Cancer Second Opinions - UChicago Medicine

Dr. Marina Garassino consults on a digital scan in a clinical setting.

At the Forefront of Cancer Care

If you have been diagnosed with cancer, where and how you start your care matters.

A second opinion from UChicago Medicine cancer experts can empower you with knowledge about your diagnosis and your treatment options, including therapies not widely available at most hospitals.

Ultimately, this can give you confidence about your care, provide a sense of control and help alleviate anxiety during a stressful time.

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Why Get a Second Opinion at the UChicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center?

Jessica Donington, MD, Olatoyosi Odenike, MD, Stanley Liauw, MD

Teams of Cancer Experts

You'll have access to doctors who specialize in your type of cancer. In fact, we have more than 200 physicians and scientists on our cancer team, with highly skilled support staff to match.

Nationally Recognized Cancer Care

We're one of only two NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in Illinois — the gold standard for cancer programs that is earned by the nation's top cancer centers.

A laboratory setting showing a Petri dish. We’re a leading academic medical center with an integrated research and clinical care approach.

Cancer Research & Clinical Trials

We’re a leading academic medical center with an integrated research and clinical care approach. That means you benefit from advanced technologies, resources and therapies other hospitals may not have.

An aerial view of UChicago Medicine's main campus with the Chicago skyline in the background.

Convenient Chicagoland Care

You and your family won’t be far from home during treatment. UChicago Medicine offers top-tier cancer care services at several locations throughout the Chicago region.

Convenient Locations for Cancer Care

What Does It Mean to Be an NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center?

An official comprehensive cancer center designation by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is the highest federal rating a cancer center can achieve. Learn what's required to earn this designation and how the UChicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center is shaping cancer care and research today and beyond.

Video Transcript

Comprehensive is in our name. But what does that mean? Comprehensive is the highest federal rating a cancer center can achieve from the National Cancer Institute, the federal agency overseeing the national cancer research effort.

It is a gold standard of excellence, awarded only to cancer centers with the deepest and broadest knowledge of cancer. These places have strengths in all the areas of cancer research, including prevention, early detection, treatment, and survivorship.

Out of the hundreds of thousands of facilities that specialize in cancer, only 70 are officially NCI designated. And of those, only 49 hold the special comprehensive status. This designation places us among the top tier of cancer centers in the country, and one of two in Illinois.

Comprehensive cancer centers serve as a model for moving new discoveries from the laboratory setting to reach patients and the greater community. In order to keep this designation and funding, every NCI designated cancer center must undergo an intense review process every five years to demonstrate that it has a critical mass of high quality, collaborative research that leads to big shifts in cancer care-- strong institutional support, a highly qualified director, state-of-the-art facilities, and the ability to bring physicians and scientists from multiple disciplines together.

For meeting all of these standards, we have earned the distinction as a Comprehensive Cancer Center. Our most recent review in 2017 earned our center an outstanding rating. This means that our patients benefit from being treated at a world-class research facility, with leading physicians and scientists who are dedicated to improving the prevention, detection and treatment of cancer in Chicago and beyond.

Second Opinions from Cancer Experts