We Set the Model
Dr. Roswell Park wanted to create an institute dedicated solely to the study of cancer and equipped with modern tools to understand and control it. He said, “the knowledge and skill of the pathologist, the biologist, the chemist, and the physician must be combined…and the surgeons must join actively in the cooperative work in one dedicated setting.”
His vision created a dynamic research engine that became a model for other cancer centers around the world.
Roswell Park Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Pivotal Congressional Visit
NCI Designated
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has continuously designated Roswell Park as a comprehensive cancer center for more than four decades, placing it among the top cancer centers around the globe.
Founded in 1898 and operating from a 29-acre campus on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) near downtown Buffalo, New York, Roswell Park today remains the only comprehensive cancer center designated by the NCI in Upstate New York, and one of only four NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers in all of New York.
Earlier Access to New, Promising Treatments
Our translational research model speeds the progress of promising ideas from one phase of research to the next, through clinical trials that accelerate new treatments from the lab to the patients who need them.
Sharing of Knowledge
Roswell Park’s multidisciplinary teams share their knowledge of novel treatments, new ideas and inventive therapies with their fellow cancer experts locally and globally — every single day.
Better Patient Outcomes
Three major studies found long-term survival rates improved 6% to 20% overall, and within specific cancer types, for patients treated from the start at NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers, compared to those treated in other settings.
On July 29, 2021, the Cancer History Project convened panelists Candace S. Johnson, president and CEO of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Craig B. Thompson, president and CEO of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Peter WT Pisters, president of MD Anderson Cancer Center, for a two hour Zoom session moderated by co-editor Otis W. Brawley.
More than a century leading the way
Founded in 1898, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center was the first institution in the world to focus exclusively on cancer research. We grew from an idea that took shape in the mind of eminent surgeon Dr. Roswell Park: to create a powerful force against cancer by bringing together the knowledge and skills of pathologists, chemists, biologists, surgeons and other experts — all in one center. He believed that cancer could be eradicated only through well-organized scientific research, and that investigations in the laboratory and clinic should go hand-in-hand in order to accelerate discovery and speed the delivery of promising new treatments.
That vision has fueled more than a century’s worth of medical discoveries and breakthroughs, and Roswell Park has served as a model for cancer research centers around the world. The strong foundation Dr. Park built has expanded, transforming cancer care in a way he never could have imagined. From diagnosis through survivorship, our patients are surrounded by a multidisciplinary team of experts — doctors and nurses, physical therapists, nutritionists, psychologists and social workers — all working together to help them live long, healthy and happy lives.
