Medical Oncology

Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, Section Chief

Clinical Care

In July 2023, faculty within the Section of Medical Oncology launched a medical oncology consult initiative. The new program is based on four cancer types: Genitourinary/Melanoma; Thoracic/Head & Neck; Gastrointestinal/Sarcoma; and Breast, with the goal of improving the quality of inpatient care for patients with cancer along with the faculty experience through a focused subspecialty inpatient practice. This is a shift from the previous generalist model. After six months, the team noted an increase in the consult volume of oncologists and in early discharge.

Directed by Veda Giri, MD, and Nancy Borstelmann, PhD, MPH, LCSW, Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital’s Early Onset Cancer Program focuses on individuals with cancer diagnosed between the ages of 18 and 49. The program has far-reaching goals to address patients’ psychosocial needs, develop novel clinical care models, enhance clinical trials, expand research, and raise community awareness about early-onset cancers. Giri received a grant from Bakes for Breast Cancer to fund the Program to Address Psychosocial Support, Clinical Outcomes, and Genomic Insights for Patients With Early-Onset Cancers.

Patricia LoRusso, DO, directed a new initiative to improve minority enrollment in Yale’s early-phase cancer trials by bringing the trials to Smilow Cancer Hospital locations in urban communities beyond New Haven. The goal is to make participation easier and less intimidating for historically underrepresented populations who might not otherwise have access. This initiative is known as the hybrid decentralization program.

Research

Funding from the National Cancer Institute and the Department of Defense will support new projects in the laboratory of David Braun, MD, PhD, to investigate the immune microenvironment of renal cell carcinoma. Harriett Kluger, MD, is a co-investigator for one of the grants.

A study co-authored by Barbara Burtness, MD, identified a novel subclass of HPV+ head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and demonstrated that treatment could be tailored according to tumor type. The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

A team led by Michael Chiorazzi, MD, PhD, developed a new technique that will enable researchers to study individual differences in cancer progression and treatment response. The research team described the technique in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer.

Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, led a study comparing AI-powered digital scoring with traditional manual scoring of the PD-L1 immune biomarker to determine whether a new immunotherapy treatment, atezolizumab, could benefit patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. He presented findings at the World Conference on Lung Cancer in Singapore in September 2023.

Another study led by Herbst showed improved rates of survival and reduced risk of recurrence in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) taking osimertinib (Tagrisso), a targeted therapy, following surgery. The study, presented as a plenary presentation at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in June 2023 and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, focused on patients with NSCLC with a mutation in the epidermal growth factor receptor gene.

Herbst was senior author of a study that suggested the new immunomedicine NC318, alone and in combination with the targeted immunotherapy pembrolizumab, improved response rates and clinical outcomes for some patients with non-small cell lung cancer. The researchers presented their findings at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer World Conference on Lung Cancer in September 2023.

A new phase III study with Ian Krop, MD, PhD, as senior author demonstrated the efficacy of trastuzumab deruxtecan (Enhertu) in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer whose cancers were resistant to previous treatment with trastuzumab emtansine. The study was published in The Lancet in April 2023.

Pamela Kunz, MD, conducted one of the first comprehensive studies examining the role of sex and gender in neuroendocrine neoplasms with a focus on the differing ways in which patients experience the effects of treatment and have different outcomes. Her research was awarded the Wendy U. and Thomas C. Naratil Pioneer Award in 2022.

Lajos Pusztai, MD, DPhil, was senior author of a study that showed two simple biomarkers, immune cells and estrogen receptor levels, could differentiate which young women with ER+ breast cancer need chemotherapy to improve their survival, and which need only a monthly injection of endocrine therapy to suppress ovarian function. The research team presented their findings at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

A study led by Tara Sanft, MD, found that a targeted diet and exercise intervention could improve outcomes for women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Education

Yale’s Review of Advances in Oncology provided hematologists, medical oncologists, and oncology nurses with Yale’s perspective on current data and information presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting 2023. The event took place in September 2023 in New Haven.

New Faculty

The section welcomed the following new faculty members:

• Matthew Austin, MD
• Michael Chiorazzi, MD, PhD
• Veda Giri, MD
• Adriana Matutino Kahn, MD
• Daniel O’Neil, MD, MPH
• David Schoenfeld, MD, PhD
• Yifei Zhang, MD
• Yu Zhang, MD, PhD

Recognitions

Aarti Bhatia, MD, MPH, was named clinical research team leader of the Head and Neck Disease-Aligned Research Team for Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital.

David Braun, MD, PhD, was awarded an American Society for Clinical Investigation Young Physician-Scientist Award.

Barbara Burtness, MD, was awarded the Yale Cancer Center Award for Leadership in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in honor of her leadership as interim associate Cancer Center director for DEI. Burtness was named chief translational research officer for Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital, and associate director of translational research for YCC.

Michael Cecchini, MD, was appointed to the Colon Task Force of the National Cancer Institute Gastrointestinal Cancer Steering Committee for a two-year term as an early career investigator.

Anne Chiang, MD, PhD, was named associate Cancer Center director for clinical initiatives.

Jacquelyne Gaddy, MD, MSc, was named Deputy Director of the Diversity Enhancement Program in Oncology at Smilow Cancer Hospital in March 2023.

Veda Giri, MD, and Lajos Pusztai, MD, DPhil, were named Fellows of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO).

Sarah Goldberg, MD, MPH, was awarded the Yale Cancer Center Award for Teaching Excellence.

Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, was presented with an award of appreciation by the SWOG Cancer Research Network.

Patricia M. LoRusso, DO, PhD, was elected president-elect of the American Association for Cancer Research for 2023–2024.

Mandar Deepak Muzumdar, MD, received a 2023 Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award and a 2022 Innovation and Collaboration Program grant from the Lustgarten Foundation.

Elizabeth Prsic, MD, received a Women Faculty Forum grant to identify and reduce barriers to breast milk expression among medical trainees.

Eric Winer, MD, who served as the 2022–2023 ASCO president, presented the opening address at the 2023 ASCO annual meeting in June 2023.