Fang Fan, M.D., Ph.D.

(877) 460-4673
Fang Fan, M.D., Ph.D.
Pathologist
Clinical Expertise
  • Cytopathology
Other Languages Spoken
Mandarin
Academic Appointments
  • Clinical Professor, Department of Pathology

I like to be a member of a multidisciplinary clinical team in treating cancer patients.

Fang Fan, M.D., Ph.D., brings nearly 30 years of pathology experience and expertise to City of Hope. She specializes in diagnostic cytopathology and surgical pathology. Dr. Fan takes great fulfillment in utilizing her skills to diagnose disease at the molecular level and guide its treatment.

Raised in China, Dr. Fan earned her medical degree from Shanghai Medical School at Fudan University. She then began a decades-long association with the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas, earning a Ph.D., completing her pathology residency and postdoctoral fellowship, and ultimately rising to Director of Cytopathology and Barbara F. Atkinson Endowed Professor of Pathology.

The much-honored Dr. Fan has been twice cited as a "Top Doctor," and noted for "Excellence in Teaching." She is an acknowledged authority in her field with hundreds of scholarly articles and presentations to her credit. She is the co-editor of a popular cytopathology review book and a Chinese textbook on exfoliative cytopathology. Dr. Fan currently serves as an executive board member of the American Society of Cytopathology (2024-2028).

Dr. Fan is excited to join the City of Hope family, where she says “the leadership has great visions, the physician group has great diversity, and the resource and support for clinical service and research are strong.”

Location

Education & Experience

Degrees

  • 1995, Ph.D., Doctor of Philosophy, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS
  • 1989, M.D., Doctor of Medicine, Shanghai Medical School Fudan University, Shanghai, P.R. China

Fellowship

  • 2002, Cytopathology Fellow, Department of Pathology

Residency

  • 2001, Chief Resident, Department of Pathology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS
  • 1991, Resident, Department of Internal Medicine, Resident, Department of Internal Medicine

Professional Experience

  • 2021–present, Clinical Professor, Department of Pathology, City of Hope, Duarte, CA
  • 2017–2019, Interim Chair, Department of Pathology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS
  • 2012–2020, Professor, Department of Pathology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS
  • 2007–2012, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS
  • 2003–2020, Director of Cytopathology and (Associate) Director of Cytopathology Fellowship program, Department of Pathology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS
  • 2002–2007, Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS

Awards & Memberships

Awards

  • 2025, Outstanding contribution award, Journal of Clinical and Translational Pathology
  • 2024, Faculty Teaching Award, Department of Pathology, Oncologic Surgical Pathology Fellowship
  • 2023, Hope Colleague Award (recognized by colleagues for portraying inspiration and compassion, and exemplifying City of Hope’s values)
  • 2016–2019, Student Voice Award — Excellence in Teaching
  • 2015, 2016, The Kansas City magazine, Top Doctors
  • 2015, Chinese American Pathologists Association Service Award
  • 2011, 2013, Medical Student Voice Award
  • 2004, 2008, 2011, 2016, Helmuth-Sprintz Resident Teaching Award

Publications

  • Schulz-Costello K, Fan F, Schmolze D, Arias-Stella JA 3rd, Taylor L, Tseng J, Afkhami M, Rand JG, Jones V, Farmah P, Han M. Solid basaloid adenoid cystic carcinoma of the breast: A high-grade triple negative breast carcinoma which rarely responds to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Hum Pathol. 2025 Mar;157:105760. doi: 10.1016/j.humpath.2025.105760. Epub 2025 Mar 25.
  • Han M, Schmolze D, Arias-Stella JA III, Wei CH, Mortimer J, Fan F*. Poor response of HER2-positive mucinous carcinomas of breast to neoadjuvant HER2-targeted therapy: A study of four cases. Ann Diagn Pathol. 2025 Feb;74:152396. doi: 10.1016/j.anndiagpath.2024.152396. Epub 2024 Nov 9.
  • Mukhtar R, Yau C, Osdoit M, Noordaac M, Shad S, Wei J, de Croze D, Hamy AS, Laé M, Reyal F, Sonke GS, Steenbruggen TG, van Seijen M, Wesseling J, Martín M, del Monte-Millán M, López-Tarruella S, I-SPY 2 TRIAL Consortium, Boughey JC, Goetz MP, Hoskin T, Gould R, Valero V, Edge SB, Abraham JE, Bartlett JM, Caldas C, Dunn J, Earl H, Hayward L, Hiller L, Provenzano E, Sammut SJ, Thomas JS, Cameron D, Graham A, Hall P, Mackintosh L, Fan F, Godwin AK, Schwensen K, Sharma P, DeMichele AM, Cole K, Pusztai L, Kim MO, van ’t Veer LJ, Esserman LJ, Symmans WF. A pooled analysis evaluating prognostic significance of Residual Cancer Burden in invasive lobular breast cancer". NPJ Breast Cancer. 2025 Feb 13;11(1):14. doi: 10.1038/s41523-025-00720-3.
  • Wei CH, Wang EW, Ma L, Zhou Y, Zheng L, Hampel H, Shehayeb S, Lee S, Cohen J, Kohut A, Fan F, Rosen S, Wu X, Shen B, Zhao Y. POLD1 DEDD Motif Mutation Confers Hypermutation in Endometrial Cancer and Durable Response to Pembrolizumab. Cancers (Basel). 2023 Nov 30;15(23):5674. doi: 10.3390/cancers15235674.
  • Han M, Fan F. Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology–An Updated Review. J Clin Transl Pathol. 2023. doi: 10.14218/JCTP.2023.00005.
  • Sahoo S, Krings G, Chen YY, Carter JM, Chen B, Guo H, Hibshoosh H, Reisenbichler E, Fan F, Wei S, Khazai L, Balassanian R, Klein ME, Shad S, Venters SJ, Borowsky AD, Symmans WF, Ocal IT. Standardizing Pathologic Evaluation of Breast Carcinoma After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2022 Aug 17. doi: 10.5858/arpa.2022-0021-EP. Online ahead of print.
  • Laury RJ, Gloyeskea N, Mettmana D, Wagner JL, Fan F*. Intraoperative sentinel lymph node evaluation in patients with node-positive breast cancer status post neoadjuvant systemic therapy — an institutional experience. Ann Diagn Pathol. Epub 2022 Jul 22.
  • Li Z, Xu H, Fan F. Approach to Mediastinal Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology. Adv Anat Pathol. 2022 Nov 1;29(6):337-348. doi: 10.1097/PAP.0000000000000355. Epub 2022 Jul 18.
  • Amin A, Winblad O, Zupon A, Fan F, Tawfik O, Wick J, Hunt S, Gatewood J, Inciardi M, Wagner J. Atypical Ductal Hyperplasia on Percutaneous Breast Biopsy: Scoring System to Identify the Lowest Risk for Upgrade: Low-Risk ADH features. Arch Breast Cancer. [Internet]. 2022 Mar. 4 [cited 2022 Jun. 26];9(2):144-51.
  • Hong Y, Limback D, Elsarraj HS, Harper H, Haines H, Hansford H, Ricci M, Kaufman C, Wedlock E, Xu M, Zhang J, May L, Cusick T, Inciardi M, Redick M, Gatewood J, Winblad O, Aripoli A, Huppe A, Balanoff C, Wagner JL, Amin AL, Larson KE, Ricci L, Tawfik O, Razek H, Meierotto RO, Madan R, Godwin AK, Thompson J, Hilsenbeck SG, Futreal A, Thompson A, Hwang ES, Fan F, Behbod F. Grand Challenge PRECISION Consortium. Mouse-INtraDuctal (MIND): an in vivo model for studying the underlying mechanisms of DCIS malignancy. J Pathol. 2022 Feb;256(2):186-201. doi: 10.1002/path.5820. Epub 2021 Dec 13.
  • Yau C, Osdoit M, Noordaac M, Shad S, Wei J, de Croze D, Hamy AS, Laé M, Reyal F, Sonke GS, Steenbruggen TG, van Seijen M, Wesseling J, Martín M, del Monte-Millán M, López-Tarruella S, I-SPY 2 TRIAL Consortium, Boughey JC, Goetz MP, Hoskin T, Gould R, Valero V, Edge SB, Abraham JE, Bartlett JM, Caldas C, Dunn J, Earl H,  Hayward L, Hiller L, Provenzano E, Sammut SJ, Thomas JS, Cameron D, Graham A, Hall P, Mackintosh L, Fan F, Godwin AK, Schwensen K, Sharma P, DeMichele AM, Cole K, Pusztai L, Kim MO, van ’t Veer LJ, Esserman LJ, Symmans WF. Residual Cancer Burden after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and long-term survival outcomes in breast cancer: a multi-center pooled analysis of 5161 patients. Lancet Oncol. 2022 Jan;23(1):149-160. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(21)00589-1. Epub 2021 Dec 11.
  • El Bairi K, Haynes HR, Blackley E, Fineberg S, Shear J, Turner S, de Freitas JR, Sur D, Amendola LC, Gharib M, Kallala A, Arun I, Azmoudeh-Ardalan F, Fujimoto L, Sua LF, Liu SW, Lien HC, Kirtani P, Balancin M, El Attar H, Guleria P, Yang W, Shash E, Chen IC, Bautista V, Do Prado Moura JF, Rapoport BL, Castaneda C, Spengler E, Acosta-Haab G, Frahm I, Sanchez J, Castillo M, Bouchmaa N, Md Zin RR, Shui R, Onyuma T, Yang W, Husain Z, Willard-Gallo K, Coosemans A, Perez EA, Provenzano E, Ericsson PG, Richardet E, Mehrotra R, Sarancone S, Ehinger A, Rimm DL, Bartlett JMS, Viale G, Denkert C, Hida AI, Sotiriou C, Loibl S, Hewitt SM, Badve S, Symmans WF, Kim RS, Pruneri G, Goel S, Francis PA, Inurrigarro G, Yamaguchi R, Garcia-Rivello H, Horlings H, Afqir S, Salgado R, Adams S, Kok M, Dieci MV, Michiels S, Demaria S, Loi S; International Immuno-Oncology Biomarker Working Group. The tale of TILs in breast cancer: A report from The International Immuno-Oncology Biomarker Working Group.*** NPJ Breast Cancer. 2021; 7: 150. Published online 2021 Dec 1. doi: 10.1038/s41523-021-00346-1
  • Symmans WF, Yau C, Chen YY, Balassanian R, Klein ME., Pusztai L, Nanda R, Parker BA., Datnow B, Krings G, Wei S, Feldman MD., Duan X, Chen B, Sattar H, Khazai L, Zeck JC., Sams S, Mhawech-Fauceglia P, Rendi M, Sahoo S, Ocal IT, Fan F, Grasso LeBeau L, Vinh T, Troxell ML., Chien A.J, Wallace AM., Forero-Torres A, Ellis E, Albain KS., Murthy RK., Boughey JC., Liu MC., Haley BB., Elias AD., Clark AS., Kemmer K, Isaacs C, Lang JE., Han HS., Edmiston K, Viscusi RK., Northfelt DW., Khan QJ., Leyland-Jones B, Venters SJ., Shad S, Matthews JB., Asare SM., Buxton M, Asare AL., Rugo HS., Schwab RB. Helsten T, Hylton NM., van’t Veer L, Perlmutter J, DeMichele AM., Yee D, Berry DA. Esserman LJ. Assessment of residual cancer burden and event-free survival in neoadjuvant treatment for high-risk breast cancer. An analysis of data from the I-SPY2 randomized clinical trial. JAMA Onc. 2021 Sep 16;e213690. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2021.3690. Online ahead of print.
  • Yue E, Yang G, Yao Y, Wang G, Mohanty A, Fan F, Zhao L, Zhang Y, Mirzapoiazova T, Walser TC, Rodriguez-Rodriguez L, Fong Y, Salgia R, Wang EW. Targeting CA-125 transcription by development of a conditionally replicative adenovirus for ovarian cancer treatment. Cancers (Basel). 2021 Aug 24;13(17):4265. doi: 10.3390/cancers13174265.
  • Xu H, Fan F, Gong Y, Jing X, Lin X, Wang H, Lin, F, Li Z. Diagnostic challenges in fine-needle aspiration cytology of mediastinal tumors and lesions. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2021 Aug 17. doi: 10.5858/arpa.2021-0108-RA. Online ahead of print.
  • Plummer RM, Kelting S, Madan R, O'Neil M, Dennis K, Fan F*. Cervical Papanicolaou tests in the female-to-male transgender population: should the adequacy criteria be revised in this population? An Institutional Experience. J Am Soc Cytopathol. 2021 Jan 29;S2213-2945(21)00010-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jasc.2021.01.004. Online ahead of print.
  • Hogan KO, Lai SM, Wagner JL, Fan F*. The utility of intraoperative retroareolar margin frozen section assessment and the management of atypical epithelial proliferative lesions at the retroareolar margin in nipple-sparing mastectomies. Ann Diagn Pathol. 2021 Apr;51:151697. doi: 10.1016/j.anndiagpath.2020.151697. Epub 2021 Jan 4.
  • Hogan KO, Fan F*. Diagnosis of metastatic adenoid cystic carcinoma of the breast on pleural fluid cytology in a 60-year-old male. Diagn Cytopathol. 2021 Apr;49(4):E172-E174. doi: 10.1002/dc.24636. Epub 2020 Oct 9.
  • Amin AL, Fan F, Winblad OD, Larson KE, Wagner JL. Ipsilateral and Concurrent Breast Cancer and Atypical Ductal Hyperplasia: Does Atypia Also Need Surgical Excision? Ann Surg Oncol. 2020 Jul 23. doi: 10.1245/s10434-020-08896-7. Online ahead of print.
  • Plummer RM, Kelting S, Madan R, O’Neil M, Dennis K, and Fan F*. Proposed Triaging Criteria of Pleural Effusion Cytology Specimens for Ancillary Flow Cytometric Analysis. J Am Soc Cytopathol. 2020 Jul 22:S2213-2945(20)30260-X. doi: 10.1016/j.jasc.2020.07.131. Online ahead of print.
  • Mettman D, Haer E, Madan R, O’Neil M, Dennis K, Fan F*. The utility of immunohistochemistry testing for mismatch repair proteins in fine needle aspiration specimens of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Ann Diagn Pathol. 2020 Jun 17;47:151552. doi: 10.1016/j.anndiagpath.2020.151552. Online ahead of print.
  • Castle PE, Adcock R, Cuzick J, Wentzensen N, Torrez-Martinez NE, Torres SM, Stoler MH, Ronnett BM, Joste NE, Darragh TM, Gravitt PE, Schiffman M, Hunt WC, Kinney WK, Wheeler CM, New Mexico HPV Pap Registry Steering Committee; p16 IHC Study Panel** Relationships of p16 Immunohistochemistry and Other Biomarkers With Diagnoses of Cervical Abnormalities: Implications for LAST Terminology. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2020 Jun;144(6):725-734. doi: 10.5858/arpa.2019-0241-OA. Epub 2019 Nov 13.
  • Elsarraj HS, Hong Y, Limback D, Zhao R, Berger J, Bishop SC, Sabbagh A, Oppenheimer L, Harper HE, Tsimelzon A, Huang S, Hilsenbeck SG, Edwards DP, Fontes J, Fan F, Madan R, Fangman B, Ellis A, Tawfik O, Persons DL, Fields T, Godwin AK, Hagan CR, Swenson-Fields K, Coarfa C, Thompson J, Behbod F. BCL9/STAT3 regulation of transcriptional enhancer networks promote DCIS progression. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2020 Apr 24;6:12. doi: 10.1038/s41523-020-0157-z. eCollection 2020.
  • Fan F, Author of Case 3 Rosai-Dorfman disease, 2019 FNA-B: Lymph Node FNA — Digital Slide Program in Fine-Needle Aspiration, ©2019 College of American Pathologists. Online CME/CE education activity released October 21, 2019.