The Duke Cancer Institute (DCI) is a

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, research facility, and hospital. Founded in 1971, the center is part of the Duke University School of Medicine and

Duke University Health System The Duke University Health System is a private, not-for-profit, integrated healthcare system headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, United States. It combines the Duke University School of Medicine, Duke–NUS Medical School, Duke Univers ...

located in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The center specializes in the treatment and prevention of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

and was ranked 41st in the '' U.S. News & World Report's'' 2021 list of top cancer hospitals. More than 10,000 new cancer patients are seen at Duke each year. The institute signed the National Cancer Act of 1971 and became an NCI-designated cancer center in 1973. In November 2010, Victor Dzau, MD, chancellor of health affairs for Duke University, formally unveiled the Duke Cancer Institute, during the topping out ceremony for the new building. The DCI is a single entity—the first of its kind at Duke—that integrates and aligns patient care and basic and clinical research with the goals of improving patient outcomes, decreasing the burden of cancer and accelerating scientific progress. Michael B. Kastan, a cancer scientist and Director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, was named as the first Executive Director of the Duke Cancer Institute in May 2011. Eun-Sil Shelley Hwang became the institute's first female Chief of Breast Surgery. On February 27, 2012, the Duke Cancer Institute opened the Duke Cancer Center, a new seven-floor building devoted exclusively to cancer care.

Clinical milestones

In June 2018, the institute published a study in ''

The New England Journal of Medicine ''The New England Journal of Medicine'' (''NEJM'') is a weekly medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. Founded in 1812, the journal is among the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals. Its 2023 impact factor w ...

'' showing how a genetically modified poliovirus therapy improved long-term survival for patients with recurrent glioblastoma. Patients showed a three-year survival rate of 21 percent.

References

External links

Duke Cancer Institute Records at Duke University Medical Center Archives
{{authority control Hospital buildings completed in 1971 Hospital buildings completed in 2012 1971 establishments in North Carolina Hospitals established in 1971 Cancer organizations based in the United States Medical research institutes in North Carolina Hospitals in Durham, North Carolina NCI-designated cancer centers