Fox Chase Cancer Center News

PHILADELPHIA (January 26, 2024) — While race can influence treatment recommendations for certain forms of cancer, a new study presented today by researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center has shown that immune checkpoint inhibitor-based treatment (ICI), a type of immunotherapy, is an equally effective frontline treatment for both Black and white patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

PHILADELPHIA (January 26, 2024) — Patients with muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma who underwent surgery to remove their tumor appeared to have an overall survival benefit from subsequent systemic therapy with the immune checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab, according to an analysis by researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center.

PHILADELPHIA (January 24, 2024) — A team of nursing researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center and Temple Health has received a $564,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to fund research into increasing clinical trial enrollment of underrepresented kidney cancer patients by making it easier for them to participate in such trials.

PHILADELPHIA (January 22, 2024) — Amy Whitaker, PhD, an Assistant Professor in the Nuclear Dynamics and Cancer Research Program at Fox Chase Cancer Center, recently received a $125,000 grant from W.W. Smith Charitable Trust to evaluate the regulation of KRAS gene expression in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

PHILADELPHIA (January 19, 2024) — Although studies have shown that aspirin can reduce the risk for colon cancer among people with Lynch syndrome, a new study presented today by researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center found that only a minority of patients are taking it as a form of chemoprevention.

Inside every Chemo Comfort Bag is a little piece of the memory of Jerry “Herk” Hertkorn. This past year, his daughter, Fox Chase Cancer Center nurse practitioner Caryn Vadseth, MSN, CRNP , AGPCNP-BC, OCN, turned the group she created in his memory, Herk’s Heroes, into an official 501(c)3 charitable organization with the mission to provide comfort and support to cancer patients.

The Fox Chase Cancer Center ICU has not seen a patient fall in the department since the summer of 2020. It is a remarkable feat entirely due to the attention and commitment of the ICU nursing staff, says Kathleen Wolf, MBA, BSN, RN, NEA-BC, director of Magnet/Nursing Quality at Fox Chase.

A nursing mentor and her former protégé—both from Germany—reunited in the United States in mid-March 2023 to discuss the future of the nursing profession and to explore potential collaborations that will help move the profession forward.