Wilmot Cancer Institute

The Wilmot Cancer Institute was established in 1974 and received designation in 2025.

Based in Rochester, N.Y., Wilmot is a matrixed, integrated component of the University of Rochester Medical Center, which also includes Strong Memorial Hospital and Golisano Children’s Hospital. Wilmot Cancer Institute has an 88-bed flagship cancer hospital and a network of 12 additional cancer care locations throughout western and central New York. It draws patients from approximately three million people in a 27-county region. Relevant features of the region include an aging population; markedly higher-than-average cancer incidence rates; prevalent poverty; and vast rural areas, including 12 counties that are part of Appalachia.

Wilmot Cancer Institute conducts pivotal research. It is one of only two academic medical centers with a National Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) Research Base, demonstrating its expertise in clinical trial design and execution.

Mission statement: Wilmot Cancer Institute is committed to providing world class treatment and care, through expert and innovative medicine, science, and education, for any patient burdened by any cancer within our region and beyond.

Research at Wilmot Cancer Institute

Wilmot Cancer Institute investigators are organized into three multidisciplinary research programs: Genetics, Epigenetics and Metabolism; Cancer Microenvironment; and Cancer Prevention and Control. With a framework of collaboration, members study the mechanisms that initiate and fuel cancer, tumor microenvironments, and the side effects and toxicities of cancer and its treatment. The center also has a large portfolio of clinical trials, including investigator-initiated studies, and a robust education and research training program from high school through graduate and postgraduate, including a unique oncology fellowship founded by philanthropist James P. Wilmot.

Wilmot Cancer Institute scientists have made groundbreaking contributions to the pioneering HPV cancer vaccine and to the need for and development of anti-nausea therapies, which have been cited nationally as among the most important cancer advancements in the past 50 years. Other important contributions include practice-changing clinical studies in lymphoma and geriatric oncology.

Select Scientific Initiatives at Wilmot Cancer Institute

A major theme across all research programs is aging and cancer, leveraging longstanding leadership at the University of Rochester and in response to the aging population in the catchment area and community input. Research priorities and highlights include:

• Longevity and Development of Cancer and Improving Care for Older Adults with Cancer. This initiative includes several laboratories focused on basic science of longevity in long-lived species (naked mole rats and bowhead whales), to the clinic and need for geriatric assessments in older adult cancer patients. Laboratory research has shown how longevity and cancer resistance relate to DNA repair. Translational efforts incorporate geriatric assessments into clinical care to reduce chemotherapy toxicity in older adults, to better understand treatment tolerability, and to improve quality of life. Wilmot established one of the nation’s first and largest Geriatric Oncology Clinics for innovative treatment and research.
• Nonsense Mediated mRNA Decay (NMD) as Cancer Target. This program is applying basic science discoveries around NMD to improve cancer treatment. The mission is to understand normal RNA and what goes wrong in disease, and to develop tools for earlier diagnosis and to improve personalized medicine. Wilmot member Lynne E. Maquat, PhD, who directs that initiative, has received many of the highest national and international science awards, including National Academy of Sciences, Canada Gairdner International Award, Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Sciences, Warren Alpert Foundation Prize, the Wolf Prize in Medicine, and the Gruber Genetics Prize.
• Cancer-Related Cognitive Impairment in Breast Cancer and Lymphoma. Cancer-related cognitive impairment is a significant side effect among patients receiving chemotherapy, negatively impacting prognosis and quality of life. A Wilmot team has been conducting the largest prospective cohort study to date, examining longitudinal changes in cognitive function in patients with breast cancer up to 10 years post-chemotherapy. They have discovered that breast cancer and lymphoma patients who receive chemotherapy exhibit greater cognitive impairment compared to individuals without cancer; older age, lower cognitive reserve, anxiety, and depression contribute to worse cognitive decline; and higher physical activity is associated with less cognitive impairment. Research continues into potential solutions for cognitive impairment for cancer patients.
• Immunotherapy. The center was among the first in the nation to administer CAR T-cell therapy through clinical trials and has one of the largest stem-cell treatment programs in New York state. Key immunotherapy research initiatives include basic science into how the tumor microenvironment blocks the way for effective cancer treatment; how to reverse the actions of immune cells that aid tumors; and enhancing the effectiveness of radiation treatment with immunotherapy.

* Information on this cancer center was provided by the Wilmot Cancer Institute.