NYU Langone Health’s Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center has once again been designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center, the highest-ranking awarded by the National Cancer Institute and further validation that it provides state-of-the-art, research-based approaches to preventing, detecting, and treating cancer. Perlmutter Cancer Center is one of only 56 institutions recognized across the nation for earning this elite distinction. This comes with a competing renewal of its Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG), which will provide nearly $20 million over five years in new funding for research programs, infrastructure, and technology.

This ranking was achieved through demonstrated success in the following areas:

• 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
• serving local communities with programs and services tailored to their unique needs

In the years since receiving comprehensive designation in 2019, Perlmutter Cancer Center has continued to expand, with more than three dozen sites across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island.

“Our expanded footprint allows us to serve one of the largest, most diverse populations in the nation and to provide extensive community outreach to offer patients the most advanced cancer care near where they live,” said Alec Kimmelman, MD, PhD, director of Perlmutter Cancer Center and the Anita Steckler and Joseph Steckler Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. “This redesignation affirms our accomplishments in cancer research and clinical trials, as well as many other cancer prevention and control initiatives.”

“Perlmutter Cancer Center continues to attract exceptional oncologists who recognize the unique and exciting opportunities that exist here to revolutionize the way we treat cancer,” said Robert I. Grossman, MD, chief executive officer of NYU Langone and dean of NYU Grossman School of Medicine. “I have no doubt that under Alec’s leadership, we will continue to elevate the compassionate and world-class care that we offer across NYU Langone.”

Research and Clinical Care Excellence

The world-renowned researchers of the Perlmutter Cancer Center investigate diagnostic approaches and treatment methods for all types of cancer, carried out through scientific research programs that include cancer cell biology, cancer genome dynamics, tumor immunology, and epidemiology and cancer control.

Recent research highlights include the Melanoma SPORE (NCI P50 Specialized Programs of Research Excellence), an $11 million grant to develop tools that predict which patients with advanced melanoma will benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitors. In addition, faculty continue to make breakthroughs in diagnosis and treatment for various cancers, such as combining chemoradiation with immunotherapy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer, new treatments for non-small cell lung cancer, using personalized mRNA vaccines for melanoma, and an antibody–drug conjugate in women with metastatic breast cancer.

Over the past five years, Perlmutter Cancer Center has tripled the size of its Clinical Trials Office, nearly doubled its trial accrual, and doubled its phase 1 trial portfolio. It has also continued to develop clinical programs to meet its patients’ needs. The Blood and Marrow Transplant Program received certification from the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT) to perform adult allogeneic transplant, expanding its services, and also opened up a physical location. Experts at Perlmutter Cancer Center have also implemented screening approaches to diagnose lung cancer in nonsmokers.

Media Inquiries

Ryan Dziuba
Phone: 646-581-8548
Ryan.Dziuba@NYULangone.org