The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), a not-for-profit alliance of 21 of the world’s leading cancer centers, is dedicated to improving the quality and effectiveness of care provided to patients with cancer. Through the leadership and expertise of clinical professionals at NCCN Member Institutions, NCCN develops resources that present valuable information to the numerous stakeholders in the health care delivery system. As the arbiter of high-quality cancer care, NCCN promotes the importance of continuous quality improvement and recognizes the significance of creating clinical practice guidelines appropriate for use by patients, clinicians, and other health care decision-makers. The primary goal of all NCCN initiatives is to improve the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of oncology practice so patients can live better lives.

The Blue Distinction Centers for Complex and Rare Cancers program is being developed in strategic collaboration with NCCN, the Blue Cross^® Blue Shield^® Association, and participating Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans. The program will initially focus on providing information to patients who have complex, aggressive, or rare cancers in order to help support their decision making. The program emphasizes the importance of a comprehensive, multidisciplinary disease-specific care team to provide the initial evaluation and care plan for complex and rare cancers. In addition, patients that are recommended to undergo a complex or rare, major surgical procedure, such as esophagectomy, will be able to identify Blue Distinction Centers that have demonstrated experience in treating specific cancers. Blue Distinction Centers for Complex and Rare Cancers^SM will include many of the NCCN Member Institutions as well as other centers that meet selection criteria.

NCCN Member Institutions

• City of Hope, Los Angeles, CA
• Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center | Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA
• Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, Durham, NC
• Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA
• Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
• Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Seattle, WA
• Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital & Richard J. Solove Research Institute at The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
• The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD
• Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
• Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
• H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, Tampa, FL
• Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY
• Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
• St. Jude Children's Research Hospital/University of Tennessee Cancer Institute, Memphis, TN
• Stanford Comprehensive Cancer Center, Stanford, CA
• University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center, Birmingham, AL
• UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA
• University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI
• UNMC Eppley Cancer Center at The Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
• The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
• Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN

Note: Designation as Blue Distinction Centers means that these facilities' overall experience and aggregate data met objective criteria established in collaboration with expert clinicians' and leading medical societies' recommendations. Individual outcomes may vary. To find out which services are covered under your policy at these or any other facilities, please call your local Blue Cross and/or Blue Shield Plan; and please call your provider before making an appointment, to verify the most current information on their Network participation status. Neither the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association nor any of its Licensees are responsible for any damages, losses, or non-covered charges that may result from using these materials or receiving care from a provider listed in these materials.