The University of Pennsylvania’s Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) has received an “exceptional” rating from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) during an extensive peer-review process for its five-year competitive research support grant. The rating is the highest possible for an NCI cancer center. It also signifies the renewal of the ACC’s status as a “comprehensive” center. The ACC is one of only 45 NCI-designated comprehensive centers in the U.S. and three in Pennsylvania.

Since the last competitive renewal process in 2010, faculty physicians and researchers have authored more than 5,000 cancer-related publications. In addition, the ACC’s research initiatives have been buoyed by an increase in NCI peer-reviewed funding. Today, ACC scientists are making unprecedented advances in cancer research with more than 1,000 active research projects and the largest portfolio of cancer clinical trials (over 550) in the Philadelphia region.