Specifications include, but are not limited to: MD Anderson was one of the first three federally designated comprehensive cancer centers by the National Cancer Act of 1971. A survey of health professionals has routinely ranked MD Anderson as one of the two premier cancer centers in the nation for the past eight years. Over 55,000 persons annually seek care at MD Anderson. The team approach to cancer care, pioneered at MD Anderson, has been strengthened by consolidating specialty clinics into multi-disciplinary care centers that allow patients to receive more ambulatory care and treatment in a single location. MD Anderson offers one of the largest bone marrow and stem cell transplantation programs, as well as clinical trials to improve existing therapies. Teams of clinical specialists collaborate with scientists on problems of common interest and test theories that shorten the application of better treatment methods. Translational research studies are responsible for the promising field of chemoprevention, which uses synthetic vitamins to reverse pre-malignant lesions and halt the recurrence of some cancers, and for innovative gene therapy strategies being evaluated for several forms ofcancer.
