MD Anderson Cancer Center launches $2.5B fundraising campaign

The dollar figure isn’t the only ambitious element of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s new fundraising campaign.

MD Anderson has launched a $2.5 billion philanthropy effort, and the initiative has a title as bold as the target. It’s dubbed “Only Possible Here: The Campaign to End Cancer.”

The health system held an event this week to kick off the campaign, and it’s the largest fundraising campaign in MD Anderson’s history.

The effort is off to a strong start. MD Anderson said donors have already contributed $1.9 billion toward the overall goal.

Peter WT Pisters, MD, president of MD Anderson, said the idea of ending cancer isn’t just a lofty aspiration, but a target that is possible.

“We are in an era of cancer care and research like no other — when the possibility to end cancer is achievable at MD Anderson,” Pisters said in a statement released by MD Anderson. “Together, we are pushing the frontiers of scientific discoveries, advancing new treatments for patients with cancer and creating hope and opportunity for humanity.”

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MD Anderson is undertaking a host of new projects to support cancer research and patient care.

In 2026, MD Anderson plans to break ground on its expansion to Austin, which will expand cancer care in the capital city of Texas.

MD Anderson is also touting its program in oncology and neuroscience, which aims to generate new insights in the ways cancer attacks the nervous system.

Another element of the broader initiative is MD Anderson’s partnership with Texas Children’s Hospital to improve treatment and research of pediatric cancer.

The Kinder Foundation has given MD Anderson and Texas Children’s $150 million to expand cancer research and treatment, and they are planning to build the new Kinder Children’s Cancer Center. Officials say the new cancer center will launch in early 2026.

A facility for the new cancer center will be built on the campus of the Texas Medical Center and connect to Texas Children’s Hospital.

Richard Gorlick, MD, head of the division of pediatrics at MD Anderson Cancer Center, told Chief Healthcare Executive® in a May interview that setting an objective of curing cancer isn’t done lightly.

“Obviously, the mission is really bold,” Gorlick tells Chief Healthcare Executive®. “You know, obviously it's always scary to say your mission is to end childhood cancer. That's a tall order, but you have a lot of resources that are being brought to bear, and I think it's the right mission. Because to say you're going to do anything less isn't really, you know, bold enough for this particular scale of an enterprise.”

MD Anderson is also investigating ways to expand immunotherapy to all patients.

In an appearance at the HLTH conference in Las Vegas last month, Pisters spoke enthusiastically about the potential of immunotherapy in cancer care.

Pisters said researchers are gaining more knowledge in “how to harness the parts of the immune system, how to generate vaccines or use antibodies, or how to reprogram the components of the immune system to fight cancer.”

“This has really resulted in dramatic changes in individual cancers,” he said.

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