Tampa General Hospital Cancer Institute Earns Reaccreditation from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer

Reaccreditation through 2028 reflects sustained excellence in multidisciplinary care, research and continuous quality improvement.

TAMPA, Fla., April 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Tampa General Hospital (TGH), the academic partner of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, announced that the TGH Cancer Institute has earned reaccreditation by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. The acknowledgment reflects the academic health system’s ongoing commitment to rigorous academic standards, pioneering clinical and translational research, patient-centered cancer care and continuous improvement. The reaccreditation is effective until late 2028.

Commission on Cancer accreditation is a nationally recognized marker of quality for cancer programs that deliver comprehensive, coordinated care across the full continuum — from prevention and early detection, through diagnosis, treatment, survivorship and supportive services. As part of reaccreditation, Commission on Cancer programs demonstrate multidisciplinary infrastructure, performance monitoring and a sustained focus on improving outcomes and quality of life for patients.

“We continue to build a cancer institute defined by clinical excellence, innovation and compassion – and reaccreditation by the Commission on Cancer is an important milestone on that journey,” said Dr. Eduardo M. Sotomayor, vice president and executive director of the TGH Cancer Institute. “This recognition reflects the strength of our academic partnership with the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the caliber of our physicians and teams and our commitment to ensuring patients across Florida have access to world-class cancer care close to home.”

Since first earning Commission on Cancer accreditation in 2022, the TGH Cancer Institute has continued to expand advanced programs and services designed to meet the growing needs of patients across the region and state. In recent years, the institute has strengthened specialty care in key areas, introduced leading-edge treatment options and expanded their research department, including:

• Developed a Cellular Therapy Program that provides advanced therapies for patients with aggressive blood cancers, including CAR T-cell therapy and Bone Marrow Transplants, supported by a highly coordinated clinical team and enabled by Tampa General’s innovation infrastructure.
• Launched a Phase I Cancer Research Unit, advancing early-phase clinical trials and expanding patient access to investigational therapies.
• Established a Center for Precision Radiosurgery, featuring AI-driven, real-time motion tracking and synchronization technology to support highly targeted treatment options.
• The Susan and John Sykes Center of Excellence in Colorectal Cancer at the TGH Cancer Institute is in progress to support the patient care, education and research mission of the Cancer Institute and the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. 
• Outreach to rural communities to improve access to early cancer education, screening and treatment and hosted a symposium with the Florida Department of Health on the unique challenges faced by rural communities when it comes to cancer care.
• The Sarcoma Center of Excellence was established to offer comprehensive diagnostic treatment services for more than 70 types of bone and soft tissue sarcomas and was accepted into the prestigious Sarcoma Alliance for Research through Collaboration. Less than 5% of the world’s cancer centers meet the stringent criteria for membership.

“Commission on Cancer reaccreditation reinforces that our model is working — a multidisciplinary, research-driven approach treating the whole person and connecting patients to the right expertise at the right time,” said Dr. Abraham Schwarzberg, executive vice president, chief of Oncology, Tampa General, president of the Tampa General Provider Network and co-vice president of Clinical and Translational Research, TGH | USF Health Office of Clinical Research. “We have deliberately built an institute that distinguishes Tampa General as nimble and academically grounded, where clinical excellence, clinical trials and translational research move together — and where every advancement is anchored in the experience and outcomes of our patients.”

Research enterprise and academic leadership

The TGH Cancer Institute’s research and innovation platform has expanded significantly, strengthened by close integration with USF Health, Tampa General’s academic partner and a growing roster of nationally recognized physician-scientists and clinical investigators. Recent research momentum includes:

• Continued development of the TGH | USF Health Precision Medicine Biorepository, which enables tumor sequencing and precision medicine research with robust specimen and data infrastructure.
• Received a five-year, $3.1 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to research chronic inflammation and its link to diet and colorectal cancer. The study also investigates how ultra-processed foods and inflammatory oils may influence tumor biology and potential diet-based “resolution medicine” approaches.
• Launched the Microbial Oncology Program under the leadership of Dr. Robert C. Gallo, James P. Cullison Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases in the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine. Dr. Gallo, co-discoverer of HIV as the cause of AIDS, is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and is one of the most-cited biomedical scientists in history. His recruitment strengthens the institute’s long-term research growth and scientific ambition.
• An expansion of clinical research leadership, which includes the recruitment of Dr. Marshall Posner, a world-renowned physician-scientist and head and neck oncologist, as associate director of Clinical Research, to further advance Tampa General’s clinical trials access and strategy.
• Researchers at the TGH Cancer Institute and USF Health uncovered a potential link between the Western diet — dominated by ultra-processed foods and unhealthy oils — and the chronic inflammation that drives tumor growth.
• Tampa General Hospital and USF Health published a major study in the Annals of Surgical Oncology showcasing a treatment called Heated Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy
  
  (HIPEC), for the most common type of advanced ovarian cancer. The study showed a higher survivability rate for HIPEC compared with other treatments.

“Our entire cancer institute team worked diligently and collaboratively to earn Commission on Cancer reaccreditation,” said Dr. Thomas Rutherford, who led the effort to achieve a second accreditation and is director of the Division of Gynecology Oncology in the Morsani College of Medicine and deputy director of the TGH Cancer Institute. “Their teamwork and multidisciplinary approach to meeting the needs of the whole patient is the reason we have grown into a leading cancer institute.”

The TGH Cancer Institute — one of Florida’s few cancer centers backed by academic medicine through its partnership with the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine — ranks among the nation’s top 10% of hospitals by U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals 2025-2026. It holds accreditations from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Quality Oncology Practice Initiative, the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers from the American College of Surgeons, the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy for excellence in stem cell and cellular therapy and American Society for Radiation Oncology Program for Excellence. The institute is a member of the Association of American Cancer Institutes, recognized for leadership in research, treatment, education and outreach, and was named among Newsweek’s America’s Best Cancer Hospitals.

ABOUT TAMPA GENERAL HOSPITAL

Tampa General Hospital, Florida’s premier academic health system, is a 1,530-bed not-for-profit network of hospital and outpatient services spanning Florida. As the only center for Level l trauma and comprehensive burn care center serving 23 counties, Tampa General delivers world-class care. The system’s hospitals include Tampa General Hospital, Tampa General Rehabilitation Hospital, Tampa General Behavioral Health Hospital, all in Tampa; Tampa General Brooksville, Tampa General Spring Hill and Tampa General Crystal River. Tampa General is the highest-ranked hospital in Tampa Bay in U.S. News & World Report’s 2025-2026 Best Hospitals, with six medical specialties ranking among the top 50 in the nation and five additional medical specialties ranked among the top 10% best hospital programs in the United States. As the first hospital in Florida to open a clinical command center for real-time situational awareness, the academic health system has elevated its digital care coordination center to the next level by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and its analytics platform across inpatient and outpatient care to ensure patients receive leading-edge care as quickly and safely as possible. Tampa General’s commitment to growing and developing its team members is recognized by three prestigious Forbes magazine rankings — in the 2026 America’s Best Large Employers ranked as the Tampa Bay region’s #1 employer in the health care category for the sixth year in a row, and among the top five in the state of Florida, in the 2025 Best Employers by State and the 2023 America’s Best Employers for Women.

Tampa General is the area’s safety-net hospital, caring for anyone regardless of ability to pay; in fiscal year 2024, Tampa General provided a net community benefit of approximately $289.1 million in the form of health care for underinsured patients, community education and financial support to community health organizations in Tampa Bay. It is recognized as one of the leading adult solid organ transplant centers in the nation and is the primary teaching hospital for the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. With five medical helicopters, Tampa General transports critically injured or ill patients from surrounding counties to receive the advanced care their conditions require. Tampa General has a nationally accredited comprehensive stroke center and its 32-bed Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit is the largest on the West Coast of Florida. It is home to the Muma Children’s Hospital at TGH, the Jennifer Leigh Muma 82-bed neonatal intensive care unit and a nationally accredited rehabilitation center. Tampa General’s footprint includes TGH North, which consists of three hospitals and several outpatient locations in Citrus and Hernando counties; 17 Tampa General Medical Group Primary Care offices; TGH Family Care Center Kennedy; two TGH outpatient centers; TGH Virtual Health; and 20 TGH Imaging outpatient radiology centers throughout Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Palm Beach counties. Tampa Bay area residents receive world-class care from the TGH Urgent Care, powered by the Fast Track network of clinics. To see a medical care professional live anytime, anywhere on a smartphone, tablet or computer, visit Virtual Health | Tampa General Hospital (tgh.org). For more information, go to www.tgh.org.

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SOURCE Tampa General Hospital

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