John Hoffman, MD, FACS

I joined Fox Chase in 1986. I entered the field of surgical oncology because it was the field in the mid-1970s that was most interesting to me and the one that needed the most work. When my father developed a metastatic colon cancer in 1978, I was given further motivation to work in this field. This happened when I was in my first year of Surgical Oncology Fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. While there, I took an extra year of training in pancreatic and liver surgery.

My first job after fellowship was as the Director of the Division of Surgical Oncology at Loyola University School of Medicine in Maywood, Illinois. After 6 years there, I moved to Fox Chase, where I could concentrate fully on the treatment and the advancement of treatment for cancer. Since that time, I have seen many wonderful advances in the treatment of many cancers.

Much of my time and effort over the past 30 years here have been spent on the development of the treatment for pancreatic cancer. While we still have a long way to go before this scourge is defeated, I can remember when doctors were against any treatment, surgery or other, for pancreatic cancer because it was so hopeless. We now have many different drugs that have activity against the cancer and are in the process of testing which ones are optimal, both in concert with surgical resection, or alone (when resection is neither possible nor feasible). I still see patients from whom I've resected pancreatic cancer 10 to 18 years ago!

Every day at Fox Chase is a pleasure for me. The entire hospital is composed of people who recognize that every patient is a special cancer fighter, and therefore they all are treated as unique individuals. It is this total institutional dedication, as well as my 30 years of cancer treatment experience, that should convince you to let us take care of you.