James M. Metz
James M. Metz, M.D.
Henry K. Pancoast Professor of Radiation Oncology
Department: Radiation Oncology
Contact information
Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine
3400 Civic Center Blvd
2 West
Philadelphia, PA 19104
3400 Civic Center Blvd
2 West
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: 215-349-5570
Fax: 215-349-5923
Fax: 215-349-5923
Links
Editor-in-Chief, OncoLink: internet source for Cancer news and resources from the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center.
internet resource from the Unviersity of Pennsylvania Cancer Center
Editor-in-Chief, OncoLink: internet source for Cancer news and resources from the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center.
internet resource from the Unviersity of Pennsylvania Cancer Center
Education:
BS (Biology)
Juniata College , 1989.
MS (Clinical Immunology/Microbiology)
Hahnemann University , 1991.
MD (Medicine)
UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Med School, 1995.
Permanent linkBS (Biology)
Juniata College , 1989.
MS (Clinical Immunology/Microbiology)
Hahnemann University , 1991.
MD (Medicine)
UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Med School, 1995.
Description of Clinical Expertise
Dr. Metz serves as Chair of Radiation Oncology at the Perelman School of Medicine and holds the Henry K. Pancoast Endowed Professorship. He is Associate Director for Clinical Services and Programs at the Abramson Comprehensive Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Metz led the development of the Roberts Proton Therapy Center, the largest proton center in the world completely integrated with conventional cancer services. Dr. Metz has become an international leader in the application of proton therapy for the treatment of a variety of malignancies. He continues to work to integrate proton therapy as a new treatment paradigm for cancer and is leading the expansion of proton therapy.Dr. Metz specializes in the use of radiation for the treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies. His research interests include the treatment of GI malignancies in the multidisciplinary setting, as well as the utilization of complementary and alternative medications by cancer patients, and use of the Internet to provide cancer related information. A major area of interest has been the development of proton therapy at Penn and internationally.
Dr. Metz also serves as Executive Director of OncoLink (www.oncolink.upenn.edu), the award winning Internet resource from the Abramson Comprehensive Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania that was founded in 1994. As Executive Director, Dr. Metz leads OncoLink’s mission to help cancer patients, families, health care professionals, and the general public find accurate cancer-related information online. The website has led the way in online education for cancer patients and healthcare providers, receiving numerous awards and recognition from most major authorities as one of the best cancer information websites. Currently OncoLink is developing interactive content and personalized information for individuals while collecting important information to move the field forward, particularly in the area of cancer survivorship. Its reach is international in scope with over 285,000 unique visitors served per month.
Selected Publications
Verginadis II, Velalopoulou A, Kim MM, Kim K, Paraskevaidis I, Bell B, Oliaei Motlagh SA, Karaj A, Banerjee E, Finesso G, Assenmacher CA, Radaelli E, Lu J,Lin Y, Putt ME, Diffenderfer ES, Guha C, Qin L, Metz JM, Maity A, Cengel KA,Koumenis C, Busch TM : FLASH proton reirradiation, with or without hypofractionation, reduces chronic toxicity in the normal murine intestine, skin and bone. RadioTher. Oncology April 2025 Notes: doi:10.1016/j.radonc.2025.110744.Ni H, Reitman ZJ, Zou W, Akhtar MN, Paul R, Huang M, Zhang D, Zheng H, Zhang R, Ma R, Ngo G, Zhang L, Diffenderfer ES, Motlagh SAO, Kim MM, Minn AJ, Dorsey JF, Foster JB, Metz J, Koumenis C, Kirsch DG, Gong Y, Fan Y. : FLASH radiation reprograms lipid metabolism and macrophage immunity and sensitizes medulloblastoma to CAR-T cell therapy. Nat. Cancer March 2025 Notes: doi: 10.1038/s43018-025-00905-6.
Lee G, Nelson B, Koenig J, Plastaras JP, Metz JM, Yeap BY, Zhang Y, Drapek LC, Baglini C, Ryan DP, Parikh AR, Allen JN, Clark JW, Blaszkowsky LS, Ben-Josef E, Hong TS, Kharofa JR, Wo JY. : Long-term Outcomes of Definitive Chemoradiation With Proton Therapy for Treatment of Carcinoma of the Anal Canal: Combined Analysis of 2 Prospective Trials. Int. J Radiation Oncology-Biology-Physics January 2025 Notes: doi:10.1016/j.ijrobp.2024.12.034 Epub ahead of print
Kim K, Kim MM, Skoufos G, Diffenderfer ES, Motlagh SAO, Kokkorakis M, Koliaki I, Morcos G, Shoniyozov K, Griffin J, Hatzigeorgiou AG, Metz JM, Lin A, Feigenberg SJ, Cengel KA, Ky B, Koumenis C, Verginadis II : FLASH Proton Radiation Therapy Mitigates Inflammatory and Fibrotic Pathways and Preserves Cardiac Function in a Preclinical Mouse Model of Radiation-Induced Heart Disease. Int. J Radiation Oncology-Biology-Physics February 2024 Notes: doi:10.1016/j.ijrobp.2024.01.224.
Anstadt EJ, Carmona R, Berlin E, Yegya-Raman N, Venigalla S, Reddy V, Williams GR, Leibensperger MR, Wojcieszynski A, Baumann BC, Lee MK, Plastaras JP, Furth EE, Mell LK, Metz JM, Ben-Josef E. : SMAD4 loss predicts worse overall and distant metastasis-free survival in patients with resected pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Cancer February 2024 Notes: doi:10.1002/cncr.35058. Epub 2023 Oct 12
Amit U, Shagun M, Plastaras JP, Metz JM, Karasic TB, Lubas MJ, Ben-Josef E.: Clinical outcomes and risk stratification in unresectable biliary tract cancers undergoing radiation therapy. Radiation Oncology August 2024 Notes: doi:10.1186/s131014-024-02481-y.
erginadis II, Velalopoulou A, Kim MM, Kim K, Paraskevaidis I, Bell B, Oliaei Motlagh SA, Karaj A, Banerjee E, Finesso G, Assenmacher CA, Radaelli E, Lu J, Lin Y, Putt ME, Diffenderfer ES, Guha C, Qin L, Metz JM, Maity A, Cengel KA, Koumenis C, Busch TM. : FLASH proton reirradiation, with or without hypofractionation, mitigates chronic toxicity in the normal murine intestine, skin, and bone. bioRxiv [Preprint] July 2024.
Hartsell WF, Simone CB 2nd, Godes D, Maggiore J, Mehta MP, Frank SJ, Metz JM, Choi JI. : Temporal Evolution and Diagnostic Diversification of Patients Receiving Proton Therapy in the United States: A Ten-Year Trend Analysis (2012 to 2021) From the National Association for Proton Therapy. Int. J Radiation Oncology-Biology-Physics July 2024 Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2023.12.041.
Chowdhury P, Velalopoulou A, Verginadis II, Morcos G, Loo PE, Kim MM, Motlagh SAO, Shoniyozov K, Diffenderfer ES, Ocampo EA, Putt M, Assenmacher CA, Radaelli E, Lu J, Qin L, Liu H, Leli NM, Girdhani S, Denef N, Vander Stappen F, Cengel KA, Busch TM, Metz JM, Dong L, Lin A, Koumenis C. : Proton FLASH Radiotherapy Ameliorates Radiation-induced Salivary Gland Dysfunction and Oral Mucositis and Increases Survival in a Mouse Model of Head and Neck Cancer. Mol Cancer Therapy. June 2024 Notes: doi: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-23-0663.
Bakhtiar M, Butala AA, Berlin EE, Metz JM, Bradley JD, Jones JA, Lukens JN, Paydar I, Taunk NK : Factors Associated With and Characteristics of Patients Receiving Proton Therapy at the End of Life. International Journal Particle Therapy April 2024 Notes: doi:10.1016/j.ijpt.2024.100014.