Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center

The Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center is a cancer treatment, research, and education institution located in St. Louis, Missouri with six locations. It is the only cancer center in Missouri and within 240 miles of St. Louis to be designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the only area member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a nonprofit alliance of 32 cancer centers dedicated to improving the quality and effectiveness of cancer care.

In 2020 and 2015, Siteman received the highest rating possible – exceptional – by the NCI for cancer research. At Siteman’s reviews leading to the ratings, researchers presented their findings in genomics, cancer imaging, cancer prevention and disparities, and the use of the body’s immune system to fight cancer.

In 2022, Siteman was named the No. 10 U.S. cancer center by U.S. News & World Report. The recognition is part of the overall ranking of its parent institutions – Barnes-Jewish Hospital, which is No. 11 on the news magazine’s “U.S. News 2022-2023 Best Hospitals Honor Roll,” and Washington University School of Medicine, which is No. 11 on the newsmagazine’s “2023 Best Medical Schools: Research” list.

The institution treats more than 75,000 individual patients, including 12,000 newly diagnosed patients, every year. In 1999, Alvin J. and Ruth Siteman committed $35 million to the development of the Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital, which was the largest gift ever received by Barnes-Jewish and Washington University in support of cancer research, patient care and services, education, and community outreach.

In 2001, the NCI designated Siteman as a Cancer Center, which signaled that the institution had demonstrated significant scope and quality in its cancer research programs, and came with $850,000 per year in federal research grants. The NCI named Siteman a Comprehensive Cancer Center in 2005, recognizing its broad-based research, outreach, and education activities, and awarded the center a five-year, $21 million support grant.

The NCI renewed the designation in 2010 and awarded another five-year grant, totaling $23 million. The grants fund programs and specialized services that promote multidisciplinary research, as well as shared scientific resources and seed awards that enable investigators to develop and pursue new research opportunities.