CACEHR history

In 1971, President Richard M. Nixon signed the National Cancer Act, launching a National Cancer Program administered by the National Cancer Institute.

1972: Michel M. Ter-Pogossian, PhD; William Bernard, MD; and Henry G. Schwartz, MD, are among the first to use a short-lived radioactive tracer to locate brain tumors.

1974: Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology joins forces with London-based EMI, Ltd. to develop the prototype of the first CT head scanner.

1977: The Cancer Information Center opens as the first facility in the country devoted to providing education and support for cancer patients and their families, becoming a national model.

1984: Michael J. Welch, PhD, and John Katzenellenbogen, PhD, (University of Illinois) develop fluoroestradiol (FES), the first radioactive form of estrogen used as a PET imaging agent for detecting breast cancer.

1986: Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology implements its mobile mammography unit, the first in the St Louis region and one of only five in the United States.

1988: Radiation oncology physicists led by James Purdy, PhD, develop a 3-D treatment planning system for cancer.

1989: William J. Catalona, MD, initiates a landmark study that establishes the PSA blood test as an effective screening tool for prostate cancer.

1991: Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology opens St Louis’ first 3-D cancer treatment planning center.

1993: Robert H. Waterston, MD, PhD, and colleagues receive a $42 million grant from the NIH to continue sequencing the genome of the roundworm.

1994: A blood test is developed to detect a thyroid cancer gene mutation, which allows for the first surgical prevention of cancer via thyroid removal.

1998: Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, and colleagues develop a mouse model of prostate cancer.

The Cancer Center achieved status in December 1999 as an NCI-designated "comprehensive cancer center," the highest of three designations.

2001: Robert D. Schreiber, PhD, and colleagues publish the first conclusive evidence that the immune system helps prevent tumor formation.

2006: Siteman Cancer Center is selected to join the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), an alliance of the world’s premier cancer centers, charged with setting the standard for cancer care.

2008: The Institute for Public Health at Washington University is established through a partnership of Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University School of Medicine and the George Warren Brown School of Social Work.

At the same time, the Center expanded its profile within the University in 2009 with the opening of a new laboratory research building at the UCSF/Mission Bay campus.

2011: Siteman Cancer Center performs its 5,000th bone marrow transplant, placing it among the top five cancer centers in the United States.

Available at: http://medlibrary.org/medwiki/Hippocrates, accessed on November 04, 2012.

In 2015 the Bakar Cancer Hospital, part of a 289-bed medical center complex, opened to patients.

2017: Siteman becomes one of the first cancer centers nationwide to offer the newly approved CAR-T cell therapy called Yescarta.

Siteman will consolidate and expand clinical care and develop space for other surgical services and programs on five floors of the building, which is scheduled for completion by early 2018.