Physician Investigator (Cl) Surgery, Mass General Research Institute

Associate Professor of Surgery Harvard Medical School

Visiting Surgeon Thoracic Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital

MD University of Pennsylvania 1994

adenoviridae; carcinoma non-small-cell lung; epidermal growth factor; esophageal cancer; esophagectomy; gastric outlet obstruction; lung adenocarcinoma; lung cancer; lung neoplasms; oncolytic viruses; pneumonectomy; pylorus; solitary fibrous tumor pleural; thoracotomy

Dr. Lanuti spearheads translational research in a Thoracic Oncology Research Laboratory in conjunction with the division of Surgical Oncology and Ken Tanabe, MD.

The principle goals of the laboratory are to design novel therapeutics to treat lung and esophageal cancer that can be brought to clinical trials. A primary goal is the use of oncolytic viruses to target solid tumor.

Some of these strategies include development of oncolytic viruses that help degrade tumor matrix. Ultimately, this translational effort will strive to bring treatment strategies from the laboratory bench to the bedside and back to the bench again for re-evaluation and improvement.

Stage I non small cell lung cancer can still recur with a 25% chance of relapse despite complete resection. Dr. Lanuti is investigating the role of driver mutations and gene signatures to stratify risk of recurrence in resected stage I lung adenocarcinoma. This work can contribute to adjuvant therapies for high risk resected stage I lung cancers.

The study of epidermal growth factor and its influence on biologic functions, particularly the proliferation and differentiation of epithelial tissues, has received tremendous attention. Dr. Lanuti has investigated molecular risk factors for esophageal adenocarcinoma and found an elevated risk associated with single nucleotide polymorphisms in the epidermal growth factor (EGF) gene.