MD Anderson Leads List of Best Cancer Care Centers in U.S., While Mayo Clinic Named Country’s Top Hospital

There was little change from the previous year when it came to hospital rankings, with MD Anderson, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota again taking the top three spots.

Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center in Boston moved up into the fourth spot while the Cleveland Clinic held steady at five.

Sixth was a tie between Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

The UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles was one of the new additions to the list at number eight while nearby Cedars-Sinai Medical Center came in at nine.

Rounding things out was the second new entry, the Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian in Philadelphia.

To determine the best cancer care centers, each hospital was assessed in the following categories:

• 30-day survival
• patient experience
• the rate of discharging patients home
• volume of patients
• key programs such as hospice, pain management and palliative care
• nurse staffing
• intensive care unit specialists
• patient services
• expert opinion from board-certified oncologists

The data to determine this year’s list all predated the coronavirus pandemic, which could result in some changes when the list is released next year.

The full list:

• No. 10: Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian, Philadelphia
• No. 9: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles
• No. 8: UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles
• No. 6: (tie) Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago
• No. 6: (tie) Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore
• No. 5: Cleveland Clinic
• No. 4: Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center, Boston
• No. 3: Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
• No. 2: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City
• No. 1: University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston

Eight of these ten institutions also scored a spot on the list of top hospitals.

Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston was ranked 14, just behind the Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian.

Northwestern Memorial ranked number 10 in the country while Cedars Sinai snagged the sixth spot.

Johns Hopkins came in at four, the UCLA Medical Center moved into third place, and runner-up Cleveland Clinic earned the number two ranking.

And while it did not earn the distinction of top cancer care center, the Mayo Clinic was again deemed the best hospital in the country.

Seeking Care at a Comprehensive Cancer Care Center

Major cancer centers offer a comprehensive team-based approach to treating your cancer. The team includes a surgical oncologist, medical oncologist, pathologist and radiologist, as well as other specialists. All of these doctors convene to form a tumor board where they discuss your case, often and in depth. These meetings assure that everyone is on the same page, and allow your team to monitor the results in real time and tweak or refine your treatment when needed. The National Cancer Institute provides a list of all cancer centers in the United States.

This is not to say that every cancer should be treated in a major cancer center. Such centers are typically recommended when a cancer is rare, complex or extremely aggressive.

In a previous interview with SurvivorNet, Dr. Ramez Eskander, a gynecologic oncologist at the University of California, San Diego, offered tips for ovarian cancer patients selecting a treatment center.

"Figuring out where to go can be an incredibly complex question," says Dr. Eskander. Very often, "I have families walk into my office and say, 'I don't know where to start' or 'I didn’t know where to start,' or 'I was told that I may have an ovarian cancer and my physician said to go to a particular provider…'"

Dr. Eskander says he recommends that if at all possible, ovarian cancer patients get their treatment at an NCI-designated cancer center, which must meet rigorous standards for transdisciplinary, state-of-the-art research focused on developing new and better approaches to preventing, diagnosing, and treating cancer.

What does that mean for you? Dr. Eskander explains:

• NCI-designated cancer centers have opportunities for clinical trial enrollment, which can be really important both at initial diagnosis and at recurrence
• Doctors work collaboratively with specialists. For instance, during your surgery, there are other surgical specialists who can be present if you have cancer in other organs or places that might require their expertise
• NCI-designated cancer centers will likely offer patients access to support groups and social networks
• Patients may have access to chemotherapy education classes to learn about the drugs they’re receiving for treatment

The bottom line, says Dr. Eskander, is that "we have research infrastructure built into the cancer center that’s continually driving drug discovery and opportunities to hopefully help our patients now and potentially our patients in the future. I take pride in saying that UC San Diego is the only NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center in San Diego County."

Dr. Ramez Eskander offers key considerations for choosing a cancer care team.

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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