In 1973, the Society for Surgical Oncology and Oncology Nursing Society were founded after the first National Cancer Nursing Research Conference  At the conference twenty oncology nurses discussed the need for a national organization to support their profession. These 20 nurses used word-of-mouth to spark interest among their colleagues to launch this organization.

Over the years, the organizations have grown to include more than 35,000 members and are now known as the standards bearer of advanced cancer care.