The center was formed in 1974 by the merger of the American Oncologic Hospital, which was founded in 1904 as the first cancer hospital in the United States,[2] and the Institute for Cancer Research, founded in 1927.
In 1967 a large wing of the hospital was constructed based on a design by Vincent G. Kling using steep slopes of poured concrete and roof tiles by Ludowici.[3]
In 1995, Fox Chase also became a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of 21 of the nation's leading academic cancer centers.
The center was an independent, non-profit institution until it became part of TUHS July 1, 2012. On December 15, 2011, Fox Chase Cancer Center and Temple University Health system signed an affiliation agreement.[4] Under the agreement, Fox Chase has connected and extended its current operations into the adjoining 176-bed and 33-acre Jeanes Hospital, which is already a part of the Temple University Health System. Fox Chase is considered the "Cancer Hub" of the Temple University Health System.
The hospital has almost 2,400 employees and an operating budget of $300 million. Annual hospital admissions average about 4,100 and outpatient visits to physicians exceed 69,000 a year.
Research advances and awards
2023 American Nurses Association Magnet Award for Nursing Excellence. Fox Chase Cancer Center is one of 15 hospitals to receive the award six or more times. [5]
2020 the Press Ganey's Guardian of Excellence Award for excellence in clinical care in outpatient services.[6]
2011 The 6th Albert Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research was awarded to Beatrice Mintz by the National Foundation for Cancer Research for her discoveries of the relationship between development and cancer, based on construction and analysis of chimeric and transgenic mouse models.[8]
2004 The Kyoto Prize in Basic Science is awarded to Alfred G. Knudson for lifetime achievement and contributions to the betterment of mankind.[9]
2000 Fox Chase became the first US cancer center and the first hospital in Pennsylvania to earn the American Nurses Association Magnet Award for Nursing Excellence .
1993 Beatrice Mintz produces the first mouse model of human malignant melanoma, in which the disease resembles the human malignancy.[11]
1991 Philip Tsichlis, Alfonso Bellacosa, and Joseph Testa clone the AKT1 and AKT2 genes - the first viral oncogenes described that inhibit programmed cell death.[12]
1991 Timothy Yen discovers that a molecular motor controls the way human cells sort their chromosomes when cells divide during mitosis.[13]
1982 William Mason and Jesse Summers demonstrate that the hepatitis B virus utilizes reverse transcription for genome replication, previously thought to be unique to retroviruses.[14]
1981 Beatrice Mintz's laboratory is one of the first to introduce a cloned gene into fertilized mouse eggs and prove that it is retained in animals developing from those eggs, and is transmitted to their progeny.[15]
1980 Discovery of the SCID mouse, a mouse strain with no natural immunity, by Melvin Bosma. The SCID mouse is an essential research tool in devising new treatments.[18]
1979 Beatrice Mintz shows that a fatal genetic anemia of mice can be prevented in utero by injecting normal blood-forming stem cells into the fetus through a placental blood vessel.[19]
1974 Discovery by Robert Perry that the messenger RNAs of mammalian cells and their precursors contain a novel structure at their leading ends.[22]
1972 Helen M. Berman and Jenny Glusker report the crystal structure of a nucleic acid-drug complex as a model for anti-tumor agent and mutagen action.[23]
1962 The first demonstration, by Robert Perry, that ribosomal RNA is synthesized in the nucleolus as a large precursor molecule that is subsequently processed into mature components.[26]
1962 Beatrice Mintz's development of the first mammal comprising two genetically different cell populations in all tissues, as a tool for analyses of embryonic development and disease in mouse models.[27]
