Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center

The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University (Lurie Cancer Center) is a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. It is located on Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s downtown medical campus in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States.

Lurie Cancer Center is one of two NCI-designated cancer centers in Illinois and is a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and a member of the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium. Lurie Cancer Center’s physicians and scientists hold faculty appointments within the Feinberg School of Medicine, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and other academic units across Northwestern University. Together, they bring their combined knowledge and expertise to patients at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Ann & Robert H. Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center.

The center was founded in 1974 and was dedicated through a gift of endowment from the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Foundation in 1991. It treats nearly 17,000 new patients each year. In 1997, the center received the “comprehensive cancer center” designation from the National Cancer Institute, prompting a name change to the “Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center”. In 2017, teaching affiliate Lurie Children’s Hospital proposed an addition of 24 new pediatric beds for children with cancer and blood disorders.

In 2018, the center earned the highest rating possible from the National Cancer Institute, an “exceptional” ranking on the competitive renewal of its Cancer Center Support Grant, and a 36 percent increase in funding over the previous award. Lurie Cancer Center is geographically located inside many of the buildings on Northwestern University’s Chicago campus.

Collaborative research opportunities on Northwestern’s Chicago and Evanston campuses enable Lurie Cancer Center investigators to integrate the spectrum of basic, clinical and population-based research, and explore new ways to bridge these scientific areas. Lurie Cancer Center’s cancer program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital was ranked No. 6 in the country by U.S. News & World Report in its 2021-2022 list of Best Hospitals for Cancer, and #15 in the country for pediatric cancer (Lurie Children’s).