Bridging discovery and clinical care

Mays Cancer Center Annual Report

On behalf of our faculty, researchers and staff, we are pleased to share with you the 2023 annual report for the Mays Cancer Center, home to UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center.
When we reflect on our accomplishments as one of only four National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Centers in Texas and the only one for the South Texas region, we recognize the positive rippling impact we have on every patient we treat even as we carry the burden of responsibility to find new therapies to combat every type of cancer within our communities.
Reflecting on our work in 2023, we see stories of hope and determination to approach the puzzle of cancer on all fronts. Our goal remains to rid the world of cancer, but in the daily in-between, we work to ensure our patients receive compassionate and personalized care.

Within these pages, you will learn about:
• A teenager working to eradicate cancer after his grandfather died from the disease.
• The special bond between two friends and the lengths to which one will go to ensure a cancer-free life for the other.
• Researchers collaborating across disciplines to battle brain cancer, breast cancer and every kind of cancer in between.
Woven within these stories are common threads of hope, courage and truth. Our truth lies in the science we use to push the boundaries of what we know about cancer and its treatments to explore new discoveries we previously could not foresee.

As we move forward in 2024, we anticipate the opening of the UT Health San Antonio Multispecialty and Research Hospital. It is the first of its kind in San Antonio and will combine some of the most advanced technology and treatments for cancer. The sky bridge — both functional and symbolic — already joins the Mays Cancer Center with the hospital as a collaboration conduit that will bring together discovery and clinical care in wholly new ways.
While our first commitment is to the South Texas region we serve, the promise of our work extends to communities far beyond. Our hope is to impact all who bravely put one foot in front of the other on their individual cancer journeys and the family members and friends who support them and who also sometimes need a helping hand. Even as we strive to achieve a cure for every cancer, we acknowledge the power of the providers and caregivers who sacrifice so much for those in their care. This collective march toward a cure for cancer requires us all.