Assistant Chief, Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology
Associate Professor, Department of Hematology/Oncology
Medical Director, Medical Oncology
Member, Cancer Epigenetics Institute
Neuroendocrine Tumors, Appendix Cancer, Liver, Gall Bladder & Bile Duct Cancer, Stomach (Gastric) Cancer, Esophageal Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, Colorectal Cancer
Coming from a family of 12 doctors, I wanted to be one for as long as I can remember. After graduating from medical school in India, I pursued Internal Medicine training at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, where I also served as a chief medical resident. During that time I became interested in oncology and clinical research. I recently completed my fellowship in hematology/oncology at Temple/Fox Chase Cancer Center and have been fortunate enough to stay on as faculty. Early in my training, I realized that I wanted to dedicate my career to help discover new therapies for patients with gastrointestinal cancers, with a particular focus on pancreatic and neuroendocrine malignancies. We have made significant progress but a lot still needs to be done... Expand
Fox Chase is a well-known academic center, but small enough to allow for collaboration between clinicians and researchers, and this is the secret of our success. This results in the newest laboratory discoveries being moved quickly to the clinic. In particular, we have been studying the molecular profile of neuroendocrine tumors to identify new therapeutic targets. I also have an interest in cancer specific outcomes and survivorship research. I want to focus my career on developing and testing new therapies and exploring bio-markers that can predict response to therapy and prognosis for neuroendocrine and pancreatic cancers, with a goal of improving outcomes for our patients.
Patient care at Fox Chase is cutting edge and state of the art, yet very personal. We take a comprehensive and multi-disciplinary approach in treating patients with gastrointestinal cancers with a team of experts including gastroenterologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, surgical oncologists and pathologists who are dedicated to treating patients with gastrointestinal cancers. Fox Chase is a special place, one in which each patient is treated as a family member and provided excellent care. Collapse
Before my cancer diagnosis, I’d had stomachaches on and off for years. My husband and I work as landscapers in the summer, and I always felt good during those months. It was when we’d stop working in the winter that I’d start to feel unwell.
As someone who works in oncology clinical trials, I’m pretty familiar with hospitals and medical centers in the Philadelphia area and what their specialties are when it comes to cancer.
In October of 2020, at 59 years old, I started having some back pain. I worked in construction, so lower back pain was normal, but this time the pain was in my upper back. I went to my primary doctor and she noticed that my kidney was not functioning fully. She thought it might be due to my diabetes medication.
After two months of a lowered dosage of medication, my pain only got worse. I was sent to the local urologist, and when he saw something on my X-rays he immediately referred me to Fox Chase Cancer Center.
I am in good hands with my care team. Their multidisciplinary approach made it possible for me to regain my quality of life and look forward to my future.
Neuroendocrine Tumors
Pancreatic Cancer
Outcomes Research
Vijayvergia, N., Denlinger, C., Survivorship in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer:Challenges Faced and Steps Forward. Manuscript submitted to JNCCN. 2015 PubMed
Vijayvergia, N., Dotan, E., Cohen, S.J., Predictors of long-term survival with metastatic pancreatic cancer (mPC) in the gemcitabine era: The Fox Chase Cancer Center experience. Manuscript submitted to Cancer. 2015 PubMed
Matthews, E., Zhou, L., Vijayvergia, N., El-Deiry, W., A Multiplexed Marker-based Algorithm for Diagnosis of Carcinoma of Unknown Primary Using Circulating Tumor Cells, Poster accepted for presentation at AACR 2015. 2014
Vijayvergia, N., Cohen, S.J., Predictors of long-term survival with metastatic pancreatic cancer (mPC) in the gemcitabine era: The Fox Chase Cancer Center experience. J Clin Oncol 33, 2015 (suppl 3; abstr 253). 2014
Vijayvergia, N., Engstrom, P.F., Molecular profiling of advanced stage Neuro Endocrine Tumors (NETs): The Fox Chase Cancer Center (FCCC) experience. Poster presented at NANETS annual symposium 2014 and GI ASCO Symposium 2015 (JClin Oncol 33, 2015 (suppl 3; abstr 245)
Vijayvergia N, Mehra R. Clinical challenges in targeting anaplastic lymphoma kinase in advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 2014 Sep;74(3):437-46
Patient comments