awarded and total amount of grant dollars from the National Cancer Institute. Some of the largest strides in cancer research have occurred within the walls of MD Anderson. In the 1970s, researchers proved that metastasis is a non-random process. The center also pioneered chemotherapy in outpatient settings in the 1980s and early 1990s — a practice that is widely followed today and is more cost-effective for patients.
University of Washington Medical Center (Seattle). UW Medicine is part of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, which affiliates UW Medicine, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Seattle Children's for oncology-related and cancer services. The alliance is accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer along with several other oncology-related agencies. In 2011, researchers conducted the first complete genome mapping of lethal prostate cancers to discover a series of recurrent genetic errors and patterns. Construction of a proton therapy center on the center's Northwest Hospital campus is under way and slated to open in 2013 for adult and pediatric patients.
University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics (Madison). The University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center was formed in 1973 and is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Wisconsin. It includes more than 280 physicians and scientists who translate research into treatments for the more than 30,000 patients who visit UW Carbone each year. UW Carbone developed tomotherapy, which is a specialized form of radiation that targets cancer cells while avoiding healthy cells and organs. It was also the sponsor of the country's first telephone-based helpline for cancer patients. That has since become the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service.
University of Virginia Medical Center (Charlottesville). The Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center at University of Virginia Medical Center opened its doors to patients in April 2011. It's the first center in the country to offer the latest version of tomotherapy. The center is a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center, and its new facility also offers extensive patient amenities, such as a positive-image boutique that carries mastectomy garments, wigs and special skin care products.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Nashville, Tenn.). Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center was established in 1993. It's the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Tennessee and also a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance comprised of 21 centers across the nation. More than 300 researchers and 120 clinicians meet the needs of the 4,500 new cancer patients who visit Vanderbilt each year. The center's director, Jennifer Pietenpol, PhD, was invited to join the President's National Cancer Advisory Board in 1998.
Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center (Richmond). VCU Massey Cancer Center was designated by the National Cancer Institute in 1974 and has kept that recognition since. Roughly 14,000 patients visit VCU Massey each year, where more than 400 clinicians deliver care and develop treatment plans in a team-based approach. Patients have access to more than 100 clinical trials offering innovative treatments for more than 20 types of cancer. VCU Massey researcher Steven Grant, MD, was recently asked to serve on the NCI's Investigational Drug Steering Committee.
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center (Winston-Salem, N.C.). The Comprehensive Cancer Center at Wake Forest Baptist is home to more than 120 clinicians and oncologists with expertise in all aspects among the cancer continuum. The center is the first in the region to be fully accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers, and the National Cancer Institute has also designated Wake Forest as a comprehensive cancer center. In the past, the Department of Defense has awarded physicians from Wake Forest with fellowships to study the effect of carbon nanotubes on breast cancer stem cells.
Yale-New Haven (Conn.) Hospital. The Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven treats more cancer patients than any hospital in the state. It's partnered with the Yale Cancer Center, which has been accredited by the National Cancer Institute, and Yale School of Medicine. Yale-New Haven has dedicated an entire program to cardio-oncology, which addresses any cardiovascular complications from cancer or treatment. Yale School of Medicine was the first in the country to establish an academic-based oncology division, and Yale New-Haven was also the first hospital to successfully use chemotherapy in 1942.
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These hospitals have been recognized for excellence in this specialty by reputable healthcare rating resources, including U.S. News & World Report, HealthGrades, Thomson Reuters, the National Cancer Institute, the American College of Surgeons and the American Nurses Credentialing Center. They have demonstrated continual innovation in treatments and services, patient-centered care and the achievement of clinical milestones and groundbreaking discoveries.
Note: This list is not an endorsement of included hospitals or associated healthcare providers, and hospitals cannot pay to be included on this list. The following content should be used for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute professional medical advice. Hospitals are presented in alphabetical order.
Atlantic Health Carol G. Simon Cancer Center (Morristown and Summit, N.J.). Atlantic Health System is a major clinical research affiliate of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, which includes 16 hospitals across the state. It is one of the only hospitals in the region to offer the Prostate Navigate Program — a patient-centered, multidisciplinary consultation service that helps patients select their preferred method of prostate cancer treatment. The center has received the American College of Surgeons Outstanding Achievement Award for cancer care, which is awarded to less than 15 percent of hospitals in the country.
Barnes-Jewish Hospital (St. Louis). The Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine was named a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute in 2005. Siteman offers approximately 250 clinical trials for patients, and more than 150 families visit the center's hereditary cancer program each year, which helps people with a family history of cancer assess their risk. In August, Siteman celebrated its 5,000th bone marrow transplant since 1982.
Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine (Houston). The Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine is a consortium made up of Baylor College of Medicine and its three primary teaching hospital affiliates — Ben Taub General Hospital, Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Texas Children's Hospital. It's one of three cancer centers in Texas recognized by the National Cancer Institute. With an office of outreach and disparities, Baylor works to enhance the enrollment of under-represented minorities in clinical trials and to reduce disparities in cancer care.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Boston). The Cancer Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center includes 19 specialty programs in oncology along with eight multidisciplinary clinics that use a team-based approach. It is one of only 34 centers in the country to receive the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. BIDMC's Pier Paolo Pandolfi, MD, PhD, received the 2011 International Award for Cancer Research from the Pezcoller Foundation-American Association of Cancer Research for the advancements he made in cancer genetics.
Carolinas Medical Center (Charlotte, N.C.). The Blumenthal Cancer Center is nationally accredited by the American College of Surgeons and received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer in May. The cancer program of Carolinas Medical Center is now organized within the Levine Cancer Institute, an entity Carolinas Healthcare System formed in 2010 to combine cancer programs across its hospitals. It is headquartered on the Carolinas Medical Center campus, and the facility is expected to open in fall 2012.
Cedars Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles). The Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Cedars Sinai offers multidisciplinary teams, with many of the center's physicians being published authors and prominent researchers in oncology. The center uses disease-specific tumor boards to help patients design their treatment plans. Cedars Sinai includes a 24-hour outpatient cancer center, which sees more than 9,000 patients each year. The center is home to basic and clinical oncology research along with clinical trials. It recently partnered with a research institute in Arizona to offer joint clinical trials for new anti-cancer therapies aimed at molecular cancer targets.
City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center (Duarte, Calif.). City of Hope was founded in 1913 and has performed more than 10,000 bone marrow and stem cell transplants, making it one of the largest such programs in the world. More than 3,000 clinical trials are held at City of Hope at any given time, and roughly 40 percent of patients participate in them — compared with a national average of less than 5 percent. City of Hope is currently the only institution in the world to hold clinical studies with genetically engineered T-cells to recognize glioma, a terminal form of brain cancer.
Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland). With a focus on the patient experience, patients visiting the Taussig Cancer Institute at Cleveland Clinic can participate in support groups, art therapy and even high tea as a pleasant diversion from their rounds of treatment. Taussig is a partner with Case Comprehensive Cancer Center in Cleveland, which is a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. In May, Cleveland Clinic researchers made strides in the first-of-its-kind vaccine to prevent breast cancer, a groundbreaking development in oncology. Enrollment in human trials for that vaccine may begin in 2012.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston). Dana-Farber, which was founded in 1947, collaborates with Brigham and Women's Hospital for oncology services and is a teaching hospital affiliated with Harvard Medical School. It recently opened its Yawkey Center for Cancer Care, a new 14-story facility with 104 exam rooms and 139 infusion chairs — a 30 percent increase from the current capacity on Dana-Farber's main campus. Dana-Farber's clinical reach is quite extensive: It sees more than 300,000 patient visits each year and offers roughly 700 clinical trials. Dana-Farber is a Comprehensive Cancer Center as designated by the National Cancer Institute.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (Lebonon, N.H.). The Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center includes more than 200 oncologists and 135 research investigators and offers at least 100 clinical trials to patients at any one time. Multidisciplinary teams develop treatment plans individually for each of the 31,000 patients that visit Dartmouth for oncology services each year. In October, the center earned a five-year, $6.1 million grant from the National Cancer Institute for research at its breast cancer screening center — one of three such facilities in the nation.
Duke University Hospital (Durham, N.C.). Duke Cancer Institute serves nearly 6,000 new cancer patients each year and has clinical research partnerships in India, China, Singapore and throughout the United States. It is a comprehensive cancer center as designated by the National Cancer Institute and is also part of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, which is comprised of 21 cancer centers across the country. The center is home to more than 300 researchers and oncologists. Duke scientists recently found a protein in breast cancer cells that may fuel aggressive tumors and could make an effective target for new drugs.
Emory University Hospital (Atlanta). Emory's Winship Cancer Institute is the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in the state of Georgia. It was founded in 1937 through a donation from the then-president of Coca-Cola, Robert Woodruff, who lost his mother to cancer that same year. The center takes a multidisciplinary approach to cancer treatment and teams of experts meet every day to plan the most advanced care for patients. In 2011, it partnered with Advance Particle Therapy to develop the Georgia Proton Therapy Center — the state's first proton therapy facility.
Fox Chase Cancer Center (Philadelphia). Fox Chase was founded in 1974 and was designated by the National Cancer Institute as a Comprehensive Cancer Center that same year. In a move reflecting its transparency, Fox Chase recently became one of the first cancer centers in the country to publish its clinical outcomes for breast, colorectal, lung and prostate cancer. In nearly all five categories, the outcomes are better compared to those of large and small community hospital cancer programs. Scientists at Fox Chase have cataloged and cross-indexed the actions of 178 candidate drugs capable of blocking the activity of one or more of 300 enzymes, including enzymes critical for cancer.
Froedtert Hospital (Milwaukee). Froedtert Hospital's Clinical Cancer Center includes more than 200 oncologists, physicians and scientists in 13 disease-specific cancer programs. The center operates under a patient-centered "hub model," where physicians are grouped by the kinds of cancer they treat, not the type of service they provide. It was recognized as a regional leader in cancer care in U.S. News & World Report's 2011 Best Hospitals list. The hospital, which uses tumor boards to develop patient-specific treatment plans, is also part of a cancer care network with two other local hospitals.
Geisinger Cancer Institute (Danville, Pa.). The Geisinger Cancer Institute employs a multidisciplinary and team-based approach to cancer care, providing patients with access to several physicians at once. Geisinger is a National Cancer Institute Community Cancer Centers Program site, of which there are only 30 in the country. These organizations receive funds from NCI to advance cancer care in rural or underserved populations. Geisinger's teams focus on symptom management, and nurse navigators are assigned to patients to help them along the continuum of cancer care. There are roughly 100 Phase I-III clinical trials open to Geisinger patients at any one time, and the institute recently found an advanced radiation treatment that can drastically shorten radiation treatment time for some breast cancer patients.
Georgetown University Medical Center (Washington, D.C.). The Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center was established in 1970 and named after the late football coach Vince Lombardi, who received treatment for colon cancer at Georgetown. As the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Washington, D.C.-area, it recently led a large national study that found screening current or former heavy smokers with a CT scan can reduce deaths from lung cancer by 20 percent.
Hackensack (N.J.) University Medical Center. The John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center has 14 specialized divisions for oncology with teams of experts that treat each specific type of cancer. It currently offers more than 150 clinical trials, both those conducted independently with others held through partnerships and research consortiums. Hackensack's new $130 million cancer facility opened in 2011, featuring generous amounts of natural sunlight and a 24-foot waterfall in the lobby. It also offers extensive patient support services, including free yoga classes to complement chemotherapy and group cooking classes taught by nutritionists.
Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian (Newport Beach, Calif.). Hoag Cancer Institute is the largest cancer program in southern California outside of Los Angeles County. It treats more than 2,200 new cancer patients each year and continues to include some of the most cutting-edge oncology services in the state. For instance, Hoag includes the first breast care center in California and one of only a handful in the country to offer 3-D digital breast tomosynthesis for breast cancer screening.
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia). The Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania has been continuously designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute since 1973. In addition to its physicians, the center is home to more than 400 basic, translational and clinical scientists. In the past decade, the Abramson Cancer Center has made important breakthroughs in stem cell maintenance and the use of MRIs for breast cancer screening. The center has received extensive recognition for its breast cancer program, including recognition by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers.
Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center (Indianapolis). The IU Simon Cancer Center was founded in 1992 and has been a National Cancer Institute-designated institution since 1999. The center's physicians, who are primarily faculty of the IU School of Medicine, lead approximately 300 clinical trials for pediatric and adult patients. It also established the Indiana Cancer Consortium in collaboration with the American Cancer Society and Indiana Department of Health. Cancer advocate Lance Armstrong received treatment for testicular cancer at IU Simon in 1996 and proceeded to win the Tour de France seven times.
Johns Hopkins Medicine (Baltimore). The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins opened in 1973 and was one of the first facilities designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute. The center used a $30 million gift from the Commonwealth Foundation for Cancer Research to establish its Center for Personalized Cancer Medicine, which accelerates the development of cancer therapies based on patients' individual genetic "fingerprint." Recently, scientists from Kimmel Cancer Center revealed the cause of tumors when they completed a map of genetic mutations occurring in the oligodendroglioma form of brain cancer.
Loyola University Medical Center (Maywood, Ill.). Loyola's Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center is named after Joseph Bernadin, the former Archbishop of Chicago who received treatment at Loyola before dying of pancreatic cancer in 1996. Loyola's head and neck cancer program is one of five of its kind in the country, and its bone marrow transplant program is one of the largest in the nation. Since 1994, patients have participated in more than 200 clinical trials for cancer at Loyola, allowing them to receive therapies not yet available at community hospitals. In 2012, Loyola will kick off a new cancer research program on immune system therapy for metastatic melanoma — the only one its kind in the Midwest.
Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston). Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center was founded in 1986 and is now comprised of 18 clinical oncology programs. Multidisciplinary teams of physicians, nurses, social workers and other health professionals help tailor patients' treatment and make their care experience seamless. Massachusetts General is a member of the research consortium and National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center known as DF/HCC, which includes Dana-Farber and Harvard Cancer Center.
Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.). Mayo Clinic Cancer Center's three campuses — Rochester along with Jacksonville, Fla., and Phoenix — extend its geographic breadth and boost patient access for the more than 19,500 new cancer patients who visit Mayo Clinic each year. As a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center, Mayo receives more than $100 million in competitive peer review grants and hosts hundreds of clinical trials. Last year, Mayo announced plans to establish a proton beam therapy program, which will include rare and state-of-the-art pencil beam scanning.
Moffitt Cancer Center (Tampa, Fla.). H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center opened its doors in 1986 and was designated by the National Cancer Institute as a Comprehensive Cancer Center in 2001. Moffitt uses a holistic approach it calls Total Cancer Care, which provides individualized, evidence-based treatment decisions based on the large-scale integration of information technology, clinical research and health outcomes. Moffitt also extends a large amount of services to preventive care, such as its center dedicated to cancer screening and prevention, including genetic counseling.
Montefiore Medical Center (Bronx, N.Y.). The Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care is partnered for research with the Albert Einstein Cancer Center, which was one of the first cancer centers to receive National Cancer Institute designation in 1972. Current Phase I studies for Montefiore patients include examining the use of Taxol, a drug that has already received FDA approval to fight breast cancer and ovarian cancer, to treat different types of cancer.
Nebraska Medical Center (Omaha). Nebraska Medical Center is a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Its oncology program has received accreditation from the National Cancer Institute and the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, among other organizations. Nebraska Medical Center also offers extensive support services to patients, such as its survivorship program for patients who have completed treatment and need assistance in the transition back to a primary care routine and everyday life.
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (New York). The Cancer Centers of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital include two institutions — the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian /Columbia University Medical Center; and the Weill Cornell Cancer Center of NewYork Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Weill Cornell physician-scientists have been responsible for many medical advances in oncology, such as the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer. The cancer centers currently receive more than $33 million from the National Cancer Institute for research, with another $95 million going toward peer-reviewed cancer research funding.
NorthShore University HealthSystem (Evanston, Ill.). NorthShore Kellogg Cancer Center has three sites in Chicago's northwest suburbs. An academic affiliation with the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine enables NorthShore, a teaching hospital, to further align research efforts and clinical trials with one of the country's most prestigious medical schools. The center uses a multidisciplinary approach to create tailored cancer care plans, and its Guided Patient Support Program provides new patients with nurse navigators, financial advocates, nutritional counselors and other medical practitioners to ease the care process.
Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Chicago). Northwestern Memorial is affiliated with the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, a National Cancer Institute-designated center founded in 1974 and located on the hospital's campus. It treats more than 10,000 new cancer patients each year and was the site at which the late Maggie Daley, wife of former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, received treatment for metastatic breast cancer. Ms. Daley died in November after a nine-year battle — triple the average survival rate for that type of cancer. The Maggie Daley Center for Women's Cancer Care at Northwestern continues to thrive in her honor.
Norton Hospital (Louisville, Ky.). More than 50,000 cancer patients visit Norton Cancer Institute each year. The institute was recently selected as one of 14 new pilot sites — one of 30 sites throughout the country — to participate in the NCI's Community Cancer Centers Program network. The network aims to reduce cancer care disparities and increase patient participation in clinical trials. Norton also offers a behavioral oncology program to deal with cancer-related distress, a survivorship program and patient navigation system to enhance and streamline the patient experience.
NYU Langone Medical Center (New York). Part of NYU Langone, the NYU Cancer Institute is a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in Manhattan that offers state-of-the-art care and services. It includes programs focusing on the social disparities in cancer care and molecular-targeted therapy, among other innovative initiatives. In November, researchers from NYU Cancer Institute discovered a new potential therapeutic target for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, an aggressive and common type of blood cancer in adults.
Ohio State University Medical Center (Columbus, Ohio). The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital was established in 1973 and received NCI designation in 1976. As Ohio's only freestanding cancer hospital, OSUCCC–James is expanding its reach even further as it began a $1 billion expansion of its facilities in 2009. It is one of seven centers in the country funded by the National Cancer Institute to conduct phase I and phase II clinical trials for new anti-cancer drugs.
Oklahoma University Medical Center (Oklahoma City). The first patients received treatment in Oklahoma University Cancer Institute's new Peggy and Charles Stephenson Cancer Center facility in July. The new building features a healing garden, wig salon, game rooms and a pager system where patients' families can be notified via pager when treatment has ended. In addition to the Peggy and Charles Stephenson Cancer Center facility, there is also a new branch of the Cancer Center on the OU-Tulsa Schusterman Center campus. OUCI offers the state's only Phase I clinical trials center for cancer patients — the second-closest location is MD Anderson in Houston, nearly 500 miles away.
Providence Regional Medical Center (Everett, Wash.). The cancer program at Providence Regional Medical Center is a partnership between the hospital and three medical groups: The Everett Clinic, Western Washington Medical Group and Northwest Washington Radiation Oncology Associates. The Cancer Partnership, as it's called, formed in 2007 and is accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. The hospital offers 20 clinical trials for patients, and it recently invested more than $10 million in groundbreaking cancer technology.
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (New Brunswick, N.J.). Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital has dedicated an entire 123-bed hospital to its cancer program: The Cancer Hospital of New Jersey. The hospital is also the flagship hospital of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, a hub for innovative oncology research that receives more than $80 million each year in grants. RWJU Hospital is the only organization in the state with a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Program. It has also been accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer.
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (Los Angeles). The Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA Medical Center is one of the largest National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the country. It includes more than 240 physicians and scientists and sees upwards of 20,000 patient visits each year. President Barack Obama recently named UCLA cancer researcher Owen Witte, MD, to the President's Cancer Panel, which monitors the National Cancer Program's progress. UCLA's care spans beyond cancer treatment to encompass the entire cancer experience. In partnership with the Lance Armstrong Foundation, the UCLA-Livestrong Survivorship Center of Excellence provides a plethora of resources to cancer survivors.
Roswell Park Cancer Institute (Buffalo, N.Y.). Founded in 1898, Roswell Park was the country's first cancer center and remains the first and only facility in upstate New York designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute. It's accredited by the National Comprehensive Cancer Center Network, the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer and several other oncology-related organizations. Its patient satisfaction scores are consistently well-above the national average. In the past 10 years, the center has added more than 1,000 new jobs, dedicated an entire hospital facility to Phase I cancer research and formed international strategic partnerships with researchers.
Rush University Medical Center (Chicago). The Rush University Cancer Center, which has been approved by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, recently completed its outpatient cancer center with an expanded chemotherapy space and more rooms for complementary therapies. The center includes comprehensive clinics for eight specific types of cancer, where patients can receive the full spectrum of care from diagnosis to treatment and supportive services. The center also includes an integrative medicine program, which provides complementary therapies for patients such as counseling, yoga, acupuncture and massage therapy.
Sanford Health (Fargo, N.D. and Sioux Falls, S.D.). Comprising Sanford Cancer, the Sanford Cancer Center is in Sioux Falls while Roger Maris Cancer Center is in Fargo. Sanford Cancer was recently selected by the National Cancer Institute to participate in its NCI Community Cancer Centers Program to expand oncology research and reduce disparities in care. Sanford recently launched its Edith Breast Cancer program, which has been recognized by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers. It will be housed in a new facility on the Roger Maris campus that is still underway, but the program will be integrated to both locations in Fargo and Sioux Falls.
Shands at the University of Florida (Gainesville). The University of Florida Shands Cancer Center is home to more than 250 researchers and clinicians from the University of Florida and Shands HealthCare. Approximately 3,000 new cancer cases are diagnosed at Shands each year. In 2010, the UF Breast Center became the first program in the state to use an Intrabeam radiation treatment system. It also teamed up with Moffitt Cancer Center to study fertility concerns for young cancer patients and earned accreditation from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer.
Skyline Medical Center (Nashville, Tenn.). Skyline Medical Center is part of the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center Network, which consists of eight medical facilities in Tennessee caring for cancer patients. Skyline's program has earned a national three-year-accreditation from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, and its network program includes more than 100 multidisciplinary oncologists. It's also affiliated with the Sarah Cannon Research Institute, which allows patients to participate in oncology clinical trials.
Stanford Hospital & Clinics (Palo Alto, Calif.). Stanford Clinical Cancer Center operates on a multidisciplinary approach, where patients can request their care be discussed by a tumor board. This group, comprised of several specialists, surgeons and pathologists, collectively designs the best treatment plan for each patient. Medical teams are involved in more than 300 clinical trials at Stanford, and the center offers a patient-centered approach to care such as valet parking and concierge services. Stanford's Edward Damrose, MD, has successfully removed cancer from patients' larynxes while preserving their voice, making him one of the nation's few experts to master the surgical procedure.
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (Philadelphia). With National Cancer Institute-designation, the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson includes surgeons who have received the highest possible recognition from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. Jefferson was the first hospital in the country to receive FDA approval for the use of a new diagnostic tool that tests melanoma patients for a certain type of gene mutation. It offers progressive treatment options and more than 120 clinical trials to patients at any one time, along with services to support their emotional well-being — such as its wig program to help patients ease embarrassment caused by hair loss.
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. UPMC partners in cancer care with the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, which combines UPMC's medical expertise with the academic research at the University of Pittsburgh. UPMC Cancer Centers include more than 1,700 physicians, scientists and other healthcare professionals in 14 areas of expertise on specific types or treatments of cancer. The Hillman Cancer Center, a five-story facility located on the UPMC Shadyside campus, is the flagship facility for the UPMC Cancer Centers network. UPMC received nearly $174 million in government funding for cancer research in 2011, making it the National Cancer Institute's 12th most-funded research institution.
University Hospitals Case Medical Center (Cleveland). University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center recently opened in spring 2011, combining all of the departments of UH Ireland Cancer Center under one roof with 120 beds. It has 12 multidisciplinary teams to treat specific types of cancer and is a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, offering more than 300 clinical trials to patients. Phillips Healthcare, an imaging manufacturer, has pledged to invest in UH Seidman, and the hospital will house one of the world's first PET/MRI machines as a result.
University of Alabama Hospital at Birmingham. The UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center within a six-state region including Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, South Carolina and Georgia. The center is home to more than 330 oncologists, physicians and researchers and treats approximately 5,000 new cancer patients each year. In 2010, the center received more than $110 million from NCI for cancer research. It is also a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
University of Arizona Medical Center (Tucson). University of Arizona Medical Center is the clinical affiliate of University of Arizona Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center established in 1976. ACC patients receive inpatient and outpatient care from the UA Medical Center physicians. ACC is home to more than 300 oncologists and scientists, and it was recently awarded more than $19.5 million in grants to study skin cancer and colorectal cancer. It also offers the only genetic counselor in Tucson who specializes in cancer.
University of California, Davis Medical Center (Sacramento). UC Davis Cancer Center is the only National Cancer Institute-designated center serving California's Central Valley region of roughly 6 million people. More than 9,000 adults and children visit the center each year for cancer care and the opportunity to participate in any of more than 150 clinical trials. UC Davis was the first cancer center to partner with a national laboratory, Lawrence Livermore (Calif.) National Laboratory, and it receives approximately $134 million in annual research grants.
University of California, Irvine Medical Center (Irvine). The Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UC Irvine is a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center. UC Irvine also is one of only eight institutions nationwide to be named part of the NCI's Cancer Genetics Network, which examines complex interactions between genes and cancer. It has organized its translational research efforts into four areas of cancer — prostate, melanoma, cervical and breast — with multidisciplinary teams working on each. The center saw roughly 50,000 outpatient visits from 2010 to 2011 and receives approximately $15 million in NCI funding each year.
UC San Diego Medical Center (San Diego). The UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center was established in 1979 and received designation from the National Cancer Institute as a Comprehensive Cancer Center in 2001. Moores Cancer Center emphasizes a shared focus on bench-to-bedside research, preventive care and multidisciplinary treatment and has made waves in the field of cancer care. Its researchers pioneered intraperitoneal chemotherapy, which delivers high doses of anti-cancer drugs directly to ovarian tumors. In 2006, the federal government named that procedure, IP chemotherapy, as the new standard of treatment for ovarian cancer.
UCSF Medical Center (San Francisco). The Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCSF Medical Center received National Cancer Institute-designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center in 1999 and it has attained the highest level of research funding from the NCI among cancer centers in the state. The center's contributions to cancer care, research and prevention go back decades. In 1989, two UCSF physicians earned the Nobel Prize in Medicine when they discovered the existence of cancer-causing oncogenes — a significant development in the genetic causes of cancer.
University of Chicago Medical Center (Chicago). The University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center offers services not commonly accessible to patients, such as a childhood cancer survivors' center. The center includes more than 200 oncology specialists, offers the most cancer clinical trials in the state and receives the most funding from the National Cancer Institute out of any organization in Illinois. President Obama awarded the Medal of Freedom — America's highest civilian honor — to University of Chicago's Janet D. Rowley, MD, in 2009. Dr. Rowley was the first scientist to identify chromosomal causes of leukemia and other cancers.
University of Colorado Hospital (Aurora). University of Colorado Cancer Center at UCH is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the greater Denver area. Its five-year survival rates for patients with lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer and melanoma exceed state and national averages. The center includes a Radiation Oncology Clinic, a multidisciplinary treatment program that specializes in minimally invasive radiation treatments. Washington State Sen. Andy Hill is receiving treatment for stage IV lung cancer at UCH's cancer center and is enrolled in a clinical trial in the hospital's Thoracic Oncology Program.
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (Iowa City). University of Iowa Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center was founded in 1980. It's the only center in the state that has been designated by the National Cancer Institute as a Comprehensive Cancer Center, a title it has held since 2000. In 2009, it received $74.2 million in cancer-related research funding and opened 221 clinical trials for cancer patients. Researchers from Holden have made major contributions to the field of oncology, such as a vaccine currently in clinical trial to treat and prevent prostate cancer.
University of Kansas Medical Center (Kansas City). The University of Kansas Cancer Center has earned the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. The center is partnered with the Kansas Masonic Cancer Research Institute, which is furthering KU Cancer Center's cause to achieve designation by the National Cancer Institute, for which it has already applied. Researchers at the center have recently started a clinical trial targeting the most common form of adult leukemia with a drug that was first approved to treat arthritis more than 25 years ago.
University of Maryland Medical Center (Baltimore). With roots stemming back to 1965, the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center is a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center and is also accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. The center also has major partnerships with the state of Maryland, the American Cancer Society and other cancer organizations in the private industry. In March 2011, Director Kevin J. Cullen, MD, was named to serve a six-year appointment on the National Cancer Advisory Board by President Obama. Dr. Cullen led a landmark study that linked HPV to racial disparities in survival rates for head-and-neck cancer.
University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers (Ann Arbor). The U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center has been recognized by the National Cancer Institute as a comprehensive institution. It was also a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Center Network, which is comprised of 21 cancer centers around the country. In 2010, the center saw nearly 84,000 outpatient visits. More than 350 U-M faculty members provide care to patients while also collaborating on oncology research. Each year, the institute receives about $79.5 million in grants from various cancer agencies.
University of Minnesota Medical Center (Minneapolis). University of Minnesota Medical Center is partnered with the university's Masonic Cancer Center, which was founded in 1991. As a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, Masonic is a leader in cancer research — the world's first successful bone marrow transplant for Burkitt's lymphoma was performed here. The center was recently qualified in the National Cancer Institute Centers of Quantitative Imaging Excellence program, meaning its imaging services are advanced enough for use in NCI clinical trials.
University of North Carolina Hospitals (Chapel Hill). The N.C. Cancer Hospital is the clinical home to UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center that was established in 1975. N.C. Hospital was completed in 2009 and is now home to 110 faculty physicians, all of whom are members of UNC Cancer Care. The hospital sees more than 100,000 patient visits each year. It offers more than 225 clinical trials and more than 300 scientists who help translate research into treatment options for patients.
University of Rochester (N.Y.) Medical Center. Radiation oncology experts at University of Rochester's Wilmot Cancer Center were the first to successfully take a new brain cancer treatment — shaped-beam radiosurgery — and apply it to patients suffering from cancer that spread to the lungs and other organs. Scientists from the center also discovered a method to protect against HPV strains, which led to the first anti-cancer and HPV vaccine approved by the FDA in 2006. The National Cancer Institute recently awarded Wilmot a five-year grant of $2.6 million to help young smokers quit.
USC Norris Cancer Hospital (Los Angeles). The USC Norris Comprehensive Center includes approximately 200 basic and scientists and physicians from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. It has held National Cancer Institute-designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center since 1973, when it was one of only eight in the nation. The center currently holds roughly $134 million in oncology research grants. It includes USC Norris Cancer Hospital, one of only a handful facilities in Southern California built exclusively for cancer patient care. In November 2011, the American Cancer Society awarded the cancer center's director, Peter A. Jones, PhD, the Medal of Honor for his research into the epigenetics of cancer.
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston). MD Anderson ranks first in the country for number of grants awarded and total amount of grant dollars from the National Cancer Institute. Some of the largest strides in cancer research have occurred within the walls of MD Anderson. In the 1970s, researchers proved that metastasis is a non-random process. The center also pioneered chemotherapy in outpatient settings in the 1980s and early 1990s — a practice that is widely followed today and is more cost-effective for patients.
University of Washington Medical Center (Seattle). UW Medicine is part of the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, which affiliates UW Medicine, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Seattle Children's for oncology-related and cancer services. The alliance is accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer along with several other oncology-related agencies. In 2011, researchers conducted the first complete genome mapping of lethal prostate cancers to discover a series of recurrent genetic errors and patterns. Construction of a proton therapy center on the center's Northwest Hospital campus is under way and slated to open in 2013 for adult and pediatric patients.
University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics (Madison). The University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center was formed in 1973 and is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Wisconsin. It includes more than 280 physicians and scientists who translate research into treatments for the more than 30,000 patients who visit UW Carbone each year. UW Carbone developed tomotherapy, which is a specialized form of radiation that targets cancer cells while avoiding healthy cells and organs. It was also the sponsor of the country's first telephone-based helpline for cancer patients. That has since become the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service.
University of Virginia Medical Center (Charlottesville). The Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center at University of Virginia Medical Center opened its doors to patients in April 2011. It's the first center in the country to offer the latest version of tomotherapy. The center is a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center, and its new facility also offers extensive patient amenities, such as a positive-image boutique that carries mastectomy garments, wigs and special skin care products.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Nashville, Tenn.). Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center was established in 1993. It's the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Tennessee and also a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance comprised of 21 centers across the nation. More than 300 researchers and 120 clinicians meet the needs of the 4,500 new cancer patients who visit Vanderbilt each year. The center's director, Jennifer Pietenpol, PhD, was invited to join the President's National Cancer Advisory Board in 1998.
Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center (Richmond). VCU Massey Cancer Center was designated by the National Cancer Institute in 1974 and has kept that recognition since. Roughly 14,000 patients visit VCU Massey each year, where more than 400 clinicians deliver care and develop treatment plans in a team-based approach. Patients have access to more than 100 clinical trials offering innovative treatments for more than 20 types of cancer. VCU Massey researcher Steven Grant, MD, was recently asked to serve on the NCI's Investigational Drug Steering Committee.
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center (Winston-Salem, N.C.). The Comprehensive Cancer Center at Wake Forest Baptist is home to more than 120 clinicians and oncologists with expertise in all aspects among the cancer continuum. The center is the first in the region to be fully accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers, and the National Cancer Institute has also designated Wake Forest as a comprehensive cancer center. In the past, the Department of Defense has awarded physicians from Wake Forest with fellowships to study the effect of carbon nanotubes on breast cancer stem cells.
Yale-New Haven (Conn.) Hospital. The Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven treats more cancer patients than any hospital in the state. It's partnered with the Yale Cancer Center, which has been accredited by the National Cancer Institute, and Yale School of Medicine. Yale-New Haven has dedicated an entire program to cardio-oncology, which addresses any cardiovascular complications from cancer or treatment. Yale School of Medicine was the first in the country to establish an academic-based oncology division, and Yale New-Haven was also the first hospital to successfully use chemotherapy in 1942.
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