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Expert list · Last reviewed April 17, 2026

Best Oncologists for Colorectal Cancer in Pennsylvania

Top Pennsylvania oncologists for colorectal cancer care, with clinical focus, hospital affiliations, and research each physician has helped shape.

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Pennsylvania has a deep bench of oncologists for colorectal cancer, concentrated in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and this list is a practical place to start.

The physicians below work at the state's major cancer centers and community hospitals, and each has helped shape the research doctors use to treat colon and rectal cancer today. Some focus on surgery and quality benchmarks, some on chemotherapy for older adults, others on survivorship and the genes that change how you handle treatment. If you are newly diagnosed or looking for a second opinion, any of them is a reasonable door to knock on.

Lainie Martin

Lainie Martin, M.D.

Associate Professor of Medicine (Hematology-Oncology) at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology; Leader, Gynecology/Oncology Program

University of Pennsylvania Hospital

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Dr. Martin leads the Gynecology/Oncology program at the Abramson Cancer Center at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She treats people with GI and gynecologic cancers, with a particular focus on patients whose tumors have stopped responding to standard chemotherapy. Much of her career has been spent figuring out why platinum-based chemotherapy works for some patients and fails for others — a question that matters for colorectal cancer too, because the same drug families and repair-pathway problems come up. Her 2008 review on platinum resistance and DNA repair 1 remains one of the most-cited references in the field.

Efrat Dotan

Efrat Dotan, MD

Executive Medical Director

Temple University Hospital

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Dr. Dotan is Executive Medical Director at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital and previously led GI oncology research at Fox Chase. She specializes in colon and rectal cancer, especially in adults over 70, where decisions about chemotherapy are harder because of other health conditions. Her work on stage II colon cancer 2 helped set how oncologists weigh the benefit of chemotherapy against its risks when the cancer has been fully removed by surgery. She has also written extensively about circulating tumor DNA — a blood test that can catch recurrence earlier than imaging 34.

Dulabh Monga

Dulabh Monga, MD

Associate Professor of Medicine, Drexel University College of Medicine; Lead, Pancreas Cancer Disease Site Leadership Program, AHN

AHN Wexford Hospital

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Dr. Monga practices at Allegheny Health Network in Pittsburgh, where he leads the pancreas cancer program and treats patients with the full range of GI cancers, including colon and rectal disease. Pittsburgh patients often see him for second opinions on complicated cases, particularly when cancer has spread to the liver. His lab research on the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway in pancreatic and liver cancers 56 helped identify drug targets now used in advanced GI tumors, and he has contributed to national work on microsatellite instability in rectal cancer 7, a marker that guides whether immunotherapy is an option.

Ned Carp

Ned Carp, M.D.

Main Line Health

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Dr. Carp practices at Main Line Health outside Philadelphia and works on the surgical side of cancer care. He focuses on colorectal surgery and the quality measures that hospitals use to judge cancer programs. His work on the 12-lymph-node benchmark 8 is part of why modern colon cancer surgery is measured by the number of nodes a surgeon retrieves — a number that has been shown to track with survival. He has also published on locally recurrent rectal cancer 9, which can require extensive re-operation and multimodality treatment.

Crystal Denlinger

Crystal Denlinger, M.D.

Temple University Hospital

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Dr. Denlinger is affiliated with Temple University Hospital and has led national work on cancer survivorship, particularly for colorectal cancer patients who finish treatment and then have to live with the aftereffects. Her 2009 paper on the challenges of colorectal cancer survivorship 10 is one of the foundational references on the long-term physical and emotional issues patients face — neuropathy, bowel changes, fear of recurrence, sexual problems — and helped shape the follow-up plans most cancer centers now hand out. She has also written about the role of exercise in cancer prevention and recovery 11.

Ursina Teitelbaum

Ursina Teitelbaum, MD

Deenie Greitzer and Daniel G. Haller Professor of Clinical Medicine; Clinical Director, Penn Pancreatic Cancer Research Center; Section Chief, Gastrointestinal Cancers, Hematology-Oncology; Leader, Pancreas Service Line, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania Hospital

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Dr. Teitelbaum is Section Chief of Gastrointestinal Cancers at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and holds an endowed professorship in clinical medicine. She sees patients with colon, rectal, pancreatic, and neuroendocrine tumors, and has been a leader in pharmacogenetic testing — checking for gene variants like DPYD and UGT1A1 before starting 5-FU or irinotecan, two drugs used routinely in colorectal cancer. Patients with certain variants can have dangerous side effects at standard doses. Her IMPACT-GI trial 12 is working to make that testing standard practice at Penn and beyond.

What to look for in a colorectal cancer oncologist

  • Board certification in medical oncology, surgical oncology, or radiation oncology, depending on the treatment you need
  • Affiliation with an NCI-designated cancer center or a hospital with a dedicated GI cancer program
  • A team approach, with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation discussed together at a tumor board
  • Experience with your specific stage and tumor location (right colon vs. left colon vs. rectum behave differently)
  • A clear answer on whether molecular testing — MSI, KRAS, BRAF, and DPYD — will be done before treatment starts
  • Wait time, whether they are accepting new patients, and insurance compatibility

Questions to ask before your first appointment

  • How many patients with colorectal cancer do you treat each year?
  • Will my case be discussed at a multidisciplinary tumor board?
  • Is my tumor being tested for MSI, KRAS, BRAF, and other markers that change treatment?
  • Do you recommend pharmacogenetic testing (like DPYD) before I start chemotherapy?
  • Are there clinical trials I might qualify for here or at a partner center?
  • What is your plan for monitoring me after treatment ends, and who will own my follow-up?

The bottom line

Colorectal cancer treatment in Pennsylvania is strong and geographically spread out, so you do not have to travel to New York or Boston for a top-tier opinion. Start with the oncologist your primary care doctor or surgeon refers you to, but do not be shy about asking for a second opinion at Penn, Temple, Fox Chase, Main Line, or AHN — the people above all practice within that network. If your cancer is advanced, recurrent, or unusual, a center with an active clinical trials program and a tumor board is worth the extra drive.

Sources

  1. Martin LP, Hamilton TC, Schilder RJ. Platinum Resistance: The Role of DNA Repair Pathways. Clinical Cancer Research. 2008. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-07-2238
  2. Dotan E, Cohen SJ. Challenges in the Management of Stage II Colon Cancer. Seminars in Oncology. 2011. doi:10.1053/j.seminoncol.2011.05.005
  3. Dotan E, et al. Circulating Tumor Cells: Evolving Evidence and Future Challenges. The Oncologist. 2009. doi:10.1634/theoncologist.2009-0094
  4. Circulating Tumor DNA in Precision Oncology and Its Applications in Colorectal Cancer. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2022. doi:10.3390/ijms23084441
  5. Aberrant Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma. Neoplasia. 2006. doi:10.1593/neo.05607
  6. Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor: A Novel Target of the Wnt/β-Catenin Pathway in Liver. Gastroenterology. 2005. doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2005.04.013
  7. Microsatellite Instability (MSI) as an Independent Predictor of Pathologic Complete Response (PCR) in Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer. Annals of Surgery. 2018. doi:10.1097/sla.0000000000003051
  8. Compliance with Cancer Quality Measures Over Time and Their Association with Survival Outcomes: The Commission on Cancer's Experience with the Quality Measure Requiring at Least 12 Regional Lymph Nodes to be Removed and Analyzed with Colon Cancer Resections. Annals of Surgical Oncology. 2019. doi:10.1245/s10434-019-07323-w
  9. Isolated locally recurrent rectal cancer: a review of incidence, presentation, and management. PubMed. 1993.
  10. Denlinger CS, Barsevick AM. The Challenges of Colorectal Cancer Survivorship. Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. 2009. doi:10.6004/jnccn.2009.0058
  11. American College of Sports Medicine Roundtable Report on Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Cancer Prevention and Control. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2019. doi:10.1249/mss.0000000000002117
  12. Implementing Pharmacogenetic Testing in Gastrointestinal Cancers (IMPACT-GI): Study Protocol for a Pragmatic Implementation Trial for Establishing DPYD and UGT1A1 Screening to Guide Chemotherapy Dosing. Frontiers in Oncology. 2022. doi:10.3389/fonc.2022.859846

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