Nicholas J. Petrelli, M.D.

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Nicholas J. Petrelli, M.D.

Nicholas J. Petrelli, M.D.

Bank of America Endowed Medical Director, Helen F. Graham Cancer Center and Research Institute

Expertise & Research Interests

  • Colorectal Cancer
  • Cancer Care Management
  • Cancer Detection
  • Cancer clinical trials
  • Surgical Oncology

Education

  • MD, Tulane University Medical School
  • BA, University of Notre Dame
  • Surgical Oncology Fellowship, Roswell Park Cancer Institute

Nicholas J. Petrelli, M.D.

Bank of America Endowed Medical Director, Helen F. Graham Cancer Center and Research Institute

Dr. Nicholas J. Petrelli is a nationally recognized expert on colorectal cancer, joined ChristianaCare as the Bank of America endowed medical director of the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center and Research Institute in August 2001. As medical director, Dr. Petrelli oversees the state’s largest and most technologically advanced cancer program, including cancer detection, diagnosis and treatment. Under his leadership the Graham Cancer Center was selected as a National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) and one of the original 16 NCI Community Cancer Centers Programs (NCCCP).

Dr. Petrelli came to ChristianaCare from one of the nation’s leading NCI Designated Cancer Centers, Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY, where he led several clinical trials for a promising form of chemotherapy. He has conducted substantial research into the genetics of colorectal cancer and co-authored more than 300 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals as well as 36 book chapters.

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Media Appearances

Petrelli receives Tilton Award from Medical Society of Delaware

2019-10-10 , Dover Post
Nicholas J. Petrelli, Bank of America endowed medical director of ChristianaCare’s Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute, received the Tilton Award from the Medical Society of Delaware on Oct. 4.

Delaware-developed CRISPR cancer therapy edging closer to human testing

2019-05-06 , Philadelphia Business Journal
Dr. Nicholas J. Petrelli, medical director of the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute at ChristianaCare, said the study — if approved — would put the Wilmington health system in a position to capture a trio of firsts. “It will be the first lung cancer clinical trial carried out by a gene editing program embedded in a community cancer center,” Petrelli said. “While our Gene Editing Institute has a great deal of translational research experience, this will be its first study to move scientific discovery toward an IND. And, it will also be the first time that we will be investigating technology that was grown organically at the Gene Editing Institute.”...

ChristianaCare’s Gene Editing Institute takes the next step toward its first investigational drug application for FDA approval to treat lung cancer using CRISPR

2019-04-30 , BioSpace
“This exciting study represents a trio of firsts,” said Nicholas J. Petrelli, M.D., FACS, Bank of America endowed medical director of the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute at ChristianaCare. “It will be the first lung cancer clinical trial carried out by a gene editing program embedded in a community cancer center. While our Gene Editing Institute has a great deal of translational research experience, this will be its first study to move scientific discovery toward an IND application. And, it will also be the first time that we will be investigating technology that was grown organically at the Gene Editing Institute.”
Selected Papers and Publications

High volume pancreaticoduodenectomy performed at an academic community cancer center

American Journal of Surgery, 218(2): 349 -354
2019

Folates as adjuvants to anticancer agents: chemical rationale and mechanism of action

Critical Reviews in Hematology/Oncology, 106: 118-131
2016.

Operative approach to rectal cancer: an anatomical and technical description

Surgical Oncology: 27(2)
2018

The impact of multidisciplinary care on processes of cancer care: a multi institutional study

Journal of Oncology Practice, 12(2): 155-156
2016

A review of the evolution of systemic therapy in the management of colorectal cancer

Clinical Colorectal Cancer, 14(1), 1-10
2015

Responsibility for costs associated with clinical trials

J Clin Oncol, 32(30): 3357-59
2014
External Service and Affiliations
  • Annals of Surgical Oncology : Associate Editor
  • Surgical Oncology Clinics of North America : Editor
  • Surgical Oncology : Co-Editor
Selected Honors and Awards
  • Clinical Research Award, 2014 Association of Community Cancer Centers
  • American Cancer Society Clinical Oncology Fellowship Award, 1980
  • American Cancer Society Clinical Oncology Fellowship Award, 1979