Key clinical point: Hospitals affiliated with Prospective Payment System–exempt cancer centers and hospitals affiliated with National Cancer Institute–designated cancer centers have similar characteristics, patient comorbidity burden, and cancer surgery outcomes.

Major finding: The two types of hospitals did not differ significantly on oncology patient volume, patient safety ratings, comorbidity burden, or U.S. News survival scores, and they had similar adjusted postoperative outcomes for 15 of 18 measures.

Study details: A retrospective cohort study of 15 hospitals affiliated with Prospective Payment System–exempt cancer centers, 54 hospitals affiliated with NCI cancer centers, and 3,578 other U.S. hospitals providing cancer care.

Disclosures: Dr. Bilimoria reported receiving support from the National Institutes of Health; Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; American Board of Surgery; American College of Surgeons; and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, Health Care. The study was supported by the Northwestern Institute for Comparative Effectiveness Research in Oncology of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.