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Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a
cancer treatment Cancer treatments are a wide range of treatments available for the many different types of cancer, with each cancer type needing its own specific treatment. Treatments can include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, targ ...
and research institution in
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. MSKCC is one of 72
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 Centers. Its main campus is located at 1275 York Avenue between 67th and 68th Streets in Manhattan. It was formed in 1980 from the merger of the ''Memorial Hospital for the Treatment of Cancer and Allied Diseases'', founded in 1884, and the adjacent ''Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research'', founded in 1945. The two medical entities had formally coordinated their operations since 1960.


History


Early history of Memorial Hospital (1884–1934)

The hospital was founded in its original building on the
Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...
of
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
in 1884 as ''New York Cancer Hospital'' by a group that included John Jacob Astor III and his wife Charlotte. The hospital appointed as an attending surgeon William B. Coley, who pioneered an early form of immunotherapy to eradicate tumors. Rose Hawthorne, daughter of author
Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (né Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associat ...
, trained there in the summer of 1896 before founding her own order, Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne. In 1899, the hospital was renamed ''General Memorial Hospital for the Treatment of Cancer and Allied Diseases''. In 1902, Arabella Huntington made a (equivalent to $million in ) bequest in memory of her late husband
Collis Potter Huntington Collis Potter Huntington (October 22, 1821 – August 13, 1900) was an American industrialist and railway magnate. He was one of the Big Four of western railroading (along with Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker) who invested ...
to establish the first cancer research fund in the country, the Huntington Fund for Cancer Research. Around 1910, James Ewing, a professor at
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
's medical college, established a collaboration with Memorial Hospital with the help and funding of industrialist and philanthropist James Douglas, who gave $100,000 (equivalent to $million in ) to endow twenty beds for clinical research, equipment for working with
radium Radium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Ra and atomic number 88. It is the sixth element in alkaline earth metal, group 2 of the periodic table, also known as the alkaline earth metals. Pure radium is silvery-white, ...
, and a clinical laboratory for that purpose. Douglas' enthusiasm and funding for development of
radiation therapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a therapy, treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of treatment of cancer, cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignancy, malignant cell (biology), ...
for cancer inspired Ewing to become one of the pioneers in developing this treatment. Ewing soon took over effective leadership of clinical and laboratory research at Memorial. In 1916 the hospital was renamed again, dropping "General" to become known as Memorial Hospital for the Treatment of Cancer and Allied Diseases. The first fellowship training program in the U.S. was created at Memorial in 1927, funded by the Rockefellers. In 1931 the then-most-powerful 900k-volt
X-ray tube An X-ray tube is a vacuum tube that converts electrical input power into X-rays. The availability of this controllable source of X-rays created the field of radiography, the imaging of partly opaque objects with penetrating radiation. In contras ...
was put into use in radiation-based cancer treatment at Memorial; the tube had been built by
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...
over several years. In 1931 Ewing was formally appointed president of the hospital, a role he had effectively played until then, and was featured on the cover of ''Time'' magazine as "Cancer Man Ewing"; the accompanying article described his role as one of the most important cancer doctors of his era. He worked at the Memorial until his retirement, in 1939. Under his leadership, Memorial became a model for other cancer centers in the United States, combining patient care with clinical and laboratory research, and it was said of him that "the relationship of Ewing to the Memorial Hospital can best be expressed in the words of Emerson, 'Every institution is but the lengthening shadow of some man.' Dr. Ewing is the Memorial Hospital".


Memorial Hospital and the Sloan Kettering Institute (1934–1980)

In 1934, John D. Rockefeller Jr. donated land on York Avenue for a new location. Two years later, he granted Memorial Hospital for the Treatment of Cancer and Allied Diseases (Memorial Hospital) $3.0million (equivalent to $million in ) and the hospital began their move across town. Memorial Hospital officially reopened at the new location in 1939. In 1945, the chairman of
General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
,
Alfred P. Sloan Alfred Pritchard Sloan Jr. ( ; May 23, 1875February 17, 1966) was an American business executive in the automotive industry. He was a longtime president, chairman and CEO of General Motors Corporation. First as a senior executive and later as ...
, donated $4.0million (equivalent to $million in ) to create the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research through his Sloan Foundation, and Charles F. Kettering, GM's vice president and director of research, personally agreed to oversee the organization of a cancer research program based on industrial techniques. The originally independent research institute was built adjacent to Memorial Hospital. In 1948, Cornelius P. Rhoads became the director of Memorial. Rhoads had run
chemical weapons A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as ...
programs for the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
in
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, and had been involved in the work that led to the discovery that
nitrogen mustard Nitrogen mustards (NMs) are cytotoxic organic compounds with the bis(2-chloroethyl)amino ((ClC2H4)2NR) functional group. Although originally produced as chemical warfare agents, they were the first chemotherapeutic agents for treatment of canc ...
s could potentially be used as cancer drugs. He fostered a collaboration between Joseph H. Burchenal, a clinician at Memorial and Gertrude B. Elion and George H. Hitchings at
Burroughs Wellcome GSK plc (an acronym from its former name GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 by a Mergers an ...
, who discovered 6 MP; the collaboration led to the development and eventual wide use of this cancer drug. From the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s Chester M. Southam conducted pioneering
clinical research Clinical research is a branch of medical research that involves people and aims to determine the effectiveness (efficacy) and safety of medications, devices, diagnostic products, and treatment regimens intended for improving human health. The ...
on virotherapy and cancer immunotherapy at MSK; however he conducted his research on people without their
informed consent Informed consent is an applied ethics principle that a person must have sufficient information and understanding before making decisions about accepting risk. Pertinent information may include risks and benefits of treatments, alternative treatme ...
. He did this to patients under his care or others' care, and to prisoners. In 1963 some doctors objected to the lack of consent in his experiments and reported him to the Regents of the
University of the State of New York The University of the State of New York (USNY, ) is the state governmental umbrella organization that oversees all educational institutions, including schools, libraries, and museums in New York State. It is governed by the Board of Regents. D ...
which found him guilty of fraud, deceit, and unprofessional conduct, and in the end, he was placed on probation for a year. Southam's research experiments and the case at the Regents were covered in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. In 1960, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center was formed as a new corporation to coordinate the two institutions, and John Heller, the former director of the National Cancer Institute was named its president. At the end of the 1960s, as the field of pediatric oncology began seeing success in treating children with cancer, Memorial opened an
outpatient A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other healt ...
pediatric day hospital, partly to deal with the growing number of cancer survivors. In the early 1970s, Burchenal and Benno Schmidt, a professional investor and trustee of MSK, were appointed to the presidential panel that initiated the U.S. federal government's War on Cancer in the early 1970s. When Congress passed the National Cancer Act of 1971 as part of that effort, Memorial Sloan Kettering was designated as one of only three Comprehensive Cancer Centers nationwide. In 1977, Jimmie C. Holland established a full-time psychiatric service at MSK dedicated to helping people with cancer cope with their disease and its treatment; it was one of the first such programs and was part of the creation of the field of psycho-oncology.


Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (1980–present)

In 1980, Memorial Hospital and the Sloan-Kettering Institute formally merged into a singe entity under the name Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In 1985, , Erich Platzer, Janice Gabrilove, Roland Mertelsmann and Malcolm Moore at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) purified human G-CSF. In 1986, the center patented the method of producing and using human G-CSF under the name "''human hematopoietic pluripotent colony stimulating factor''" (P-CSF). Also in 1986, Shigekazu Nagata's team and Lawrence Souza's team at
Amgen Amgen Inc. (formerly Applied Molecular Genetics Inc.) is an American multinational biopharmaceutical Corporation, company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. As one of the world's largest independent biotechnology companies, Amgen has a ...
cloned the G-CSF gene for production and its clinical use. In 1990 it entered an agreement with
Amgen Amgen Inc. (formerly Applied Molecular Genetics Inc.) is an American multinational biopharmaceutical Corporation, company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. As one of the world's largest independent biotechnology companies, Amgen has a ...
to receive royalties for the recombinant granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, the basis for neupogen and neulasta, earning the institute over $100 million. In 2000, former NIH director
Harold Varmus Harold Eliot Varmus (born December 18, 1939) is an American Nobel Prize-winning scientist. He is currently the Lewis Thomas University Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and a senior associate at the New York Genome Center. He was ...
became director of MSK. During his tenure, he helped build new facilities, strengthened the bond between MSK's clinical and research arms, and fostered collaborations with other institutions, including Weill-Cornell Medical College and Rockefeller University. In 2006, MSK opened the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Research Center, a 23-story building that houses over 100 laboratories. In 2009 it opened the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center. In 2010, Craig B. Thompson, an oncologist and researcher, was appointed MSK's president and CEO. The following year, MSK was rated the third most successful nonprofit in terms of FDA-approved drugs and vaccines, behind the National Institutes of Health and the University of California system. In 2012, Thompson appointed José Baselga as physician-in-chief, who directed the clinical side of MSK. That same year, a collaboration with
IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
's Watson was announced with the goal of developing new tools and resources to better tailor diagnostic and treatment recommendations for patients. The director of SKI, the research arm of MSK, Joan Massagué was appointed in 2013. Baselga resigned in September 2018 after information came out regarding millions of dollars he received from pharmaceutical companies without disclosing a financial conflict of interest. In 2015 it opened the Josie Robertson Surgery Center for outpatient surgeries, named in honor of the wife of philanthropist
Julian Robertson Julian Hart Robertson Jr. (June 25, 1932 – August 23, 2022) was an American hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. Robertson founded Tiger Management, one of the first hedge funds, in 1980. From its inception in 1980 to its 1998 asset pe ...
. In 2017, the
Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...
approved an MSK-developed immunotherapy, CAR-T, for certain applications in
leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...
and
lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...
. The FDA approved the first academic or commercial tumor identification test MSK-IMPACT in November 2018. In 2020 it opened The David H. Koch Center for Cancer Care as an outpatient facility. In April 2022, MSK announced a $50 million donation from The Starr Foundation to aid in expanding funding for basic cancer research and discovery science. The donation will establish The Starr Foundation programme for Discovery Science at the Sloan Kettering Institute, the goal of the institute is to drive next-generation cancer breakthroughs. In June 2022, a small trial of an experimental treatment found that tumors vanished in all 14 patients diagnosed with early stage rectal cancer who completed the study by the time it was published. In 2023 MSK received a donation of $400 million from
David Geffen David Lawrence Geffen (born February 21, 1943) is an American film producer, record executive, and media proprietor. In music, he co-founded Asylum Records with Elliot Roberts in 1971 before founding Geffen Records in 1980, DGC Records in 1 ...
and Kenneth C. Griffin. MSK has expanded into regional sites, including in
Westchester County, New York Westchester County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The c ...
, Commack, Hauppauge, Rockville Centre on
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
, and
Bergen County Bergen County is the List of counties in New Jersey, most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Monmouth County, and Basking Ridge in
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
. MSK currently employs over 1,200 physicians and treats patients with approximately 400 types of cancer annually.


Associated facilities and programs

The Memorial Sloan Kettering Bendheim Integrative Medicine Center is a stand alone outpatient facility developed from the Integrative Medicine Service that began in 1999. The Center for Image-Guided Intervention was opened in June 2010 in the Memorial Hospital building to oversee image guiding activities across MSK. In October 2012, the Sillerman Center for Rehabilitation was opened, moving rehabilitation out of Memorial Hospital and closer to the Rockefeller Outpatient Pavilion. The New York Proton Center opened in 2019 as a partnership between Memorial Sloan Kettering, Montefiore Health, and
Mount Sinai Health System The Mount Sinai Health System is the largest hospital network in New York City. It was formed in September 2013 by merging the operations of Continuum Health Partners and Mount Sinai Medical Center. The Health System is structured around eight ...
. The center was the first proton therapy center to open in
New York state New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...
. The David H. Koch Center for Cancer Care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center opened at 530 East 74th Street between York Avenue and FDR Drive January 2020.
Perkins Eastman Perkins Eastman is an international architecture, urban design, planning, strategic consulting, and interior design firm. Headquartered in New York City, the firm is led by founding Principals Bradford Perkins (architect), Bradford Perkins and M ...
designed 750,000 sq ft facility in collaboration with
Ennead Architects Ennead Architects LLP (/ˈenēˌad/) is a New York City-based architectural firm. The firm was founded in 1963 by James Polshek, who left the firm in 2005 when it was known as Polshek Partnership. The firm's partners renamed their practice in mid ...
and ICRAVE. Thornton Tomasetti served as
structural engineer Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research List of structural elements, structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants. Their work takes account mainly of ...
, with
Jaros, Baum & Bolles Jaros, Baum & Bolles Consulting Engineers, LLP (JB&B) is an American MEP ( Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing) and consulting engineering firm founded in 1915 by Alfred L. Jaros, Jr. and Albert L. Baum. The firm is best known for high-rise proj ...
providing MEP engineering.


India Center

The center launched its
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
facility in
Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
in August 2022, to provide telemedicine services in collaboration with iCiliniq to facilitate second opinion from the cancer specialists, without the need to travel to a U.S. facility.


Training

Approximately 1,700 medical residents and Fellows are in training at MSK. There are 575 postdoctoral researchers training at MSK labs and a combined 288 PhD and MD-PhD candidates. In 2004, the Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences was opened at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The first students graduated in 2012. As of January 2019, the dean of the graduate school is cell biologist Michael Overholtzer. The founding dean, serving for over a decade, was molecular biologist Ken Marians. The
Tri-Institutional MD–PhD Program The Tri-Institutional MD–PhD Program is a MD–PhD degree program based in Upper East Side, New York City. Introduced in 1991, the current program is operated by Weill Cornell Medicine, Rockefeller University, and Memorial Sloan Kettering C ...
is a partnership of MSKCC,
Weill Cornell Medicine Weill Cornell Medicine (; officially Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University), originally Cornell University Medical College, is the medical school of Cornell University, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in Ne ...
, and The Rockefeller University. The dual degree program takes advantage of the close proximity of these three institutions for collaboration on biomedical research and medical training. MSKCC also has an academic partnership with Weill Cornell Medicine known as the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences.


Notable faculty


Presidents

The following individuals have served as president, first of the overarching corporation (1960–1980), and later of the combined hospital (1980 onwards). * John R. Heller, 1960–1961 * Richard D. Vanderwarker, 1962–1971 * David Walsh, 1971–1973 * Lewis Thomas, 1973–1980 * Paul A. Marks, 1980–1999 *
Harold Varmus Harold Eliot Varmus (born December 18, 1939) is an American Nobel Prize-winning scientist. He is currently the Lewis Thomas University Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and a senior associate at the New York Genome Center. He was ...
, 2000–2010 * Craig B. Thompson, 2010–2022 * Selwyn M. Vickers, 2022–


Presidents of the Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases

* John E. Parsons, 1884–1915 * Herbert Parsons, 1915–1917 * George C. Clark, 1917–1919 * Herbert Parsons, 1919–1923 * Walter Douglas, 1924–1932 * Harry P. Robbins, 1933–1944 * Reginald G. Coombe, 1945–1950 * Laurance Rockefeller, 1950–1958 * B. Brewster Jennings, 1958–1961 * Ogden White, 1962–1964 * John M. Walker, 1965–1973 * James D. Robinson III, 1974–1980


Presidents of the Sloan Kettering Institute

* Frank A. Howard, 1945–1959 * Frank L. Horsfall, 1960–1971 * Leo Wade, 1971–1972 * Robert A. Good, 1973–1980


Others

* James P. Allison * Kathryn V. Anderson * Esther Babady * Edward Boyse * Murray Brennan * Carol L. Brown * Samuel Danishefsky * Nori Dattatreyudu * Lisa DeAngelis * Jeffrey Drebin * Jimmie C. Holland * Jerard Hurwitz * Maria Jasin * Alex Kentsis * David Kissane * Mathilde Krim * Iris Long * Scott W. Lowe * Joan Massagué * John Mendelsohn * Kenneth Offit * Lloyd Old * Nikola P. Pavletich *
Mark S. Ptashne Mark Ptashne (born June 5, 1940, in Chicago) is a molecular biology, molecular biologist. He is the Ludwig Chair of Molecular Biology at Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Ptashne grew up in Chicago. He earned his underg ...
* Ora Mendelsohn Rosen * James Rothman * Alexander Rudensky * Valerie Rusch * Michel Sadelain * Charles Sawyers * Lorenz Studer * Doris L. Berryman


Reputation

In 2015, Charity Watch rated Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center an "A". That same year, heads of the charity received $2,107,939 to $2,639,669 salary/compensation from the charity. CEO Craig B. Thompson received $2,554,085 salary/compensation from the charity.


See also

*
National Comprehensive Cancer Network The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) is an alliance of 33 cancer centers in the United States, most of which are designated by the National Cancer Institute (one of the U.S. National Institutes of Health) as comprehensive cancer cent ...
*
Tri-Institutional MD–PhD Program The Tri-Institutional MD–PhD Program is a MD–PhD degree program based in Upper East Side, New York City. Introduced in 1991, the current program is operated by Weill Cornell Medicine, Rockefeller University, and Memorial Sloan Kettering C ...
* Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Cancer research organizations 1884 establishments in New York (state) Buildings and structures completed in 1973 Cancer hospitals Charles F. Kettering Hospitals established in 1884 Hospitals in Manhattan Institutions founded by the Rockefeller family Medical research institutes in New York (state) NCI-designated cancer centers Upper East Side