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Coordinated-Cancer-Care

Our story

Changing cancer care

Founded in 1913, City of Hope started as two canvas cottages that ultimately launched a century-long journey that placed City of Hope at the forefront of the nation’s leading medical and research institutions. Over the decades, research conducted at City of Hope has led to significant advances in modern medicine, including the development of the first synthetic human insulin, the human growth hormone and the technology behind the widely used cancer-fighting drugs Herceptin®, Rituxan®, Erbitux® and Avastin®.

Today, City of Hope stands as a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center—the highest recognition bestowed by the National Cancer Institute—and is a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, which offers research and treatment protocols that advance care throughout the nation. In 2022, Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (CTCA) became part of City of Hope and is now united as one with the legendary City of Hope cancer care system. 

The visionary work we began over a hundred years ago continues today, as we look forward to leading the fight to eradicate cancer. Every day, we advance new breakthroughs in cancer research and treatment that give more patients everywhere new hope.

Here’s a timeline of our legacy of impact:

  • 1913: The Jewish Consumptive Relief Association is founded by a group of volunteers spurred by compassion to help those afflicted with tuberculosis.
  • 1920: Tuberculosis patients are treated at the Los Angeles Sanatorium, later named City of Hope.
  • 1955: Scientists at City of Hope develop the “cobalt bomb,” which delivers radiation therapy at a fraction of the cost of similar units.
  • 1957: The focus on compassionate care reaches new heights with the opening of Judy & Bernard Briskin Hope Village, on-site housing for patients and their families traveling from across the nation.
  • 1963: Susumu Ohno, PhD, and Ernest Beutler, MD, are featured in an issue of TIME magazine about their research in X-chromosome inactivation.
  • 1976: City of Hope’s bone marrow transplantation program accepts its first patients.
  • 1978: Keiichi Itakura, PhD, Arthur Riggs, PhD, David V. Goeddel, PhD, and Roberto Crea, PhD, revolutionize diabetes treatment when they make a human insulin gene, leading to the development of synthetic human insulin.
  • 1983: Scientists at City of Hope develop recombinant DNA technology capable of producing humanized monoclonal antibodies—a breakthrough leading to a new generation of "smart" cancer drugs, including Herceptin, Rituxan, Erbitux and Avastin.
  • 1984: Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope is dedicated to further advance knowledge relating to the causes, prevention and cures of human diseases.
  • 1993: The Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences is chartered. The renowned institution is dedicated to training the next generation of elite scientists and clinicians.
  • 1998: The National Cancer Institute designates City of Hope a comprehensive cancer center, its highest recognition.
  • 2003: City of Hope becomes one of the first U.S. medical centers to perform laparoscopic radical prostatectomies to treat prostate cancer.
  • 2005: The $185 million City of Hope Helford Clinical Research Hospital replaces the 64-bed Morris Hillquit Memorial Hospital, more than doubling patient capacity.
  • 2006: City of Hope develops its first human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. Nearly 36,000 Americans are diagnosed with an HPV-related cancer each year.
  • 2008: Scientists at City of Hope begin the first in-human clinical trials of RNA-based gene therapy for HIV-related illnesses. 
  • 2009: The state-of-the-art Michael Amini Transfusion Medicine Center opens—now one of the largest hospital-based donor centers of blood and platelets in the country.
  • 2011: City of Hope reaches a milestone 10,000th bone marrow transplant, becoming one of the largest and most successful transplant programs in the United States.
  • 2015: City of Hope opens the Alpha Stem Cell Clinic, thanks to an $8 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
  • 2016: City of Hope’s CAR T trials for glioblastoma—a type of aggressive brain tumor—are the first in the world to inject engineered CAR T-cells directly into the tumor site and cerebrospinal fluid. City of Hope and Translational Genomics Research Institute form an alliance to fast-track the future of precision medicine for patients.
  • 2019: City of Hope opens first-of-its-kind CAR T clinical trial for patients with HER2+ cancer that has spread to the brain. City of Hope announces a $1 billion comprehensive cancer campus to be built in Orange County.
  • 2020: Within months of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, City of Hope designs and manufactures a novel investigational vaccine. 2021: City of Hope and its nursing team achieve Magnet® recognition from the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
  • 2022: City of Hope acquires CTCA®, with hospitals in Atlanta, Chicago and Phoenix, and opens the new City of Hope Orange County Lennar Foundation Cancer Center, becoming one of the largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the country.