Michael J. Hall, MD, MS, FASCO

This Fox Chase professor participates in the Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship.
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Clinical Locations

Fox Chase Cancer Center
333 Cottman Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19111
Phone: 888-369-2427

Chair, Department of Clinical Genetics

Professor, Department of Clinical Genetics

Director, Gastrointestinal Risk Assessment

Co-Leader, Cancer Prevention and Control Program

NCCN, Genetic Colorectal/Colorectal Cancer Screening Panel Member

Specialties

Medical Oncology

Areas of Expertise

Liver, Gall Bladder & Bile Duct Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, Esophageal Cancer, Neuroendocrine Tumors, Colorectal Cancer, Stomach (Gastric) Cancer, Appendix Cancer

Treatment Focus

Lynch Syndrome
Gastrointestinal oncology/medical oncology
Cancer risk assessment for cancers of the gastrointestinal tract
Cancer risk assessment for endocrine cancers and genitourinary cancers

Research Program

Cancer Prevention and Control

Distinctions

Treatment Philosophy

I am a GI oncologist and a clinical cancer geneticist, and I have found over the years that my strongest skills are in helping my patients and their families to understand the complicated risks of cancer screening, surgery and treatment, to weigh the different options for treatment, and finally to develop a plan that is both in line with cutting edge research but also with their personal needs and preferences for their health and their lives. In cancer medicine, there is no longer a one size fits all approach, and in my practice I strive to build on my patients’ unique strengths and to further bring the multi-faceted expertise of my colleagues at Fox Chase and my colleagues nationally to offer each of my patients the best care I possibly can.

Lab Overview

Since 1991, the Risk Assessment Program has received strong support from its clinical and research participants and referring providers. Over 11,000 patients have joined RAP’s registry and donated epidemiologic data and a biospecimen (~8,000 blood donations). This valuable resource is available to FCCC investigators and the wider genetics community and has generated significant grant support, publications, and presentations at national/international venues. RAP, the research component of the Department of Clinical Genetics, is part of the FCCC Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC) program. RAP maintains close collaborations with clinical, behavioral, and laboratory scientists with research interests in genetic risk and cancer prevention. RAP administers studies of the biological, genetic and environmental factors that influence cancer risk. RAP has established a unique registry of family data, blood, and tissue samples that is used to study the genetic basis of cancer. Our work is supported by funding from governmental, foundation, industry, and philanthropic sources and has contributed significantly to the field.

My group’s research is in three areas related to GI genetic risk and risk assessment. My primary syndrome of expertise and study is Lynch syndrome, but I have also performed research among all high risk GI patients, patients with hereditary breast/ovarian cancer and BRCA1/2 mutations, hereditary pancreatic cancer, high risk renal cell cancers, and others:

Characterization of genetic risks associated with germline genes and molecular genetic changes that increase cancer risks including gene discovery. Our research has included studies to characterize the spectrum of cancer risk associated with hereditary risk genes, studies in high risk patients recruited through our Risk Assessment Program database to identify new cancer risks, and characterization of molecular risks in high risk patients such as TMB, MSI, and others.
Communication of genetic risks to patients, whether related to novel tests (tumor genomic testing), novel pathways for communication of genetic risk information (telephone, online, etc), and supports for communication.
Disparities associated with risk assessment and clinical genetics testing awareness, access, utilization, communication of results in families, and use of preventive screening.

Educational Background

MS, Health Studies, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, 2006
Fellowship, Hematology/Oncology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 2002-2005
Residency, Internal Medicine, Harvard/Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 1999-2002
MD, Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York, NY, 1999
BA, French Literature, Columbia University, New York, NY, 1993

Certifications

American Board of Internal Medicine - Medical Oncology

Memberships

American Cancer Society
American Society of Clinical Oncology
Collaborative Group of the Americas on Inherited Colorectal Cancer (CGA-ICC)
Research Review Committee, Fox Chase Cancer Center

Honors & Awards

Philadelphia Magazine Top Doctors, 2015-2022, 2023-2024
Best Doctors in America^® , 2019-2020, Medical Oncology and Hematology
Main Line Today Top Doctors, 2019
America's Top Doctors^®, 2017
Mentored Research Scholar Grant, American Cancer Society, 2007
Young Investigator Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2006
Merit Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2003-2005
Honorary Alpha Omega Alpha, University of Chicago, 2004
Excellence in Teaching Award, Harvard Medical School, 2001
Alpha Omega Alpha, Columbia College of Physicians/Surgeons, 1999

Janice Hudnell-Davis

Pancreatic Cancer

In January 2022, I listened to my body, and it may have saved my life. I initially went to the doctor because I had hemorrhoids that had been acting up for about a week. Not only was an over-the-counter medication not working, but I had also noticed a change in the color of my stool. Together, these were red flags that something wasn’t right.

VIEW PATIENT STORY

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David Morschauser

Colorectal Cancer

Early in 2019, I started to experience an uncomfortable feeling whenever I sat down on a hard surface. Little things like riding my bike or just resting on a bench started to hurt a little. At first, it wasn’t that bad, so I just ignored it and hoped it would go away on its own.

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Alan Zlatkin

Pancreatic Cancer

Being defeated is a matter of perspective and will. I feel that no matter how serious the illness is, I can overcome it with the right help and the right attitude.

VIEW PATIENT STORY

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Karin McAnlis

Pancreatic Cyst

I am BRCA1 and BRCA2 positive, meaning I have mutations in those two genes that make me more susceptible to cancer. When I was 67 years old, I was diagnosed with premalignant pancreatic cysts and anal cancer in the same year.

VIEW PATIENT STORY

People

Alison Conn

Practice Manager
Eric Tetzlaff

PA-C –Physician Assistant
Yana Chertock, MA, CCRP

Research Coordinator
Hannah R. Campbell, ScM, LCGC

Cancer Genetic Counselor
Michelle McSweeny, MS, LCGC

Cancer Genetic Counselor
Catherine Neumann, MS, LCGC

Cancer Genetic Counselor
Yael Frieberg, MS, LCGC,
 Chau Q. Nguyen, CGC
Corrine Zrada, MS, LCGC,
Deborah Grace BcS

Research Assistant
Maria Kadlec, BSN, RN,

Nurse Navigator.

Research Interests

Hereditary cancer risk for gastrointestinal cancers
Lynch syndrome, microsatellite instability, polyposis syndromes, DNA repair
Genetic and genomic testing in cancer patients
Communication of genetic risk information to patients and physicians
Health disparities related to genetic and genomic testing
Genetic basis of cancer, especially cancer in young adults

The following ratings and reviews are based on verified feedback collected from independently administered patient experience surveys. The ratings and comments submitted by patients reflect their own views and opinions. Patient identities are withheld to ensure confidentiality and privacy. Learn more about our Patient Experience Ratings.

Ratings Breakdown

Overall Care

5.0

Explained Things Clearly

5.0

Showed Courtesy & Respect

5.0

Discussed Treatment Options

5.0

Recommend Provider

5.0

Patient comments

5 out of 5 (116 ratings, 27 comments)

04/10/2025

They listen, they care and they know their business. I can't ask for anything more.

04/07/2025

Dr. Hall suggested the next line of treatment along with his reasoning.

04/07/2025

After the telehealth with Dr. Hall I felt better because he discussed my treatment options with care and compassion.

02/24/2025

I want to say that all staff, nurses, doctors etc were very professional. Each had the best bedside manner. I always feel as I'm treated as a person and not just a number.

02/17/2025

I have been very happy with all of my Temple doctors.

Selected Publications

Hoadley A., Bass S.B., Chertock Y., Brajuha J., D'Avanzo P., Kelly P.J.,Hall M.J., The role of medical mistrust in concerns about tumor genomic profiling among black and African American cancer patients. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 19(5)2022. PMC8909390.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35270290.

Hall MJ, Bernhisel R, Hughes E, Larson K, Rosenthal E, Singh NA, Lancaster JM, Kurian AW. Germline pathogenic variants in the Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated (ATM) gene are associated with high and moderate risks for multiple cancers. Accepted for publication January 2021, Cancer Prevention Research

Hall MJ. Updates in Chemoprevention Research for Hereditary Gastrointestinal and Polyposis Syndromes. Current Treatment Options in Gastroenterology. CTOG-D-20-00028R1. 8.2020.

Tricarico R, Nicolas E, Hall MJ, Golemis EA. X- and Y-linked chromatin-modifying genes as regulators of sex-specific cancer incidence and prognosis. Clin Cancer Res, 2020.

Salem ME, Bodor JN, Puccini A, Xiu J, Goldberg RM, Grothey A, Korn WM, Shields AF, Worrilow WM, Kim ES, Lenz HJ, Marshall JL, Hall MJ. Relationship Between MLH, PMS2, MSH2, and MSH6 Gene Specific Alternations and Tumor Mutation Burden (TMB) in 1,057 Microsatellite Instability-high Solid Tumors. Int J Cancer. 2020 May 24. doi: 10.1002/ijc.33115. [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 32449172.

Hampel H, Chruch J, Dudley BR, Hall MJ, Stoffel E, Yurgelun MB, Kupfer S, Singh A, You YN, Mork ME, Stoll JLK. Collaborative Group of the Americas on Inherited Gastrointestinal Cancer Position Statement on Multigene Panel Testing for Patients with Colorectal Cancer and/or Polyposis. Fam Cancer. 2020 Jul;19(3):223-239. doi: 10.1007/s10689-020-00170-9.PMID: 32172433

Biller L, Ukaegbu C, Dhingra T, Burke C, Chertock Y, Chittenden A, Church J, Koeppe E, Leach B, Levinson E, Lim R, Lutz M, Salo-Mullen E, Sheikh R, Idos G, Kastrinos F, Stoffel E, Weiss J, Hall MJ, Kalady M, Stadler Z, Syngal S, Yurgelun M. A Multi-Institutional Cohort of Therapy-associated Polyposis in Childhood and Young Adulthood Cancer Survivors. Canc Prev Res. 2020 Feb 12. Doi: 10.1158/1940-6207. CAPR-19-0416R1. PMID: 32051178.

Golan T et al, Hall MJ. Geographic and Ethnic Heterogeneity of Germline BRCA1 or BRCA2 Mutation Prevalence with Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer Screened for Entry into the POLO Trial. Clin Oncol. 2020 Feb 19: JCO1901890. doi: 10.1200/JCO.19.01890. PMID: 32073954.

Jain R, Handorf E, Khare V, Blau M, Chertock Y, Hall MJ. Impact of Baseline Nutrition and Exercise Status on Toxicity and Outcomes in Phase I and II Oncology Clinical Trial Participants. Oncologist. 2020 Feb; 25 (2): 161-169. doi: 10.1634/theoncologist.2019-0289.Epub 2019 Nov 20. PMID: 32043776.

Nicolas E, Tricarico R, Savage M, Golemis EA, Hall MJ. Disease-Associated Genetic Variation in Human Mitochondrial Protein Import. American Journal of Human Genetics, 2019. PubMed

Golan T, Hammel P, Reni M, Van Cutsem E, Hall MJ, et all. Maintenance Olaparib for Germline BRCA-Mutated Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2019 Jul 25;381(4):317-327. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1903387. Epub 2019 Jun 2. PMID: 31157963; PMCID: PMC6810605... Expand

Hall MJ et al. The COGENT study group. Use and patient reported outcomes of clinical multi-gene panel testing for cancer susceptibility in the multi-center Communication of Genetic Test Results by Telephone Study. JCO Precision Oncology.Dec.2018.00199.

Gray PN, Tsai P, Chen D, Wu S, Hoo J, Hall MJ, et al. TumorNext-Lynch-MMR: A Comprehensive Next Generation Sequencing Assay for the Detection of Germline and Somatic Mutations in Genes Associated with Mismatch Repair Deficiency and Lynch Syndrome. Oncotarget. 2018 Apr 17;9(29):20304-20322. PMID: 29755653; PMCID: PMC5945525.

Shaikh T, Handorf EA, Meyer JE, Hall MJ, Esnaola NF. Mismatch Repair Deficiency Testing in Patients with Colorectal Cancer and Nonadherence to Testing Guidelines in Young Adults. JAMA Oncol. 2018 Feb 8;4(2):e173580. PMID: 29121143; PMCID: PMC5838708.

Kurian AW, Hughes E, Handorf EA, Gutin, A, Allen B, Hartman AR, Hall, MJ. Breast and Ovarian Cancer Penetrance Estimates Derived from Germline Multiple –Gene Sequencing Results in Women. JCO Precision Oncology 2017. June 27.10.1200.00066.

Meyer JE, Cohen SJ, Ruth KJ, Sigurdson ER, Hall MJ. Young Age Increases Risk of Lymph Node Positivity in Early-Stage Rectal Cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2016 Jan;108(1) PubMed PMID: 26719881; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4715232

Arora S, Yan H, Cho I, Fan HY, Luo B, Gai X, Hall M, et al. Genetic Variants That Predispose to DNA Double-Strand Breaks in Lymphocytes from a Subset of Patients With Familial Colorectal Carcinomas. Gastroenterology. 2015 Dec;149(7):1872-1883.e9. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2015.08.052. Epub 2015 Sep 5. PMID: 26344056; PMCID: PMC4663158.

Guindalini RS, Win AK, Gulden C, Lindor NM, Hall MH, et all. Mutation spectrum and risk of colorectal cancer in African American families with Lynch syndrome. Gastroenterology. 2015 Nov;149(6):1446-53. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2015.07.052. Epub 2015 Aug 3. PMID: 26248088; PMCID: PMC4648287.

Nicolas E, Arora S, Zhou Y, Serebriiskii IG, Hall, MJ. Systematic evaluation of underlying defects in DNA repair as an approach to case-only assessment of familial prostate cancer. Oncotarget. 2015 Nov 24;6(37):39614-33. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.5554. PMID: 26485759; PMCID: PMC4741850.

Boland PM, Ruth K, Matro JM, Rainey KL, Fang CY, Wong YN, Daly MB, Hall MJ. Genetic counselors' (GC) knowledge, awareness, understanding of clinical next-generation sequencing (NGS) genomic testing. Clin Genet. 2015 Dec;88(6):565-72. doi: 10.1111/cge.12555. Epub 2015 Jan 22. PMID: 25523111; PMCID: PMC4474774.

Hall MJ, Innocent J, Rybak CM, Veloski C, Scott WJ, et all. Case Report: Bilateral granulosa cell carcinoma: A novel malignant manifestation of MEN1 syndrome associated with a rare intronic deletion. Appl Clin Gen 2014. PubMed

Hall MJ, Forman AD, Montgomery SV, Rainey KL, Daly MB. Understanding patient and provider perceptions and expectations of genomic medicine. J Surg Oncol. 2015 Jan;111(1):9-17. doi: 10.1002/jso.23712. Epub 2014 Jul 3. PMID: 24992205; PMCID: PMC4286413.

Bradbury AR, Patrick-Miller L, Long J, Stopfer J, Hall MJ et all. Development of a tiered and binned counseling model for informed consent in the era of multiplex testing for cancer susceptibility Genet Med. 2014 Oct 9. PubMed

Hall MJ, Forman AD, Pilarski R, Wiesner G, Giri VN. Gene panel testing for inherited cancer risk. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2014 Sep;12(9):1339-1346. PubMed

Hall MJ. Conflicted Confidence: Academic Oncologists' Views on Multiplex Pharmacogenomic Testing. J Clin Oncol. 2014 Mar 24. PubMed

Hall MJ, Herda MM, Handorf EA, Rybak CC, Keleher CA, Siemon M, Daly MB. Direct access to universal mismatch repair (MMR) screening results for Lynch syndrome (LS) via electronic personal health record (ePHR):A feasibility study. Genet Med. 2014 May 1.

Matro JM, Ruth KJ, Wong YN, McCully KC, Rybak CM, Meropol NJ, Hall MJ. Cost-sharing and hereditary cancer risk: predictors of willingness-to-pay for genetic testing. J Genet Couns. 2014 May 6.

Hall MJ, Manne SL, Myers RE, Keenan EM, Balshem AM, Weinberg DS. Association of knowledge and race to gene environment risk assessment (GERA) testing for colorectal cancer Genome Med 2012;4(11):92 [epub ahead of print] PMID: 23194586.

Hall MJ, Ruth K, Giri VN. Predictors of compliance with age-appropriate colorectal cancer screening in men enrolled in a prostate cancer screening program. Cancer 2012 Jan 15;118(2):478-84. Collapse