Donna McAllister
- Bladder Cancer
I was treated with compassion, given hope, and kept informed of every facet of my treatment.
Call 888-369-2427
Elizabeth Plimack, MD, MS
Clinical Locations
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Primary Location
Fox Chase Cancer Center
Deputy Director, Fox Chase Cancer Center
Professor, Department of Hematology/Oncology
Director, Genitourinary Clinical Research
NCCN, Bladder/Penile Cancers Panel Member
NCCN, Kidney Cancer Panel Member
Specialties
Research Program
Key Awards
| Medical Oncology |
Treatment Philosophy
With a diagnosis of cancer comes uncertainty and fear for many patients. As a medical oncologist, my first job is to help each patient understand his or her diagnosis. With that understanding, together we can design the best plan of action. At Fox Chase, each patient has the benefit of an interdisciplinary team working together to ensure the highest quality care. This interdisciplinary approach is crucial in determining and implementing the best treatment plan.
I specialize in the treatment of kidney, bladder, prostate and testicular cancer, and my clinical practice is focused on these diseases. By concentrating exclusively on genitourinary malignancies I am able to offer expert knowledge as well as access to both standard treatments and emerging therapies in the form of clinical trials. The pace of scientific discovery has accelerated in recent decades, and fortunately we have seen these discoveries translate into meaningful improvements in cancer treatments.
As part of the genitourinary group here at Fox Chase, I am proud to be a part of a team of distinguished researchers who have pioneered many of these new treatments. My particular research efforts focus on the development of new therapies for bladder and kidney cancer.
Educational Background
- Chief Fellow, Medical Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
- Intern and Resident, Internal Medicine, New York University Medical Center / Bellevue Hospital, NY
- MS, Patient-Based Biologic Research, University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 2008
- MD with Honors in Pathology, New York University School of Medicine, 2002
Memberships
- National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)
- Bladder/Penile Cancers Panel
- Kidney/Testicular Cancers Panel
- Prostate Cancer Panel
- American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
- 2015-2018 — ASCO Scientific Committee, Genitourinary (non-prostate)
- 2016-2017 — Track Chair, ASCO Scientific Committee, Genitourinary (non-prostate)
- 2020-2024 — Elected Member, ASCO Board of Directors
- Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network (BCAN)
- 2013-2019 — BCAN Think Tank Steering Committee
- 2016-2017 — Co-Chair, 2017 BCAN Think Tank
- 2017-2018 — Chair, 2018 BCAN Think Tank
- 2014 — Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network Young Investigator Award Study Section
- 2015-2018 — Chair, Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network Young Investigator Award Study Section
- 2018-Present — Bladder Cancer Research Network (BCRN) Management Committee
- 2020-2023 — Chair, BCAN Scientific Advisory Board
- Department of Defense (DOD) Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) Study Section
- 2015, 2016, 2017 — Reviewer, Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP), Kidney Cancer
- 2020 — Chair, Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP), Kidney Cancer
- 2021 — Programmatic Panel Member. Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs: Kidney Cancer
Honors & Awards
- Philadelphia Magazine Top Doctors, 2017-2022
- Best Doctors in America® , 2019-2020, Medical Oncology and Hematology
- America's Top Doctors®, 2017
- Leadership Forum Excellence Award, Fox Chase Cancer Center, 2012
- Humanitas Award, Division of Cancer Medicine Hematology/Oncology Fellowship, MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2008
- Award for Achievement in Clinical Investigation, Division of Cancer Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2008
- Research Forum, MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2008
- Honorable Mention, First Annual Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program, 2008
- ASCO Foundation Merit Award, ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, 2008
VIEW PATIENT STORY
Al De Carlo
- Kidney Cancer
Now that I’m 74 and retired, I spend most of my time outside or in the garage. Since my service in the Navy, where I worked as a ship fitter, taking care of the plumbing and mechanical issues, I’ve always been fascinated with machines and how they work. So for me, as crazy as it seems to my wife, working outside, tinkering with machines, and splitting wood, isn’t hard work – it’s my playtime.
Mu Sang
- Kidney Cancer
My doctor in China told me there was nothing to be done, and said I had only six months to live. I could not accept this. I wasn’t ready to give up.
Ed Horowitz
- Prostate Cancer
When Ed Horowitz was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2008, he had to make a decision whether to undergo radiation or surgery. After receiving one opinion from a surgeon at a large Philadelphia hospital, he decided to seek a second opinion from Dr. Eric Horwitz, chair of radiation oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Ed liked Dr. Horowitz's warm demeanor and sense of humor and decided to be treated with IMRT (intensity modulated radiation therapy) combined with hormone injections, followed by radiation and hormone therapy. The treatment was successful. A few years later, his cancer returned, isolated to his shoulder this time. Ed started another course of chemotherapy in March 2016. "My cancer has not grown and has not spread since I completed chemotherapy," he said. "I always recommend Fox Chase to anyone considering treatment for prostate cancer. I consider myself fortunate to have gone there for treatment."
Research Interests
- Biomarkers predictive of response to neoadjuvant cisplatin based chemotherapy in bladder cancer
- Refining neoadjuvant chemotherapy regimens for bladder cancer
- Developmental Therapeutics – early stage clinical trials of novel agents
- Immunotherapy in GU Malignancies
Patient comments