International Exchange Fosters Clinical and Research Collaboration

Recently, a dozen members of a Brazilian oncology program, Instituto Oncoclínicas, participated in an international exchange with members of Center for Thoracic Cancers at Smilow Cancer Hospital and Yale Cancer Center.

The three-day visit in late June included a wide variety of presentations by Yale clinicians, discussions, both mock and actual tumor board meetings, a tour of Smilow and Yale School of Medicine Library, as well as a peek into the OR for surgeons. It wrapped up with a celebratory dinner at Mory’s, the Yale landmark restaurant.

The visiting team from Brazil included oncologists Denise Leite, Carolina Caetano Conopca, and William Fuzita; surgeons Marcel Sandrini, Thiago Magalhães Ramos, and Thiago Tinoco; pneumologists Jose Rodrigues, Karina Tavares Oliveira, and Marcos André; Oncoclínicas Medical Coordinator Tatiane Caldas Montella and teaching coordinator Flavia Christina Moitinho Ferreira da Silva.

Among the presentation topics were surgical technique, therapies, research, biomarkers, screening and interventional pulmonology, among others including:

• A keynote presentation, by Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, “Lung Cancer: Past, Present, and Future,” detailed the top 10 advances in lung cancer in recent decades and Yale’s contributions. He is chief, hematology/medical oncology, YCC and Smilow and deputy director YCC.

• “Surgical Advances” by Justin Blasberg, MD, MPH, director of robotic thoracic surgery

• “Neoadjuvant and Perioperative Systemic Therapy” by So Yeon Kim, MD, assistant professor of medicine (medical oncology

• “Radiation Oncology in Lung Cancer” by Henry Park, MD, MPH, chief, Thoracic Radiotherapy Program and Gavitt Woodard, MD, assistant professor of surgery (thoracic)

• “Surgical Outcomes-Based Research” by Daniel Boffa, MD, division chief, thoracic surgery

• “Biomarker Testing and Clinical Algorithms” by Anne Chiang, MD, PhD

• Sanja Dacic, MD, PhD, vice chair and director of anatomic pathology

• Lung Cancer Screening Program by Lynn Tanoue, MD, MBA, director of the program

• Frank Detterbeck, MD, FACS, FCCP, chief, thoracic surgery and surgical director, thoracic oncology

• Kyle Bramley, MD, director, interventional pulmonology

• Anne Chiang, MD, PhD and Thomas Hayman, MD, PhD, discussed the latest updates in Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC), covering both biological and radiation oncology perspectives.

• “Yale’s Lung Clinical Research Portfolio” by Sarah Goldberg, MD, MPH, chief, thoracic oncology.

• Goldberg, and Drs. Michael Grant and So Yeon Kim led talks on immunotherapy, EGFR- and KRAS-targeted therapies, and in-depth clinical cases.

• Kathleen McAvoy, MD – Pulmonary Immunotherapy Toxicities

• Darren Luon, PharmD – Clinical Pharmacy in Oncology

• Dmitry Kozhevnikov, DO, FACP – Palliative Care Approaches

• Marianne Davies, DNP, MSN, NP – Nursing Perspective in Thoracic Oncology

The program -- organized by Drs. Chiang and Goldberg and Yang Zhou, PhD, MPH -- concluded with a broad view of supportive and multidisciplinary care and remarks by Chiang and Eric Winer, MD, director, YCC and president and physician-in-chief at Smilow.