Thoracic Oncology Section
Surgery Branch
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Mission
The overall mission of the Thoracic Oncology Section is to provide outstanding clinical care for patients with thoracic malignancies, and to devote our research efforts to the development of innovative treatment regimens for patients with lung and esophageal cancers, and malignant pleural mesotheliomas (MPM) that collectively account for nearly 180,000 cancer-related deaths annually in the United States. Additional clinical activities are directed toward the development of effective multidisciplinary treatment regimens for chest wall sarcomas and pulmonary metastases.
Overview of Clinical Research Program
The Thoracic Oncology Section comprises two surgeon-scientists (Dr. David S. Schrump and Dr. King F. Kwong), who together with a research nurse (Tricia Kunst), provide thoracic surgery expertise for all patients enrolled on NIH protocols. The Section routinely handles referrals from the Surgery Branch, Medical Oncology, Pediatric Sarcoma, Endocrine, Bone Marrow Transplant, and Host Defense Services, as well as the Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. During the past eight years, the Thoracic Oncology Section has gained national as well as international recognition for excellence in thoracic surgery and translational cancer research, resulting in an increasing number of patients throughout North America being referred to our service for management of complex thoracic malignancies. All patients are enrolled on clinical protocols involving either standard care or investigational therapies, thereby directly contributing to the NCI mission to eliminate the suffering and death due to cancer by 2015. All care is provided at no cost in a new, highly advanced clinical research center on the NIH campus.
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All of the protocols conducted in our Section have emanated directly from our laboratory investigations, exemplifying the bench-to-bedside nature of our translational research program. Currently, three protocols are in progress to define the mechanisms by which thoracic malignancies arise, and to evaluate novel treatment regimens for these neoplasms. A "Prospective Evaluation of Epigenetic Alterations in Patients with Thoracic Malignancies" allows for the collection of biopsy specimens, blood, sputum, and urine from patients undergoing evaluation for known or suspected cancers within the chest. This protocol enables utilization of innovative imaging modalities, as well as administration of standard chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery if indicated, based on established clinical care guidelines. Tissues and bodily fluids collected during the course of this protocol are used to support ongoing laboratory research. Two phase I protocols, described below, are direct extensions of previous trials in our Section; these protocols seek to define the ability of several novel compounds to alter gene expression in cancer cells, rendering them more susceptible to death and recognition by the immune system.
The Research Team
David S. Schrump, M.D.
Clinical Head and Senior Investigator
Thoracic Oncology Section, Surgery Branch, 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.
King F. Kwong, M.D.
Principal Investigator
Thoracic Oncology Section, Surgery Branch, NCI
Dr. Kwong received his doctorate in medicine from the George Washington University School of Medicine, where he also completed his surgical internship and general surgery residency. During this time period, Dr. Kwong also completed a two-year research fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at the Barnes Hospital, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis working to delineate the role of gap junction proteins within the cardiac sinus node in supraventricular arrhythmogenesis. He subsequently went on to complete a residency in cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Miami School of Medicine before being appointed to the full-time faculty at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. While in Baltimore, he was also Chief of Thoracic Surgery at the V.A. Medical Center and was an active participant in both clinical trials and basic science research within the multi-disciplinary Thoracic Oncology program. In 2007, Dr. Kwong joined the Thoracic Oncology Section of the Surgery Branch at NCI.
Research Staff
Tricia F. Kunst, R.N.
Research Nurse Specialist
Thoracic Oncology Section, Surgery Branch, NCI
Tricia F. Kunst received a Bachelor of Science in nursing from Salisbury University in 1995. Tricia started in the oncology nursing field immediately following graduation. She worked at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, MD with a generalized oncology population for two years. Tricia started working at NIH in 1997, and has been with the Thoracic section since 2001.
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