Jumping up 10 notches in one year, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center was rated 30th by U.S. News and World Report in its annual list of American hospitals that specialize in cancer treatment.
DHMC's Norris Cotton Cancer Center was the only cancer center in Northern New England named to the prestigious list, which will be published in U.S. News' July 28 issue.
The Cancer Center is also one of 39 facilities throughout the country designated as a "comprehensive cancer center" by the National Cancer Institute. It has been recognized by the medical community for its innovative research and its role as a leader in cancer prevention, early detection and drug development.
Recently, the Cancer Center has made the public limelight for its research demonstrating links between increases in teen smoking and movies, as well as research showing the effectiveness the use of common aspirin in preventing colorectal cancer and in its advances in immunotherapy.
Under Dr. Mark Israel, its director since 2001, the Cancer Center has doubled in physical size, recruited new staff and increased clinical trials and research programs. In the last two years, 20 cancer investigators have joined the facility.
"Our standing in the U.S. News rankings is yet another indication of our growing recognition as a leader in the world of cancer research and medicine," Israel said.
"Norris Cotton Cancer Center is an environment for innovation that draws on the entire Dartmouth community to deliver an extraordinary focus on cancer, and we are moving aggressively to make important contributions to cancer medicine."
This aggressiveness can be considered to be one of the reasons behind the Cancer Center's sudden rise to number 30, tying with Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Conn.
To make its assessments, U.S. News hired an independent research firm to analyze data -- factors such as the availability of technology, number of procedures performed, mortality, national reputation and nurse/patient ratios.
Israel's hiring, said acting chief of hematology and oncology Dr. Chris Leroy, was also crucial to the Cancer Center's recent successes.
"His leadership has filtered down through our entire organization," Leroy said, adding that the entire team of administration, doctors, nurses, social workers, dietitians and secretaries have made huge contributions toward making cancer care more "patient-friendly."
In the future, the Lebanon-based diagnosis and treatment institution hopes to further improve its patient care, he added.
Topping this year's rankings was the University of Texas' M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
