Mesothelioma Specialty Centers Lead U.S. News Best Hospitals Rankings
Treatment & Doctors
Written by Michelle Whitmer | Edited By Walter Pacheco
U.S. News & World Report has named University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center the Best Hospital for Cancer for the ninth year in a row in its annual rankings.
The Houston-based hospital is followed by Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York; Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota; UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles and Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center in Boston. The hospitals all landed in the top five last year; however, UCLA rose one spot to No. 4 and Dana Farber dropped to No. 5 this year. The 2023-2024 rankings were released Aug. 1.
MD Anderson has been ranked in the No. 1 or No. 2 spot for cancer care every year since the lists’ inception in 1990. All of the top five hospitals have exceptional mesothelioma specialty programs and excel in the treatment of this rare cancer, which has no definitive cure.
“At MD Anderson, we remain singularly focused on eliminating cancer,” said Dr. Peter WT Pisters, president of MD Anderson, in a statement. “We are pleased to see this commitment recognized, but there is work still to be done.”
U.S. News & World Report’s Top 10 Best Hospitals for Cancer
These cancer specialty centers placed in the top 10 on the U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals for Cancer list:
- University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City
- Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
- UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles
- Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center, Boston
- Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian, Philadelphia
- UCSF Health-UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco
- City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, California
- John Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore
- Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland
Cancer centers are often at the forefront of progress in mesothelioma treatment through the latest clinical trials. The No. 1 hospital on the list, MD Anderson in Houston, currently has more than 20 mesothelioma clinical trials in the recruiting or active stages.
In the past fiscal year, MD Anderson has treated 175,000 patients. Hospital experts there provide specialized treatments for all cancer types, including rare cancers like mesothelioma. It is also home to the world’s largest cancer clinical trials program, with more than 1,600 active trials for all types of cancer, according to the hospital.
Rankings Methodology Changed Amid Scrutiny
U.S. News & World Report rankings have recently come under scrutiny. The San Francisco city attorney’s office announced in June it was launching an investigation into the publication, alleging the outlet was biased, had questionable methodology and undisclosed financing, according to a report in USA Today.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System shortly after announced it would not participate in the annual “Best Hospitals” ranking, according to USA Today.
Last month, U.S. News & World Report announced there would be changes to its methodology ahead of the release of the 2023-2024 rankings that would include health equity and patient outcomes.
“A recent survey of U.S. News users revealed more than four in five (84%) consider a hospital’s quality metrics to be important factors when deciding where to seek treatment for a serious medical issue,” said Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor at U.S. News, in a statement.
“Consumers want useful resources to help them assess which hospital can best meet their specific care needs,” he said. “The 2023-2024 Best Hospitals rankings offer patients and the physicians with whom they consult a data-driven source for comparing performance in outcomes, patient satisfaction and other metrics that matter to them.”
U.S. News & World Report now includes the following metrics:
- Added importance on objective quality measures
- How well patients do after outpatient treatments in important specialties and surgery
- More outpatient data
- Reduced importance on expert opinions
Hospital profiles also show improved measures for fairness in health care, including new measures for differences in outcomes based on race.
Top 11-20 Best Hospitals for Cancer
Rounding out the list of best hospitals for cancer are 10 additional specialty centers with cancer expertise. They include:
- Stanford Hospital, Stanford, California
- Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City
- New York-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia and Cornell, New York City
- Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles
- USC Norris Cancer Hospital, Keck Medical Center of USC, Los Angeles
- University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston
- Northwestern Medicine, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago
- UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas
- Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston
Cancer treatment is just one of many specialties on which hospitals are judged and ranked. A broader Best Hospitals Honor Roll ranking is also available, which acknowledges exceptional treatment across several areas of care.
The Best Hospitals Honor Roll included hospitals in California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas.
“Helping consumers make decisions that are based on facts and driven by data is the cornerstone of our mission,” U.S. News Executive Chairman and CEO Eric Gertler said.
“Our health team, consisting of dedicated journalists and data analysts, has decades of experience supporting patients on their health care journey through the ‘Best Hospitals’ rankings and the deep reporting they do for the many stories that accompany these rankings. With unwavering commitment, we strive to help patients, caregivers and their communities.”
This year’s rankings will be published in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals 2024 guidebook.
