To date, there have been few recommendations to guide physicians about when to offer men genetic consultation for prostate cancer risk. Now, an international and interspecialty panel of experts convened at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center (SKCC) at Jefferson have developed a comprehensive set of recommendations. This consensus statement, published December 13th in the Journal …

The retinoblastoma (RB) susceptibility gene was the first gatekeeper gene discovered for cancer. When it was removed or damaged, cancer thrived. Over the years, researchers have discovered methods that have allowed them to experimentally remove the RB gene in order to study it, but just how the gene’s loss made cancers more aggressive was poorly understood. By studying patient samples, …

Jefferson now offers treatment with the CyberKnife® System, a noninvasive alternative to surgery for treating cancerous and noncancerous tumors, which has been shown to provide excellent long-term results for patients with low-and intermediate-risk prostate cancer. According to a recent national 17-center study, after 10 years 98.4 percent of the 230 men monitored with low-risk prostate cancer who were treated with the …

Colorectal cancer is highly prevalent worldwide, and metastasis of colorectal cancer to distant sites accounts for ~90% of the mortality associated with this disease. Researchers at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson (SKCC), along with collaborators at several other institutions, tracked genomic changes that occur as colorectal tumors progress and metastasize to distant sites …

Recent findings from investigators at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson raise potential concerns regarding adverse effects associated with a therapeutic approach that has revolutionized the field of cancer treatment — cancer immunotherapy. The findings were recently published in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology + Biology + Physics. In immunotherapy, clinicians harness the power of …

New research from investigators at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson provides insight into a cellular mechanism underlying the ability of pancreatic cancer cells to resist a promising, personalized therapy. The study was recently published online in Cancer Research. The research team studied the role of an RNA-binding protein termed HuR in influencing the …

When Alison Petok was five years old, her Nana died of leukemia. “If she had been diagnosed a decade or two later, perhaps she would have survived due to the advances in blood cancer research,” Alison reflected. Years later in 2017, Alison was nominated as “Woman of the Year” by The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society …

A collaborative study involving Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson (SKCC) investigators, together with colleagues from the University of California at San Diego, has provided important insights into how pancreatic cancer cells are able to resist the effects of chemotherapeutic agents. The new study, published in Cancer Research, was led by senior author Jordan Winter, MD, FACS, Associate Professor of …

We are excited to announce that Kathleen O’Doherty, RN, BSN, OCN, has joined us in the role of Nursing Care Coordinator: Oncology Outreach, a joint navigator position between Main Line Health Cancer Care and The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson. Kathleen will work closely with physicians and members of the multidisciplinary care teams at both institutions …

The research of Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center investigator Veda Giri, MD, has been highlighted on the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) website. Giri and her team received funding from the U.S. Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program (PCRP) to conduct studies on men at high risk for aggressive prostate cancer.  She and her …

Investigators at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have uncovered a new regulatory pathway with important implications for lung cancer. Lung cancer is the leading cause of all cancer-related deaths worldwide, with 85% of all cases consisting of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). A major obstacle to successfully treating NSCLC  is that many patients …

The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson is pleased to announce that Vivian Chua, PhD, has been awarded a 2017 Ocular Melanoma Foundation–American Associate for Cancer Research (AACR) Fellowship for her project, “Novel Epigenetic Targeting Approaches in Uveal Melanoma.” This one-year, $50,000 grant recognizes the significant impact of Dr. Chua’s research, its relevance to the …

Please join us in congratulating Christine Bonaccorso, RN, BSN, OCN, on assuming the position of Administrative Director of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Network. Over the past several months, Bonaccorso has proven to be an outstanding leader while serving as Interim Director, playing a critical role in several projects that have greatly enhanced the Cancer Network. …

The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson would like to congratulate Noelle L. Williams, MD, who has been selected for induction into the Gold Humanism Honor Society Resident Chapter of Thomas Jefferson University. The Gold Humanism Honor Society recognizes students, residents, and faculty who are exemplars of compassionate patient care and who serve as role …

The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson is pleased to announce that Ralph Zinner, MD, and Amy Leader, DrPH, MPH, are the winners of the second Accelerate Clinical Trials (ACT) Research Grant Award from Free to Breathe, an organization devoted to improving the treatment and survival of lung cancer patients.  The ACT grant is a funding …

  The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson encourages Jefferson Hospital System breast cancer patients to participate in the upcoming “Unite for HER Wellness Day” event to be held on Sunday, April 2, 2017. This event will allow breast cancer patients to meet in a small group setting with trained professionals to learn about complementary …

Investigators from the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson University, and Drexel University have uncovered a critical regulatory mechanism involved in pancreatic and colorectal cancer progression. The study results were recently published in Molecular Cancer Research. The researchers investigated the role of the RNA-binding protein HuR (also known as ELAVL1) in gastrointestinal (GI) …

Researchers at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson recently discovered that isomiRs (small non-coding RNA molecules produced in a cell) are powerful enough to accurately classify samples that can belong to 32 types of cancer. The research was published in the journal Nucleic Acids Research. Work in recent years has revealed that microRNAs (miRNAs), small …

February is National Cancer Prevention Month. Below are 5 easy ways to help reduce your risk of developing cancer, thanks to Amy Leader, PhD, and Charnita Zeigler-Johnson, PhD, both Assistant Professors in the Department of Medical Oncology.  1. Healthy diet It is well known that a poor diet can lead to being overweight or obese, which …

The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson is pleased to announce the appointment of Pierluigi Porcu, MD, as the new Director of the Hematologic Malignancies and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Division in the Department of Medical Oncology, effective December 1, 2016. Dr. Porcu comes to Jefferson from The Ohio State University in Columbus, where he …

The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Network at Jefferson and Doylestown Health will officially join forces effective January 1, 2017. The affiliation combines the expertise of a leading academic medical center and a community health system with a reputation for delivering quality health care. As the newest member of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Network (SKCN) at Jefferson, …

The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson is pleased to announce the appointment of Sara Meyer, PhD, as a new assistant professor in the department of Cancer Biology effective November 1, 2016. Previously, Dr. Meyer was a postdoctoral fellow at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Dr. Meyer received her PhD in Cell and Molecular Cancer …

On Monday, June 11, 2012, at the Annual Jefferson Postdoctoral Research Symposium, Dr. Karen Knudsen and Dr. Renato Iozzo were honored with The Distinguished Mentor Award. The Distinguished Mentor Award was established to recognize Jefferson faculty members that excel in the mentoring of postdoctoral fellows. The award also serves to highlight the importance of positive and …

Jefferson’s Kimmel Cancer Center and the Department of Radiology at Thomas Jefferson University received a five-year, $2.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to investigate a potentially revolutionary method that can stage prostate cancers and detect recurrent disease so accurately, it would significantly reduce the number of confirmation biopsies. Such biopsies can …

Identifying gene mutations in cancer patients to predict clinical outcome has been the cornerstone of cancer research for nearly three decades, but now researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have invented a new approach that instead links cancer cell metabolism with poor clinical outcome. This approach can now be applied to virtually any …

Medical physicists at Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson’s Kimmel Cancer Center have demonstrated a new real-time tumor tracking technique that can help minimize the amount of radiation delivered to surrounding healthy tissue in a patient—up to 50 percent less in some cases—and maximize the dose the tumor receives. Respiratory and cardiac motions have been found …