Fox Chase Cancer Center Celebrates Fifty Years of Cancer Research

PHILADELPHIA (October 12, 1999) -- Scientists and friends gathered for an evening of dinner and reminiscing as they celebrated 50 years of research at the Institute for Cancer Research (ICR) of Fox Chase Cancer Center.� The ICR was founded in 1927 and was moved to its current location in the Fox Chase section of Philadelphia in 1949 - thus the 50-year anniversary.

The special 50th anniversary celebration took place in the courtyard on Fox Chase's campus, located in Northeast Philadelphia.� Among the guests were current scientists, including Nobel laureate Baruch S. Blumberg, M.D., Ph.D., current ICR staff, former principal investigators, Fox Chase board members, administrators and donors.

The Center's Institute for Cancer Research helped pioneer the modern approach to understanding cancer by bringing together scientists from many different disciplines.� They study the normal mechanisms of cell growth and the abnormal growth processes of cancer to see what has gone wrong and how it might be corrected.

The ICR joined with the American Oncologic Hospital, the country's first cancer hospital, in 1974 to form Fox Chase Cancer Center.� This combination of research and patient care enables Fox Chase scientists and doctors to advance levels of cancer care by translating new research findings into medical applications that may become models for new and more effective cancer treatments.

Fox Chase Cancer Center is one of 36 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the nation.� The Center's activities include basic and clinical research; prevention, detection and treatment of cancer; and community outreach programs.