Fox Chase Cancer Center
Fact Sheet

Fox Chase Cancer Center is one of the nation's first comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute in 1974. Fox Chase's activities include basic, clinical and prevention research; detection and treatment of cancer; and community outreach programs.

Fox Chase was formed in 1974 by the union of American Oncologic Hospital (the nation's first cancer hospital, established in 1904) and the Institute for Cancer Research (founded in 1927). Today it has almost 2,400 employees and an operating budget of $281.7 million for fiscal year 2006. Research is conducted in more than 80 laboratories by a staff of more than 325 physicians and scientists who hold medical degrees, Ph.D.s or both.

Fox Chase's 100-bed hospital is one of the few facilities in the country devoted entirely to cancer care. Annual hospital admissions average about 4,100 and outpatient visits to physicians exceed 69,000 a year. In September 2000, the Hospital of Fox Chase Cancer Center became the nation's first comprehensive cancer center and Pennsylvania's first hospital to receive Magnet status for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, which renewed this honor in 2004.

About 170 clinical trials of new prevention, diagnostic and treatment techniques are under way at any one time. Almost 800 new patients a year participate in treatment studies. Fox Chase is also involved in developing trials to test new agents that may prevent cancer in high-risk individuals and is an active participant in the national trials to prevent breast cancer and prostate cancer. Combining research in many disciplines with patient care enables Fox Chase to translate new research findings into medical applications that may become models for improved cancer care.

Fox Chase is structured around three divisions: Medical science, basic science and population science. Medical science is committed to providing excellent patient care and conducting a broad-based program of clinical research. The division of basic science, is renowned worldwide for its work in understanding both normal and abnormal cell growth and development. The goal of the division of population science is to identify people at high risk of cancer and to develop strategies to reduce these risks through programs of prevention and early detection.

Our goals are not only to provide outstanding care but also to improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancer - and eventually to prevent it. The Research Institute for Cancer Prevention, the first comprehensive program of its kind in the nation, was dedicated in 2000 in the Prevention Pavilion on the Fox Chase campus. The five-story Pavilion provides 120,000 square feet of space for both research and clinical programs dedicated to eradicating the many diseases called cancer.

Among the prevention-related services offered are special programs to help people with family histories or other specific risks of breast and ovarian cancer, gastrointestinal cancers, melanoma and prostate cancer. The Prevention Pavilion also includes new laboratories devoted to prevention-oriented research. The expanded radiation therapy facility is located on the ground floor of the Pavilion.

In 1986, Fox Chase established partnerships with community hospitals in the region. Fox Chase Partners now includes 28 hospitals in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. This program has been successful in raising the quality of cancer care in the community and increasing the number of patients enrolled in clinical trials. In 1995, Fox Chase also became a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Partners, an alliance of 19 of the nation's leading academic cancer centers.

Fox Chase investigators have received numerous awards and honors, including Nobel Prizes in medicine and chemistry; the Kyoto Prize; a Lasker Clinical Research Award; memberships in the National Academy of Sciences; General Motors Cancer Research Foundation Prizes; American Cancer Society Medals of Honor; and induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.