Perlmutter Cancer Center Earns Comprehensive Status from the National Cancer Institute

BROOKLYN, N.Y., Feb. 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Health has been designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the nation's authority in cancer research and support. This recognition of excellence moves Perlmutter Cancer Center into the elite group of 50 cancer centers across the country that have earned this distinction. 

Perlmutter Cancer Center received an overall "outstanding" rating on the competitive renewal of its Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG), which will provide nearly $20 million in new funding for research programs, infrastructure and technology. That is a 51 percent increase from its last grant.

For patients, an NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center provides state-of-the-art, 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, and population/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
• Educating the next generation of cancer researchers and healthcare professionals

Perlmutter Cancer Center's designation was awarded after a rigorous 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.

"Over the past several years, NYU Langone Health and its Perlmutter Cancer Center have renewed and expanded its commitment to advancing cancer care and, in doing so, has achieved many important milestones, including strengthening our faculty, broadening our research portfolio, particularly in clinical and translational research, and improving patient care and quality standards," says Benjamin G. Neel, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and director of Perlmutter Cancer Center. "We are proud of what we have accomplished, and gratified that our efforts have been rewarded with our elevation to NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center status."

Excellence Accelerated Through Achievements in Clinical Care & Research

Over the past five years, Perlmutter Cancer Center has seen a 110 percent increase in new patients and has more than doubled the number of patients enrolled in clinical trials. It also has recruited more than 20 nationally and internationally renowned faculty members to leadership positions.

Faculty from Perlmutter Cancer Center have been responsible for groundbreaking and practice-changing research in several areas, including 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. Cancer center laboratory researchers also identified new mechanisms for better understanding cancer proliferation and how it metastasizes throughout the body. These include the discovery of a novel mechanism by which pancreas cancer cells obtain nutrients by "eating" proteins in the blood, and the identification of several new potential targets for immune therapy of cancer.

Along with NYU Langone's Department of Population Health, Perlmutter Cancer Center promotes greater access to care for patients across all socio-economic backgrounds through innovative programs, such as the Beatrice W. Welters Breast Health Outreach and Navigation Program and the Communities Partnering in Navigation in New York City Program. With its more than 20 locations throughout New York City, Perlmutter Cancer Center has extended its reach beyond Manhattan and into New York City's outer boroughs, Long Island and other parts of the tristate area. 

"This prestigious designation from NCI is a testament to the great strides we have made at Perlmutter Cancer Center," says Robert I. Grossman, MD, Dean and CEO of NYU Langone Health. "It also reaffirms our mission to provide all of our patients the highest level of care and the opportunity to take advantages of the latest scientific discoveries."

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SOURCE NYU Langone Health

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