Planning and Programming: The Building Blocks to Designing a Cancer Center

Cancer centers are becoming an increasingly common facility type. Understanding the history and evolution of cancer care helps us to understand the recent growth in cancer center construction. To address these trends, this article is organized into four sections: (1) the history and patterns of cancer are discussed; (2) the key trends in providing cancer care are summarized; (3) descriptions of three types of cancer care centers are presented, including preliminary programming guidelines; and (4) guidelines to creating a therapeutic environment based on the psychosocial needs of cancer patients are identified.