What Does It Mean To Be An NCI-Designated Cancer Center?

It matters because a comprehensive cancer center must meet specific standards in its breadth and depth of cancer research. It means the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center is deemed a model for moving research discoveries, treatments and information from the research setting to our patients and the greater community, setting new standards for care. 

More importantly, however, it matters because of the impact a comprehensive cancer center can have on your care:  According to a 2015 study of individuals with newly diagnosed, adult-onset cancer, patients who were treated at a comprehensive cancer center experienced superior survival rates compared to patients treated at facilities that had not received this designation.

A comprehensive cancer center offers many benefits, including that it:

• Has already demonstrated, during an intense review process, that it has a critical mass of high-quality collaborative research, strong institutional support, a highly qualified director, appropriate facilities and the capacity to fulfill its research objectives
• Takes a leadership role in developing new approaches and strategies for preventing and treating cancer
• Delivers scientific and medical advances to cancer patients, their families, the general public and underserved populations 
• Instructs health care professionals in a variety of settings, thereby sharing the latest medical and scientific advances with the broader public
• Taps the latest scientific research to better identify and develop interventions for individuals who are at a high risk for cancer because of genetic, behavioral and environmental factors
• Seeks to educate all, and in particular those with an elevated risk for cancer, on the importance of a healthy lifestyle and early detection of cancer 

As a designated comprehensive cancer center, UChicago Medicine receives approximately $4 million in annual funding from the National Cancer Institute. This funding supports the infrastructure, management and initiatives that allow us to bring together cancer physicians and scientists from multiple disciplines to make important advances in cancer research and care. This ensures we are national leaders in clinical studies and that we can offer a robust clinical trials program with cancer studies open for enrollment. 

UChicago Medicine's Comprehensive Cancer Center is proud to be among an elite group of cancer centers acknowledged as the nation’s leaders in the fight against cancer.