Thoracic Oncology Program
Medical Oncology Branch
Surgery Branch
Radiation Oncology Branch
Mission
The Thoracic Oncology Program incorporates the major functions of clinical research, clinical care, and clinical training in pursuit of treating patients with thoracic malignancies. The goals of the Thoracic Oncology Program are to:
- Develop and test therapeutic research strategies for the treatment of chest malignancies by conducting clinical research across multiple disciplines and combining treatment of standard and novel regimens.
- Provide clinical care to thoracic cancer patients enrolled in research protocols through assessment, staging, and treatment of patients including continuity of care by following patients in both the inpatient and outpatient settings.
- Provide trainees with a comprehensive clinical experience in the management of thoracic malignancies through in-depth multidisciplinary training in clinical and translational research.
Overview
The Thoracic Oncology Program is a large pre-clinical and clinical program that emphasizes therapies that are novel and experimental in nature and encompasses all major tumor types of the chest including lung cancer (non-small cell and small cell), mesothelioma, thymoma, and esophageal cancers. The program utilizes multiple sub disciplines for treatment such as thoracic surgery, radiation oncology, pulmonary medicine, and medical oncology. The research and trials are carried out by principal investigators, physicians, and staff of the Medical Oncology, Surgical Oncology, and Radiation Oncology Branches of the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health.
Operable Lung Cancer
Patients are selected on the basis of whether they are surgical candidates and are candidates for clinical studies of neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatments with experimental approaches.
Locally Advanced Lung Cancer
Approaches for intense combined modality treatment of stage III disease (both small cell and non-small cell lung cancers) include novel therapeutic approaches such as IMRT and radiosensitizing systemic therapies.
Advanced Lung Cancer
Experimental systemic therapies are administered in patients with advanced lung cancer (both small cell and non-small cell cancers), within the frame of prospective phase I, II, and III clinical studies.
Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma
Patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (a rare tumor of the pleura) are managed using innovative immunotherapy strategies directed against the tumor antigen mesothelin.
Malignant Tumors of the Thymus
Indications for specific treatments of these exceedingly rare tumors of the mediastinum include radical surgery, debulking surgery, combined modality therapy, and systemic therapy for advanced disease.
The Research Team
Giuseppe Giaccone, M.D., Ph.D.
Branch Chief
Medical Oncology Branch, CCR, NCI
Giuseppe Giaccone is an internationally recognized expert in the field of lung cancer and developmental therapeutics. Dr. Giaccone received his M.D. cum laude from the University of Torino Medical School in 1980, followed by training in clinical oncology and internal medicine, which he completed at the University of Torino in 1988. He spent the next 2 years in NCI's Medical Oncology Branch under the direction of Dr. John Minna. Following his training at NCI, Dr. Giaccone received his Ph.D. from the Free University Medical Center in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He then served as a senior medical oncologist at the Medical Center from 1990 to 2000 when he was appointed professor of medical oncology. Dr. Giaccone became head of the center's department of medical oncology in 2003.
Dr. Giaccone has published more than 400 peer-reviewed papers and contributed to more than 30 book chapters. He has also played a major role in the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), serving as a member of EORTC's Lung Cancer Cooperative Group since 1982 and as its chair from 1993 to 2000. During his leadership of this group, Dr. Giaccone led several major clinical studies focusing on lung cancer and mesothelioma. Dr. Giaccone joined the Center for Cancer Research in 2007 as chief of the Medical Oncology Branch.
Phillip A. Dennis, M.D., Ph.D.
Senior Investigator, Signal Transduction Section
Director, NCI/Navy Oncology Section
Medical Oncology Branch, CCR, NCI
Dr. Dennis received his B.A. in 1984 as an Echols Scholar from the University of Virginia, and his Ph.D. and M.D. degrees in 1991 and 1992, respectively, from the New York University School of Medicine as part of the Medical Scientist Training Program. He completed his internal medicine training on the Osler Medical Service at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Following his residency, he completed a fellowship in medical oncology at the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center and then joined the laboratory of Dr. Michael Kastan as a postdoctoral fellow. Dr. Dennis joined NCI in 1999 as a tenure-track investigator. In 2005, he became clinical director at NCI/Navy Medical Oncology. Dr. Dennis is a recipient of the Alton Ochsner Award Relating Tobacco and Health and an NIH Merit Award, and is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation.
David S. Schrump, M.D.
Clinical Head, Senior Investigator
Thoracic Oncology Section, Surgery Branch, CCR, NCI
Dr. Schrump graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and completed his general surgery residency at the University of Chicago as well as a 3-year research fellowship in human cancer immunology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Following completion of his thoracic surgery residency at the University of Michigan in 1993, Dr. Schrump was appointed to the cardiothoracic surgery faculty at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. In 1997, he was appointed Head of Thoracic Oncology, Surgery Branch, NCI. He received NIH tenure in 2006. His clinical interests include surgical management of complex thoracic malignancies, and his translational research efforts are focused on epigenetic mechanisms of gene expression in thoracic malignancies and the utilization of chromatin remodeling agents for the treatment of these neoplasms.
Raffit Hassan, M.D.
Head, Principal Investigator
Solid Tumor Immunotherapy Section, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, CCR, NCI
Dr. Hassan is a medical oncologist who completed his fellowship in oncology at NCI in 1997. He subsequently joined the faculty at the University of Oklahoma and returned to NCI as a tenure-track investigator in 2002. Dr. Hassan has focused on developing novel therapies for the treatment of malignant mesothelioma in laboratory and clinical research. He is currently conducting clinical trials of three different immunotherapy agents targeting the tumor antigen mesothelin that was discovered at NCI. In 2008 he was appointed chairman of the Science Advisory Board of the Meso Foundation. Dr. Hassan is a recipient of the American Society of Clinical Oncology Career Development Award as well as NIH’s K-23 Career Development Award.
Deborah E. Citrin, M.D.
Principal Investigator
Imaging and Molecular Therapeutics Section, Radiation Oncology Branch, CCR, NCI
Dr. Citrin is a clinician and translational researcher in the Radiation Oncology Branch at NCI. She is a graduate of the Duke University School of Medicine and completed her residency training at NCI and National Capital Consortium (Walter Reed Army Medical Center and National Naval Medical Center). Her research interests include the pre-clinical and clinical testing of radiation modifiers and in the mechanisms of normal tissue injury from radiation. Dr. Citrin is involved in the clinical care of patients with head and neck cancers, pediatric malignancies, gastrointestinal malignancies, thoracic malignancies, and melanoma.
Back to Top
