2023 Fox Chase Cancer Center Annual Report: We Advance Together

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It is often said that one person can make a difference. While this sentiment certainly rings true, it is also evident that when we band together, we can achieve greatness.

Collaboration has long been a hallmark of Fox Chase Cancer Center. In the highly competitive, sometimes harsh world of scientific and clinical research, our investigators have found a haven for free thinking, collegiality, and scholarship.

We support each other in our common goal to prevail over cancer, and at times, our work has implications that enrich even broader areas of science. It is not for accolades or fame. It is not for financial compensation or ego. It is purely to advance our understanding of cancer for the benefit of our patients.

In the pages of this year’s edition of Prevail, Fox Chase’s annual report, you will read about many of the exciting projects, studies, and collaborations actively unfolding within our institution and beyond — many of them in collaboration with faculty throughout Temple Health and the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.

By pioneering new approaches to our clinical trial operations, improving access to these potentially life-saving studies, and streamlining processes, we are increasing recruitment and allocating resources in more effective ways.

Some of these new approaches include the creation of a clinical trials council to enhance the overall infrastructure that supports clinical research at Fox Chase. In addition, we are using a new resource allocation system to focus more strategically on trials that have the best chance of success. Finally, we are improving access to information about available clinical trials to both patients and providers, and developing new tools to help physicians better match eligible patients to the most appropriate studies.

By promoting a climate of innovation, we are increasing research grant awards, scholarly publications, and academic presentations. We are also making a greater impact on diversity in cancer treatment and research to provide culturally competent care to diverse populations of patients and to make important discoveries that will guide treatment for various groups with unique characteristics and needs.

Another exciting development is the recent launch of the Fox Chase-Temple Urologic Institute, a groundbreaking, collaborative initiative focused on both benign and oncologic urology. The institute includes one of the largest fellowship-trained genitourinary cancer teams in the country, along with a group of benign urologists who specialize in many conditions not commonly seen at other institutions. Together, they are providing comprehensive, top-ranked care in the field of urology.

The work at Fox Chase is sophisticated, and our focus is multipronged. Emphasis on quality of life, adaptability in treatment planning, organ preservation, diverse representation in research, improved access and awareness, and prevention in high-risk patients are just some of the areas where we are making advances.

It takes all of us — across campuses and specialties — offering insights that reflect vast expertise in various fields to affect positive change. Each of us has a contribution to make, and when we join together, we can go further than any one of us can alone.