Penn Medicine - Abramson Cancer Center

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Penn Medicine - Abramson Cancer Center

We offer comprehensive care and leading-edge treatments for patients with cancer.
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Penn Medicine - Abramson Cancer Center, an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Philadelphia, is a world leader in cancer research, patient care, and education. Penn Medicine is a world leader in cancer research, patient care, and education. Collaboration is, and always has been, a cornerstone of Penn Medicine’s approach to groundbreaking research and quality care. As the region’s most comprehensive cancer care system, the Abramson Cancer Center’s ecosystem is comprised of 6 acute care hospitals throughout the region, 3 proton therapy centers, and dozens of outpatient multispecialty care locations and affiliated partners to share resources and knowledge where it matters the most — with patients. The Abramson Cancer Center has been proudly designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) continuously since 1973.

10/04/2026

NPR's morning show “First Up” recently explored the nuances of sunscreen, including the ingredient bemotrizinol, which is a newly approved ingredient in U.S. sunscreen, and if sunscreen is really important for Black people and people of color.

Although melanoma from UV rays may be much more common in white people, Black people and people of color should still use sunscreen, said Susan Taylor, MD, the Bernett L. Johnson, Jr., MD Professor in the Department of Dermatology at Penn Medicine.

Sunscreen can help prevent issues like hyperpigmentation, sunburn, and types of cancer besides melanoma in Black and brown skin, she said.

10/01/2026

Carolyn Searles (pictured second from left) and her husband, Andrew, live in the suburbs of Philadelphia with their daughter and son. In 2019, genetic testing showed that Carolyn's sister carried an inherited BRCA1 mutation, which increases the risk for a number of cancers, including breast and ovarian cancers.

The finding prompted the entire family to undergo genetic testing. Carolyn, her other sister, and her father also tested positive, explaining the family’s history of cancer. Her father had prostate cancer, and her aunt had been diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer three times.

Although she was hesitant at first, Carolyn eventually underwent a preventive double mastectomy in 2021. Then, just after her 36th birthday while she was pregnant with her second child, she discovered a golf ball–sized lump in her armpit. Within days, an ultrasound and biopsy confirmed stage IIB triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive subtype often associated with BRCA1 mutations. “The world stopped,” she recalled.

Carolyn is pictured with Robert Vonderheide, MD, DPhil, director of the Abramson Cancer Center and president-elect of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), and her sisters, Emily Smith and Julia Straube.

09/30/2026

A novel personalized mRNA vaccine, tested at Penn Medicine under lead investigator Ravi Amaravadi, MD, has become the first of its kind to show positive results in a late-stage clinical trial for melanoma.

By analyzing unique genetic mutations in a patient's tumor, this therapy trains the immune system to recognize, target, and destroy remaining cancer cells to prevent recurrence. For trial participants like Denise Fitzsimmons, a grandmother from Birdsboro, Pennsylvania who has remained cancer free for two years, the study offers real hope for enduring remission.

Built on the groundbreaking mRNA platform pioneered by Penn's own Nobel laureates Drew Weissman, MD, PhD, and Katalin Karikó, PhD, this advancement signals a promising future for personalized oncology.

“[Melanoma is] the deadliest form of skin cancer because it can metastasize,” said Amaravadi, a professor of Hematology-Oncology and scientific director of the Tara Miller Melanoma Center. “We are now able to train the immune system to look for the tumor, arguably for the first time, in the most effective way.”

Philadelphia Inquirer

09/28/2026

Barbara Seneca lost a valiant five-year battle with chordoma in 2020, following a long hospitalization at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP). Seneca's life was an example of kindness, compassion, and competence.

In her memory, the Barbara A. Seneca Oncology Nursing Awards are endowed by her family in recognition of the outstanding inpatient nursing care Seneca received at HUP.

Congratulations to the 2026 Barbara A. Seneca Certified Nursing Assistant Award winner Brittany D***s, CNA, and Nursing Award Winner Seth Rice, BSN, RN.

HUP Nursing

09/25/2026

September is National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and according to National Institutes of Health (NIH) data, Black women with ovarian cancer have a five-year relative survival rate of about 40 to 41%, the lowest among racial groups in the United States. They also are about 20% more likely to be diagnosed after the disease has reached an advanced stage.

“Although ovarian cancer is less common among Black women than among white women, significant disparities remain in stage at diagnosis and survival,” said Sarah Kim, MD, chief of Gynecologic Oncology at Penn Medicine. “Addressing these disparities and ensuring timely access to diagnosis, treatment, and supportive care remain important priorities.”

The Philadelphia Tribune

09/24/2026

Earlier this month, TIME hosted the third annual TIME100 Health Leadership Forum in New York City, where David Porter, MD, director of Cell Therapy and Transplantation at the Abramson Cancer Center, spoke on the panel, “The Access Gap: Expanding Pathways to Life-Saving Care.”

Porter explained that because of how specialized CAR T-cell therapies were designed and tested, there can be natural bottlenecks when it comes to scaling up and disseminating it to a wider audience, but there are an “enormous number of initiatives trying to improve” access, including a pilot study at Penn Medicine that has treated more than 60 patients with CAR T-cell therapy in community settings.

09/22/2026

“I was born and raised in Philadelphia, and I’m proud to support Penn Medicine and the extraordinary work being done there to advance medicine and improve people’s lives.”

Thanks to a transformational gift from Stanley C. Middleman, founder and CEO of Freedom Mortgage, we’re proud to introduce the Middleman Center at Penn Medicine, located at 3600 Civic Center Blvd., alongside the newly established Middleman Fund.

This support brings together world-class laboratories, research teams, and healthcare innovators to accelerate discoveries for various diseases and conditions, including cancer.

09/19/2026

Greg Horne was diagnosed with immunoglobulin M multiple myeloma, a rare subtype of the disease, in November 2023. By 2025, he had already undergone two previous lines of therapy. Still, he had not experienced even a brief remission.

Patricia Ford, MD, a Penn Medicine hematologist-oncologist, gave Horne a few options. She mentioned he was a good candidate for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, a personalized form of immunotherapy in which a person’s own T cells are genetically modified to recognize and attack cancer cells.

After mulling over the risks and benefits of various treatment options, Horne started treatment with the CAR T-cell therapy Carvykti (ciltacabtagene autoleucel) in the fall of 2025. This option appealed to him because it offered a one-and-done approach with the potential for yearslong cancer control and a break from continuous treatment.

Cancer Today

09/18/2026

Beth Sandy, MSN, CRNP, a nurse practitioner at the Abramson Cancer Center, explained how oncology nurses and pharmacists can collaborate to manage financial toxicity and secure oral therapies for patients with cancer.

Oncology Nursing News

09/16/2026

There have been several promising developments lately in cancer research and treatment, including a new drug approved by the FDA for advanced pancreatic cancer that targets a cancer-driving gene mutation called RAS.

“What’s happened here is a brand-new type of chemistry, really unprecedented,” said Robert Vonderheide, MD, DPhil, director of the Abramson Cancer Center and president-elect of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). “It really took basic chemistry and basic research to find a new way forward.”

PBS NewsHour

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3400 Civic Center Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA
19104

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http://www.pennmedicine.org/cancer

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