Cancer Medicine

The Cancer Medicine division is the largest of the 12 divisions that comprise MD Anderson Cancer Center. The division consists of 16 academic medical oncology departments and affiliated labs, and a renowned accredited Hematology/Medical Oncology Fellowship Program. The division also offers General Oncology services at MD Anderson's Houston-area locations in League City, Sugar Land, West Houston and The Woodlands, as well as through the Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital Oncology Program.

The goal of Cancer Medicine is to eliminate cancer and allied diseases through integrated programs in patient care, research, education, and prevention. The division is striving to realize this goal every year, as we build strong partnerships with the other MD Anderson divisions as well as with other cancer centers nationally and globally to develop more effective therapies that are targeted to each patient’s unique disease profile.

MD Anderson has more National Cancer Institute (NCI)-sponsored Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPOREs) than any other institution nationally, and Cancer Medicine faculty are investigators in all our SPOREs. The division has numerous mutually beneficial collaborative relationships globally—cooperative efforts that ultimately benefit patients with a wide array of cancer diseases by strengthening the capacity to develop effective, evidence-based treatments.

Many of the most effective cancer treatments available—such as CAR T-cell therapy and immunotherapy—were originally investigated through clinical trials led by Cancer Medicine faculty. Division investigators are now making progress in extending survival and improving quality of life for patients with the most refractory and difficult to treat malignancies such as lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, brain tumors, leukemia, lymphoma, and melanoma, as well as many challenging but rare tumors.  

Cancer Medicine faculty are actively engaged in research-driven patient care through our multidisciplinary care centers to offer the most effective approaches to cancer treatment and chemoprevention. Our cancer research programs are on the forefront in driving personalized medicine, drug discovery, immunotherapy and vaccine development, chemoprevention, and supportive care.