Siteman Cancer Center Recognized as National Leader in Cancer

National Recognition and Rankings 

Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine holds recognition as one of the highest ranked cancer institutes by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), among peer organizations and by other leading authorities, consistently achieving the highest rankings for cancer care regionally, nationally, and around the globe. 

Siteman Cancer Center recognitions include:  

• National Cancer Institute (NCI) Comprehensive Cancer Center designation – the highest level of recognition in the U.S. for cancer research. This means our patients receive the best possible care because they have access to more advanced clinical trials.  
• One of only a few cancer centers to receive the highest rating of the National Cancer Institute – as “Exceptional” – recognition we’ve held for over a decade.  
• The only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Missouri and central and southern Illinois. 
• Ranked among the nation’s leading cancer centers by U.S. News & World Report and Newsweek. 
• WashU Medicine physicians, faculty, and scientists are consistently recognized among the nation’s top cancer specialists.  
• One of the largest clinical cancer research programs in the region and among the top five nationally for patient volume – with more than 75,000 patients receiving care each year. 
• Leaders in integrated survivorship care for both children and adults. 

Patients and Physicians Seek Out Our Advanced Research  

At Siteman Cancer Center, our team is dedicated to improving cancer treatment. We do this through some of the most groundbreaking research, clinical trials, advanced technology, and prevention programs available today.  

Siteman Cancer Center is currently conducting hundreds of clinical trials that are exploring new treatments and therapies. 

• More than 1,600 active clinical research studies including 600+ therapeutic clinical trials offer patients investigational therapies not widely available to patients elsewhere in the country. 
• More than 9,000 patients were able to participate in a clinical trial at Siteman this year – more than nearly every other cancer center nationwide. 
• Our Siteman Kids program at St. Louis Children’s Hospital is one of only a few pediatric oncology programs within an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. This means WashU Medicine physicians at Siteman Cancer Center who have adult oncology leadership and a shared research infrastructure with pediatrics are treating your child.  
• Siteman Kids is the number one pediatric cancer program in the region, according to U.S. News & World report. We lead the region as the only National Cancer Institute (NCI) funded pediatric cancer center to provide experimental therapy. 

Scientific Leadership in Cancer Treatment

WashU Medicine researchers at Siteman Cancer Center have helped shape modern cancer medicine through discoveries that influence treatment worldwide. That collaboration helps advance the health of the population even outside of our center. It also increases the speed at which doctors can use innovative cancer therapies. 

• Siteman Cancer Center is an international leader in moving laboratory research into the clinic, including new methods and interventions to better diagnose, treat, and prevent cancer.  
• In just two years, Siteman developed over 70 clinical discoveries that either became FDA approved therapies or established new standard of care protocols for physicians.  
• Our leadership in cellular therapy and blood cancer research is unmatched nationwide, with experts performing 10,000+ stem cell transplants. 
• Very few U.S. cancer centers boast such an impressive portfolio of team science grants. We receive $185+ million annually for basic and clinical oncology research grants (including $66 million from the National Cancer Institute), funding 1,400+ research projects. These totals include three Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grants, for endometrial, leukemia and pancreatic research, as well as a Specialized Center of Research (SCOR) grant in lymphoma from Blood Cancer United, formerly known as the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  
• WashU Medicine faculty at Siteman filed for 198 patents in 2024 and have created 17 new startup companies over the past five years – each dedicated to improving patient outcomes across a variety of cancer types.  
• WashU researchers at Siteman aim to prevent disease or detect cancer early when it’s most treatable. One of the ways they led this was by creating a proprietary risk analysis tool for consumers called Your Disease Risk, which determines an individual’s risk of 12 cancers and six other chronic diseases.  

Siteman Cancer Center Accomplishments and Accreditation

Siteman Cancer Center, in partnership with Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine, has received accreditation from: 

• American College of Surgeons (ACS), a consortium of professional organizations dedicated to improving survival and quality of life for cancer patients through standard-setting, prevention, research, education and the monitoring of comprehensive quality of care. 
• Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT), a nonprofit co-founded by the International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy (ISCT) and the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT). The nonprofit handles voluntary inspection and accreditation in cellular therapy. 
• Siteman earned a prestigious Merit Extension Award from the NCI in 2023, extending Siteman’s current Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) for an additional two years, until 2027. It also provides $12 million to continue NCI support for innovative cancer research, training, prevention, and community outreach programs. 

Our state-of-the-art facilities put the patient at the center of it all. All of these efforts ensure we can reach the most people and provide them with the highest quality of care.

Siteman leads in patient-centered design for one-stop multidisciplinary care, a model that is a major trend in modern cancer center design.

Modern Facilities Centered on What Matters Most 

 

The Gary C. Werths Building at Siteman Cancer Center opened in the fall of 2024. It is a nine-story, 657,000-square-foot facility dedicated exclusively to outpatient cancer care, which is unusual for cancer centers of this scale.

One of the innovations of the Werths building is the care model embedded in the architecture. Patients at the building can see multiple cancer specialists, receive infusion or treatment, and access diagnostics and support services – all coordinated during a single visit, reducing the need for multiple appointments.

Connecting closely with WashU Medicine research programs and clinical trials, this location allows for faster translation of discoveries, direct access to experimental therapies, and stronger coordination between research and patient care.

Seven locations in St. Louis and surrounding regions provide convenient clinical access points for more people. WashU physicians coordinate their schedules to these locations so patients can see multiple physicians in one trip and have their entire treatment plan determined in a single visit.

Leadership in Prevention and Early Detection 

Our mission at Siteman Cancer Center is to prevent cancer in the community and transform patient care through scientific discovery. To lower cancer rates in our community, we’ve compiled resources  and led research efforts to promote health nationally and in our area.  

• A group of researchers, clinicians, programmers and health communication experts created the methodology and content of Your Disease Risk, Siteman’s educational, online risk assessment tool. 
• Siteman Cancer Center has long led work to meet the needs of those who are impacted by cancer disparities – with one of the first and longest-running programs in the country through our Program for the Elimination of Cancer Disparities (PECaD).  
• We are nationally recognized for leadership in breast screening and early detection, with a comprehensive approach to breast health in the community. We screen thousands of individuals each year and build community programs to promote prevention and early detection. 
• Siteman has one of the first ever dedicated young-onset colorectal cancer programs, focused on early detection of patients under age 50 and meeting the needs of a rising incidence population. 
• We are nationally recognized for leadership in lung cancer screening, particularly through use of low-dose CT scans. Siteman’s lung cancer screening program is the largest in Missouri, with thoracic radiologists who have been involved in significant lung cancer research and have been part of the original National Lung Screening Trial, which compared low-dose CT and standard chest X-ray as lung cancer screening methods. The trial’s findings led to the adoption of low-dose CT scans as the preferred screening method for lung cancer, significantly reducing the risk of dying from the disease.