Associate Professor, Department of Hematology/Oncology
Director, Genitourinary Clinical Research
Director of Clinical and Translational Research, GU Service Line
Adrenal Tumor, Penile Cancer, Ureteral Cancer, Kidney Cancer, Testicular Cancer, Bladder Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Urethral Cancer
I am a medical oncologist specializing in the treatment of genitourinary cancers. As a medical oncologist, I work with patients at all phases of malignant disease, which allows me the opportunity to join patients and families on a journey that can be at times both exhilarating and exhausting. I understand that the patient-oncologist relationship is a unique partnership and one that I take seriously. The journey of cancer provides access to moments in life that can be emotionally challenging for all parties, and I view my role as one ultimately about providing information and guidance to help navigate the path in the way best suited to each patient.
I find genitourinary oncology to be a particularly satisfying and exciting field within medical oncology. It includes a diverse group of patients and a variety of different disease with their own unique opportunities and challenges. It is an area involved in a great deal of research, which has afforded new treatment options for patients, and allows me to be involved in helping patients live longer, live better, and in some instances, even help cure them of their disease.
Fortunately, at Fox Chase Cancer Center, our faculty and staff are dedicated and united towards one goal – optimally treating patients with cancer. I completed my oncology training at Fox Chase and was fortunate to be able to continue as an attending physician at this world-class institution. As part of Fox Chase, our patients have access to the cutting edge of clinical oncology, including the ability to have access to exciting new drugs as part of clinical trials. Medical oncology is a rapidly evolving world, with new treatments and possibilities continually being made available to improve patient outcomes, and Fox Chase strives to remain at the forefront of those changes.
Nineteen years ago, just after I turned 60, I was diagnosed with bladder cancer. I had noticed some blood in my urine, and the first doctor I talked to told me not to worry about it. Then over the next few months it got worse, and I decided to go to Fox Chase Cancer Center.
"In 2018 I was diagnosed with muscle invasive bladder cancer, which seemed like it would end my diving, but also provided me a new way to give back."
Zibelman M, Plimack ER. Checkpoint Inhibitors and Urothelial Carcinoma: The Translational Paradigm. Oncology. 2016 Feb; 30(2): 160-2. PubMed
Zibelman M, Pollak N, Olszanski AJ. Autoimmune inner ear disease in a melanoma patient treated with pembrolizumab. J Immunother Cancer. 2016 Feb 16;4:8. PubMed
Zibelman M, Wong YN, Malizzia L, Corrigan A, Olszanski AJ, Denlinger CS, Roethke SK, Tetzlaff CH, Plimack ER. Phase I study of the mTOR inhibitor ridaforolimus and the HDAC inhibitor vorinostat in advanced renal cell carcinoma and other solid tumors. Investigational New Drugs. 2015 Oct; 33 (5): 1040-7. PubMed
Zibelman M, Barth P, Handorf E, Smaldone MC, Kutikov A, Uzzo RG, Bilusic M, Plimack ER, Wong YN, Geynisman DM . A Review of Interventional Clinical Trials in Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Status Report from the ClinicalTrials.gov Website. Clinical Genitourinary Cancer. 2015 Apr; 13(2):142-9. PubMed
Ghatalia P, Koenigsberg R, Pisarcik D, Handorf EA, Plimack ER, Geynisman DM, Zibelman M. The Evolution of Clinical Trials in Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Status Report for 2013-2016 from the ClinicalTrials.gov Website. Kidney Cancer. 2017. December. 1(2):151-159
Zibelman M, Plimack ER. Immunotherapy for metastatic urothelial carcinoma: putting the brakes on releasing the brake. Immunotherapy. 2018. Mar 1; 10(6): 423-425
Zibelman M, Plimack ER. Pembrolizumab plus ipilimumab or pegylated interferon alfa-2b for patients with melanoma or renal cell carcinoma: take new drugs but keep the old? Annals of Translational Medicine. 2019. July; 7(Suppl 3): S95
Cole S, Zibelman M, Bertino E, Yucebay F, Reynolds K. Managing Immuno-Oncology Toxicity: Top 10 Innovative Institutional Solutions. American Society of Clinical Oncology Educational Book 39 (May 17, 2019) 96-104
Dawson NA, Zibelman M, Lindsay T, Feldman RA, Saul M, Gatalica Z, Korn WM, and Heath EI. An emerging landscape for canonical and actionable molecular alterations in primary and metastatic prostate cancer. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. 2020.19:1373–82. Published on-line March 27, 2020
Anari F, Ramamurthy C, Zibelman M. Impact of tumor microenvironment composition on therapeutic responses and clinical outcomes in cancer. Future Oncology. 2018 Jun; 14(14): 1409-142
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