On Dec. 6, 2007, the Cancer Therapy & Research Center became part of the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. The Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio was originally established in 1974 as the Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC).

In 1991, the CTRC launched its Institute for Drug Development to find to find new treatments for patients with cancer through the integration of research programs. Later , the that year, the center joined forces with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (now known as UT Health San Antonio), to form an National Cancer Institute (NCI) Designated Cancer Center.