The Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota advances knowledge and enhances care. The Masonic Cancer Center works to create a collaborative research environment focused on the causes, prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer; applying that knowledge to improve quality of life for patients and survivors; and sharing its discoveries with other scientists, students, professionals, and the community.

National Cancer Institute Designation
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) designated the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota a comprehensive cancer center in 1998, and renewed this designation in 2003 and 2009. The Masonic Cancer Center is one of only 41 institutions in the United States to hold this designation. It is awarded only to institutions that make ongoing, significant advances in cancer research, treatment, and education. 

Successes

• Performed the world's first successful bone marrow transplant for Burkitt's lymphoma.
• Reached international prominence in umbilical cord blood transplantation and research.
• Led research that contributed to the increase in survival rates for childhood cancer from about 10 percent in 1959 to 80 percent today.
• Discovered techniques to more efficiently identify cancer genes.
• Identified cancer-causing substances in tobacco and helped in proving nicotine is addictive. The Masonic Cancer Center's Transdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Center is one of seven academic centers in the country designated by the federal government to stimulate integrated research across scientific disciplines in order to significantly advance our understanding of tobacco use, nicotine addiction, and tobacco harm reduction.