Comprehensive Cancer Centers: Their Locations and Role in Demonstration

Pursuant to the National Cancer Act of 1971, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) designated 17 comprehensive cancer centers across the country. Congress wanted these centers to be hubs of biomedical research, to link basic biomedical researchers and applied clinical care, and to be situated so that the majority of citizens would be within a reasonable distance. NCI estimates that it will take about 31 comprehensive centers to serve about 180 million people. So far, the 17 comprehensive centers have been part of institutions where cancer research programs already exist, and a balanced geographic distribution has not been achieved.