Uma Sachdeva, M.D., Ph.D.

I am a thoracic surgeon and translational scientist with clinical and research focus in thoracic oncology. In addition to my clinical practice as a minimally invasive robotic thoracic oncologic surgeon, I lead a translational research program focusing on esophageal cancer.

Esophageal cancer is the 7^th leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, with overall 5-year survival only 20%. The incidence of esophageal cancer in the USA has been rising, and most cases are identified after patients have already developed distant metastatic disease. 5-year survival for localized or locally advanced esophageal cancer is 50-70%, emphasizing the importance of identifying patients at early stages of this disease.

My lab uses 3D organoids created from patient-derived biopsies to study esophageal cancers and precursor lesions. We derive cancer cells from the tumor epithelium and fibroblasts from the tumor microenvironment from patient biopsies of normal esophagus, Barrett’s esophagus (BE), and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) to understand the molecular events that underlie development and progression of this disease, with a focus on the underlying cellular metabolism. The goal of our work is to develop novel treatment strategies to halt to progression of esophageal cancer at the earliest stages, when it is still curable with trimodality approaches including medical therapy, radiation therapy, and surgical resection. I also lead research projects focusing on clinical outcomes of esophageal cancer using institutional and national databases, and the implementation of a custom app-based platform to monitor patient symptoms and outcomes after esophagectomy.