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Fox Chase

Contact Information

  • 333 Cottman Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19111
  • (888) 369-2427

The Fox Chase Cancer Center, or FCCC, located in Philadelphia, PA, is one of the top cancer centers in the nation, and is actually the product of a merger of two oncological centers, one of which is the oldest cancer center in the country. In its present form, FCCC is one of the few medical centers in the country which solely focuses on cancer care, and is one of the best rated, having been ranked by US News & World Report as the 15th-best cancer center in the United States.

In addition to conducting cancer research in more than 80 laboratories, the Fox Chase Cancer Center also has a 100-bed inpatient hospital ward, and helps treat upwards of 4,000 inpatient and 69,000 outpatient visitors each year. It is a National Cancer Institute designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, and is also a member of the elite National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a group of the most prestigious cancer centers in the nation. Since so much research takes place at FCCC, there is a staff of 2,400, with 325 of these being physicians or other doctors, and a yearly budget $281.7 million dollars.

FCCC offers treatment options which may not be available at all other cancer centers, which is one reason this facility is highly renowned. In order to properly locate tumors to target them for radiotherapy or surgery, FCCC employs a variety of methods including CT scans, PET scans, and MRIs, as well as flouroscopy and ultrasound. For radiation therapy, FCCC uses image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) and Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), which are both devices which use accurate and small beams of radiation to target located tumors while sparing nearby healthy tissue and organs. When surgery must be employed, FCCC has the robotically-operated da Vinci surgical device, which is minimally invasive, as well as offering same-day surgery for qualifying patients who may need a surgery as rapidly as possible. Additionally, FCCC offers a post-anesthesia care unit for people who have just gotten out of surgery.

At Fox Chase Cancer Center, both physicians and nurses specialize in researching and treating specific forms of cancer, offering a highly personalized therapy no matter what type of cancer the patient may have. For a patient suffering from pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung lining linked to asbestos inhalation, a team of doctors and nurses specializing in lung cancer would confer with the patient and offer care at all stages of the treatment. Additionally, many of these doctors and medical personnel have had more experience treating rare forms of cancer than staff at other cancer centers, since FCCC is a highly sought-after treatment facility from cancer sufferers.

In addition to looking at the genetic and environmental factors underlying different types of cancer, FCCC also has expanded their research programs in other promising treatment directions. By studying the biology of immune system cells, scientists hope to discover methods by how different factors can transform a healthy cell into a cancerous one, as well as looking into potential treatments for how techniques of the immune system can be utilized to combat cancers.