DF/HCC Program Affiliation

Kidney Cancer
Prostate Cancer

Research Abstract

My relative contributions as a clinician, teacher, and researcher have been well balanced. As an active
clinician in the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI),
outstanding clinical care remains a high priority to which I am committed. My teaching
responsibilities extend from preceptor to Harvard medical students, teaching on rounds to house
officers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), mentoring medical oncology fellows at DFCI and
giving frequent talks in the medical community, locally, nationally and internationally. Regarding
clinical research, I design clinical trials that are intended to have impact and will improve treatment of
advanced genitourinary (GU) cancers, especially in the areas of kidney and bladder cancers.
Clinical work remains the core focus of my daily activities and extends directly to my teaching and
research endeavors. In the past few years, I have become an expert in the management of GU
malignancies, including prostate, renal, bladder, adrenal and testicular cancers. Many patients with
GU cancers are referred to me for consultation regionally and nationally. In addition, I have a large
clinical practice of patients with GU cancers who are seen over 2 1/2 clinic days per week. My
opinion is sought through telemedicine consultations and from telephone calls from oncologists
around the U.S. and Europe. I am part of the Lank Center for GU Oncology which consists of six full
time clinical oncologists, two laboratory-based oncologists and 2 nurse practitioners. Furthermore, 3
radiation oncologists and 5 urologists see patients in a multidisciplinary clinic. In addition, I attend 4-
6 weeks a year on the inpatient oncology service, leading a team of fellows, house staff and students
in managing a busy solid tumor oncology service. I also attend 4-8 weeks/year on the GU consulst
service at BWH.
My research interests include the development of novel agents in renal cell cancer and bladder
carcinoma. I have been involved with several collaborations with laboratory-based colleagues; we are
assessing changes in the expression of clinical, tissue and serum biomarkers that can predict response
VEGF-targeted therapies in renal cell carcinoma. My work has been published in journals such as
Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer, Clinical Cancer Research, Annals of Oncology, British Journal
of Urology and many others. I am frequently asked to write reviews for oncology journals.
I have presented at the last ASCO meeting (Scientific Symposium) my work regarding the role of
VHL gene in predicting response to VEGF-targeted agents in the largest cohort of advanced kidney
cancer. This work generated much attention and interest from many investigators from around the
world.
Another major research area has been the management of a prospective clinical database linked to
blood and tissue banks for kidney cancer patients. Since 2006, we have prospectively collected
clinical data on every patient with renal cell carcinoma seen at the DFCI and BWH. So far, our
database includes initial and follow-up data on over 300 patients, with links to blood and tissue
samples. My recent research efforts exploring this database have included characterization of patients
who received VEGF-targeted agents in non-clinical trials setting. The continued maturity of this
database and its associated resources (blood, tissue, legacy IS systems) will allow many important
questions to be addressed in renal cancer.

Publications

No representative citations available.