In 1974, the Cancer Center of Wake Forest University (CCCWFU), became a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer center.

Decades before receiving NCI designation, the CCCWFU was a pioneer in cancer care, becoming, in 1957, the first hospital in North Carolina to use cobalt to treat cancer patients, and, in 1969, the first in the nation to use ultrasound to detect prostate cancer.