Surgical Oncology
Chief, Pancreaticobiliary Service
John Hoffman is the Division Chief of Pancreaticobiliary Surgery at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Coming from a general surgical background, he joined Fox Chase in 1986 with a desire to focus his surgical career on the treatment and advancement of treatment for cancer.
Dr. Hoffman specializes in treating cancers of the upper abdomen, including: liver, pancreatic, gastrointestinal, and breast cancers. Over the last 20 years, much of his time has been spent specifically on the development of new care and treatment methods for pancreatic cancer.
When he entered the field of surgical oncology in the mid-1970s, the dominant theory was that pancreatic cancers were not treatable. Now, more than thirty years later, Dr. Hoffman has seen and developed many advances in treatment options, including new drug therapies and advancements in surgical resections.
In a clinical setting, Dr. Hoffman and his team continue to test the efficacy of new drugs and treatment plans to improve the care of cancer patients at Fox Chase. In 2008, Dr. Hoffman became the first recipient of the Marvin S. Greenberg, MD, Chair in Pancreatic Cancer Surgery, recognizing his distinct contributions to the evolution of pancreatic cancer medicine. He is also consistently named as one of Philadelphia magazine's"Top Docs."
