Dr. Christian Hinrichs (R), an investigator at the National Cancer Institute in immunotherapy for HPV+ cancers, shows patient Fred Janick, a survivor of metastatic cancer, the difference between his CT scan showing cancerous tumors (R) and a clean scan after treatment (L), after a day of medical exams showing no recurrence of cancer, at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, February 8, 2018. Experimental trials are ongoing at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, a US government-funded research hospital where doctors are trying to partially replace patients' immune systems with T-cells that would specifically attack cancers caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted infection. A person's T-cells will naturally try to kill off any invader, including cancer, but usually fall short because tumors can mutate, hide, or simply overpower the immune system. Immunotherapies that have seen widespread success, such as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR-T) cell therapies, mainly target blood cancers like lymphoma, myeloma and leukemia, which have a tumor antigen -- like a flag or a signal -- on the surface of the cells so it is easy for immune cells to find and target the harmful cells. But many common cancers lack this clear, surface signal. Hinrichs' approach focuses on HPV tumors because they contain viral antigens that the immune system can easily recognize.

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Taneia Surles

By Taneia Surles

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When patients seek cancer treatment, they’re likely to choose healthcare facilities with a strong reputation and proven care outcomes. Some of America's top hospitals for cancer care aren't the ones you may think of at first.

Research for Newsweek and Statista’s America’s Best Hospitals for Specialized Care 2026 ranking revealed that all 11 Prospective Payment System-exempt cancer hospitals in the United States are ranked among the top 75 hospitals for cancer care.

These nonprofit specialty centers are exempt from Medicare's hospital payment system because of the complexity and cost of treating cancer patients.

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"While general hospitals remain central to cancer care in the U.S., the ranking highlights the strong presence of nonprofit specialized cancer centers among the leading institutions,” Meilin Möllenkamp, head of health care analysis at Statista, told Newsweek.

She continued: “At the same time, leading positions are also held by major academic and general hospitals, underscoring the broad availability of high-quality care across different hospital types. Based on performance data, quality metrics and patient experience, the results show that overall, both specialized cancer centers and general hospitals play important roles in cancer treatment in the U.S."

Oncologists say that the nonprofit model allows these specialty centers to reinvest in areas that can further improve cancer outcomes. “At a nonprofit center, discoveries and dollars are reinvested back to the patients and science, not returned to shareholders,” Terence Williams, MD, PhD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the City of Hope told Newsweek. “That changes what gets prioritized. It is one reason these centers are so often where the next standard of care begins.”

Many specialty cancer centers also provide access to clinical trials and emerging therapies. “Nonprofit cancer centers typically offer translational research bringing discovery science to the patient,” Stephen Ansell, MD, PhD, Enterprise Deputy Director and Senior Director of the Midwest of Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, told Newsweek. “This includes first-in-human clinical trials that offer access to novel treatments that may become future standards of care.”

While cancer care is delivered at thousands of hospitals nationwide, the rankings suggest that highly specialized nonprofit institutions continue to play an outsized role in advancing treatment and setting quality standards.

“What sets leading nonprofit cancer centers apart is focus,” Williams said. “Cancer is not one service line among many. It is the entire mission. When that is true, everything is built around it, from the science and specialists to the clinical trials and supportive care.”

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