NYU LANGONE Health’s Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center has been designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Perlmutter Cancer Center is now among 50 cancer centers across the country to earn this distinction.
Perlmutter Cancer Center received an overall “outstanding” rating on the renewal of its Cancer Center Support Grant, which will provide nearly $20 million in new funding for research programs, infrastructure, and technology. That is a 51% increase from its previous grant.
An NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center provides patients with research-based approaches to preventing, detecting, and treating cancer. Comprehensive Cancer Centers are recognized for the depth and breadth of their basic science and clinical research, in addition to cancer prevention, control, population and behavioral sciences, and education and training of cancer researchers and clinicians.
Comprehensive Cancer Center status is the highest ranking awarded by the NCI. Perlmutter Cancer Center achieved this ranking by demonstrating success in conducting basic laboratory, translational, and clinical research; developing and offering the most advanced therapies and innovative clinical trials; studying the prevention, patterns, causes, and control of cancer in diverse populations; and educating the next generation of cancer researchers and health-care professionals. Perlmutter Cancer Center’s designation was awarded after an evaluation process conducted by the NCI that included submission of a written grant and a site visit conducted by more than two dozen scientists from peer institutions.
Growth and Achievements
OVER THE past 5 years, Perlmutter Cancer Center has seen a 110% increase in new patients and has more than doubled the number of patients enrolled in clinical trials. It has also recruited more than 20 nationally and internationally renowned faculty members to leadership positions.
Faculty from Perlmutter Cancer Center have been responsible for the discovery of the first new treatment for bladder cancer in 30 years, new standards of care for childhood leukemia, and novel therapies for lung cancer and melanoma. Perlmutter Cancer Center laboratory researchers have also identified new mechanisms for better understanding of cancer proliferation and how it metastasizes throughout the body. Their findings include the discovery of a novel mechanism by which pancreatic cancer cells obtain nutrients—by “eating” proteins in the blood—and the identification of several new potential targets for cancer immunotherapy.
Along with NYU Langone’s Department of Population Health, Perlmutter Cancer Center promotes greater access to care for patients across all socioeconomic backgrounds through programs such as the Beatrice W. Welters Breast Health Outreach and Navigation Program and the Communities Partnering in Navigation in New York City Program. ■
