Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center is a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center committed to reducing cancer death and suffering through:

Tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis depend not only on the tumor cell alone, but also on the complex interactions between the cancer, stromal, and immune cells. The goal of the Host-Tumor Interactions Research Program is to develop a detailed and mechanistic understanding of the complex cell and microenvironment in which cancer cell interact, and how these interactions influence cancer therapies and immunotherapies.

Changes to the genome are at the epicenter of cancer mechanisms and response to therapies. The Genome Maintenance Research Program is a cohesive network of basic science researchers focused on understanding how DNA is damaged, repaired, packaged, expressed, and replicated.

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers remain some of the most difficult to treat, with five-year survival rates below 50 percent for most GI cancer types.

The Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Program aims to better understand what drives these cancers with the goal of identifying and applying better treatment strategies. Our research efforts span the entire spectrum—from in-depth basic research to investigator-initiated clinical trials—across all GI cancer types, including colorectal, gastroesophageal, and pancreatic cancers.

The Cancer Health Outcomes and Control Program conducts research aimed at reducing the burden of cancer across the entire cancer care continuum. The research efforts of this interdisciplinary, collaborative program center on the themes of: 

The Cancer Epidemiology Research Program aims to improve our understanding of the genetic and environmental origins of cancer and to identify biomarkers for cancer risk and progression. This understanding informs the design of effective cancer prevention and control programs.