Tara Miller Melanoma Center

Tara Miller, Esq.’s cancer journey began at the Abramson Cancer Center when she was diagnosed with stage III melanoma at the age of 28. Throughout her time at Penn Medicine, Tara became a passionate advocate for melanoma patients, inspiring those around her through her unimaginable strength and positivity, while clearly articulating the importance of funding innovative melanoma research.

Doctors and researchers at Penn Medicine’s Tara Miller Melanoma Center are dedicated to providing exceptional care for people with melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers. Our team takes a multidisciplinary approach to your care, working together across specialties to deliver customized treatment and services to help prevent, diagnose, and treat all types of skin cancer.

The National Cancer Institute has rated the Tara Miller Melanoma Center as “outstanding”, the highest possible rating for a cancer research program. This recognition shows our excellence in:

• Overall program quality
• Representation of multiple scientific disciplines for broad input
• Translation of new findings to the clinical setting
• Conducting clinical trials
• Researcher collaboration
• The caliber of program members and leadership

Melanoma and skin cancer initiatives at Penn Medicine

The Tara Miller Melanoma Center, located within the Abramson Cancer Center in Philadelphia, supports research, clinical initiatives, and patient education by combining advanced tools and innovative resources from across Penn Medicine. Our Melanoma and Skin Cancer Care program offers:

• Modern diagnostic tools: Our experts conduct thorough evaluations using the most up-to-date diagnostic testing for melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers. We aim to detect cancers in their earliest stages when treatment is most effective. Read more about melanoma diagnosis.
• Advanced treatment options: Penn Medicine doctors are experienced in treating all types of melanomas—from common to rare and complex forms. Our research experience has enabled us to develop expertise in the latest treatments, many of which have the potential to provide a cure.
• Dedicated to patient education: Your care team guides you on how to reduce your risk of developing melanoma and other skin cancers. We provide regular monitoring, particularly if you have risk factors like a family history of skin cancer. Find out more about melanoma risks and prevention.
• Support for melanoma patients: We’re committed to being a valuable resource for patients and families affected by melanoma, offering education and support to serve all your needs.

Clinical trials to improve risk assessment and treatment

In addition to improving care for people with skin cancer, we’re continuously working toward a cure. In our melanoma clinical trials, our testing strategies focus on:

• Understanding which factors increase your risk for melanoma
• Determining your risk for melanoma to help guide treatment decisions
• Finding newer and better ways to predict outcomes by studying current melanoma staging systems
• Studying ways to determine predictors of positive sentinel lymph node biopsy results in people with shallow melanomas
• Collaborating with other centers for clinical trials to bring targeted therapies to large, national, phase 3 status

Our ongoing clinical trials explore new melanoma treatments, focusing on cancer that has spread, called advanced melanoma.

The Tara Miller legacy: Inspiring advocacy and research funding for melanoma

A few months before she passed away in October 2014, Tara Miller founded the Tara Miller Melanoma Foundation, which has since raised more than $3 million in vital research funding for Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center. Thanks to a generous gift from Tara’s parents George and Debbie, the Tara Miller Melanoma Center is a testament to Tara’s passion, vision, and voice. The Tara Miller Melanoma Center supports critical translational research for melanoma, clinical initiatives, and patient education and outreach opportunities.