National Cancer Institute Designation: What it is and Why it Matters

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has awarded the Wilmot Cancer Institute a special designation that places it in the top 4% of all cancer centers in the United States.

As the 73rd NCI-designated cancer center in the nation, Wilmot joins an elite class of institutions at the forefront of research, community engagement, education, training, and life-saving clinical care.

“We view this major validation as a new beginning,” says Wilmot Director Jonathan Friedberg, MD, MMSc, who led the effort to achieve NCI designation.

The NCI commends Wilmot for serving a unique and diverse part of New York—27 counties in the western and central part of the state—plagued by high cancer rates and challenges related to an aging population, poverty, and vast rural areas, which can impede access to care.

Wilmot is the only center covering this broad region, which is larger than Vermont and New Hampshire combined.

“It’s an extraordinary moment in the history of the cancer center at the University of Rochester. We are honored for our major achievements, persistence, and triumphs—big and small—that make Wilmot first-class,” Friedberg says. “But we’re not sitting on our laurels. This will unlock progress in many areas.”

What is NCI Designation?

It’s an exceptional level of support and investment from the NCI, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. Founded in 1937, the NCI is the government’s principal agency for cancer research and care.

Of an estimated 1,500 cancer centers in the country, only 73 have received this powerful designation.

It requires a demanding, years-long evaluation during which the NCI scrutinizes every aspect of leadership, strategy, operations, and research.

Wilmot’s award includes a $10 million grant, renewable after five years, and access to additional funding only available to NCI-designated centers.

The NCI raises expectations for designated centers to network and deliver breakthroughs in cancer care—and to provide exceptional access to clinical trials and public education and community outreach.

“There is no other verification program in medicine with rigor quite like the NCI designation process,” says University of Rochester Medical Center CEO David Linehan, MD, who has been involved since the beginning of Wilmot’s effort. He is an oncology surgeon-scientist and former leader of Wilmot’s clinical trials office.

Why Does NCI Designation Matter?

NCI designation is critical for innovation and superior cancer treatment.

NCI-designated centers must commit ample resources toward research, clinical trials, recruitment of outstanding scientists and physicians, and effective technology and facilities that will lead to better approaches to cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

The NCI continually re-evaluates its designated centers to confirm they are meeting the highest standards and advancing national scientific goals.

Cancer care has become more complex, and it can take years for the most modern treatment approaches—cultivated by research—to reach all cancer clinics in the country. But NCI centers are hardwired to be at the forefront.

“There’s a massive halo effect if you invest in the scientific mission that spills over to patient care,” Friedberg says. “I wouldn’t want to work at a place that wasn’t heavily committed to research.”

How Does NCI Designation Advance Patient Care?

NCI-designated centers may offer the best odds of surviving cancer.

Why? Because pioneering and progressive leaders are working as oncologists and researchers at NCI-designated centers—and patients benefit from the brightest minds, the boldest strategies, and adherence to the latest treatment recommendations.

Scientists have also structured their research programs so that discoveries move quickly toward safe and effective clinical trials, some of which are available to patients only at NCI-designated cancer centers.

“Magic happens when you have that infrastructure in place, when each side—clinicians and researchers—understand the unmet patient needs and work together in partnership to share their expertise,” Linehan says.

What Sets Wilmot Apart?

With NCI designation, Wilmot embarks on a new level of leadership regionally and nationally.

Plans include building new facilities, starting a drug-development program, and extending networks in the region. Wilmot will continue to make major strides toward the next generation of therapies, including promising immunotherapies and stem cell treatments, while providing exceptional community-based cancer prevention services, supportive care, and survivorship care.

The NCI prizes teamwork among researchers and clinicians because it holds the most promise for breakthroughs in cancer care.

Team science is a hallmark of Wilmot Cancer Institute and the University of Rochester. Patients seek out Wilmot for its highly respected multidisciplinary care, which, simply put, amounts to having up to a dozen cancer experts and caregivers working together on each case.

Wilmot’s reputation has long been celebrated at the national and international level—for leadership in writing new guidelines for cancer care, for clinical studies that change oncology practice, and for research that has contributed to two of the top five advances in care during the past 50 years: the HPV vaccine and anti-nausea treatments.