June 2021

Joseph A. Sparano, MD, FACP, has joined Mount Sinai as Chief of the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology for the Mount Sinai Health System and Deputy Director of The Tisch Cancer Institute (TCI). He will hold the Ezra M. Greenspan MD Professorship in Clinical Cancer Therapeutics and will oversee the expansion of clinical and research capacities of the division and TCI.

Dr. Sparano led a breakthrough clinical trial in breast cancer research, the Trial Assigning Individualized Options for Treatment (Rx), known as TAILORx—the first and largest National Cancer Institute (NCI) precision medicine trial. It integrated the 21-gene expression assay (Recurrence Score [RS]) into clinical decision making for adjuvant therapy of early stage ER-positive, HER2 negative breast cancer. The trial led to changes in treatment guidelines from both the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. TAILORx results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2015, 2018, and 2019. Dr. Sparano also led an effort to develop and validate a new tool integrating clinical and genomic information to guide adjuvant therapy for breast cancer, called RS Clin, which became freely available for widespread clinical use after publication in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in 2021. Evidence generated from another trial that he led which evaluated the role of taxane therapy in early breast cancer, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2008, has also had an important and enduring impact on standard clinical practice guidelines.

Dr. Sparano is Chair and Principal Investigator of the AIDS Malignancy Consortium, a network of approximately 45 clinical trial sites in the U.S., Africa, and Latin America that is funded by a 5-year, $111 million grant from the National Institutes of Health/NCI. He serves as Deputy Chair of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG)-American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) Cancer Research Group, and is a member of the Board of Managers of the PreECOG Research Foundation. Dr. Sparano has served as a member of the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group (EBCTCG) Steering Committee since 2012, and previously served as a member of several NCI committees, including the Breast Cancer Steering Committee, Lymphoma Steering Committee, and Investigational Drug Steering Committee, as well as co-chair of the Breast Cancer Correlative Science Committee.

“Dr. Sparano brings a wealth of experience in clinical, research, and educational excellence. He will be instrumental in expanding our footprint in cancer advancements, guiding our progress toward NCI comprehensive cancer center status, and fostering our mission of providing superior cancer care with special attention to equity and the unique needs of our catchment area.”

Ramon Parsons, MD, PhD, Director, The Tisch Cancer Institute

“People with HIV/AIDS at are increased risk of developing age-related malignancies in addition to those specifically associated with HIV and other viruses. Dr. Michael Mullen, Director of the Institute of Advanced Medicine, and I are thrilled to welcome Dr. Joseph Sparano to Mount Sinai. Dr. Sparano is a renowned oncologist in the management of breast cancer and is the Chair-elect of the AIDS Malignancy Consortium, the only NIH-funded organization dedicated to the treatment and prevention of HIV-associated malignancies. Our patients will now have the opportunity to participate in groundbreaking clinical trials within our health system. We look forward to collaborating with Dr. Sparano and expanding our current portfolio of HIV-related cancer research under his leadership.”

Judith A. Aberg, MD, Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases, Mount Sinai Health System

"From his early and ongoing pioneering of novel therapeutic regimens for patients with lymphoma, especially HIV-associated lymphomas, Dr. Sparano has been an unwavering advocate for these underserved patients. While many physicians help make better therapies, very few have shown such leadership that they have a regimen named after them... and we have been using the "Sparano regimen" for our HIV-lymphoma patients for more than a decade!"

Joshua Brody, MD, Director of the Lymphoma Immunotherapy Program at The Tisch Cancer Institute

“Dr. Joseph Sparano is a national and international leader in breast medical oncology, and his groundbreaking work affects and improves the way we treat our patients with breast cancer on a daily basis. We are so fortunate to have him join our breast cancer program at the Mount Sinai Health System. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with him to continue to push the envelope and provide the best possible care for our patients with breast cancer.”

Elisa Port, MD, Chief, Breast Surgery, Director, Dubin Breast Center

“We are excited that Dr. Sparano is bringing his expertise in cancer disparities research to TCI. Ensuring equitable care for structurally marginalized populations is a top priority for TCI and the Health System. Dr. Sparano will be a catalyst to further expand our reach and effectiveness.”

Cardinale Smith, MD, PhD, Associate Director for Community Outreach and Engagement, The Tisch Cancer Institute

“With his work in genomic profiling, Dr. Sparano is responsible for sparing thousands of women from needing chemotherapy for early stage breast cancer and further tailoring their therapy based on clinical and genomic risk. Eighty-five percent of patients with early stage hormone receptor positive breast cancer can now safely avoid chemotherapy based on his work. What an accomplishment and contribution to our field!”

Amy Tiersten, MD, Clinical Director, Breast Medical Oncology, Dubin Breast Center

Profile in Cancer, 2019

Dr. Parsons and the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology thank Matt Galsky, MD, who ably served as Acting Chief of the division from January until June. Dr. Galsky provided forward-thinking guidance throughout the national search and transition process.

Suchitra Sundaram, MD, has joined Mount Sinai as Assistant Professor of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology). She will see patients with hematological malignancies, particularly lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, at the Ruttenberg Treatment Center. Dr. Sundaram earned her medical degree at Lokmanya Tilak Medical College in Mumbai. She did residency training in Internal Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and a fellowship in Hematology and Oncology at Case Western Reserve University/Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Sundaram was most recently Assistant Professor in Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Buffalo. She was a principal investigator on multiple clinical trials in lymphoma/CLL and a member of the Institutional Review Board. She also served on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network panel for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and Hairy Cell Leukemia.

Anya Romanoff, MD, received a Global Oncology Young Investigator Award and Deborah Doroshow, MD, PhD, received a Career Development Award from Conquer Cancer/The ASCO Foundation. 

Karyn Goodman, MD, MS, and team have been selected to receive research funding from and join the Pancreatic Cancer Learning Network, part of the Canopy Cancer Collective.

James Manfredi, PhD, has been awarded a five-year R01 grant from the National Cancer Institute: “Cell lineage determinants of p53 responses in vivo.” The goal of this research is to elucidate the molecular bases for the tumor suppressing functions of the wild-type p53 gene and the oncogenic activities of mutant p53—a frequent gene mutation in human cancer. Understanding these mechanisms may inform therapeutic approaches including targeted therapy involving a tumor suppressor.

Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD, was honored with an award from The Society of Asian American Scientists in Cancer Research (SAASCR) for her outstanding cancer research. Members of SAASCR are also members of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Article in India Post

Joseph Sparano, MD, FACP, newly appointed Chief of Hematology and Medical Oncology and Deputy Director the The Tisch Cancer Institute, is the recipient of the Gianni Bonadonna Breast Cancer Award and Lecture from the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The award recognizes an active clinical and/or translational researcher with a distinguished record of accomplishments in advancing the field of breast cancer and with exceptional mentoring abilities.

Karyn Goodman, MD, MS, and Fred Hirsch, MD, PhD, were named Fellows of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASC) in recognition of their extraordinary volunteer service, dedication, and commitment to ASCO.

Julio Aguirre-Ghiso, PhD, was invited to serve on the Scientific Review Council of the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance. He joins these Mount Sinai colleagues on the council: Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD; Ramon Parsons, MD, PhD; Mihaela Skobe, PhD.

Matthew Galsky, MD, et al.

New England Journal of Medicine. 2021 Jun 3.

PMID: 34077643

Scott Friedman, MD, et al.

Cell. 2021 May 13. PMID: 33989548

Josep Llovet, MD; Scott Friedman, MD; Charissa Chang, MD; Daniela Sia, PhD; Andrew Uzilov, PhD; Paolo Boffetta, MD; Swan Thung, MD; et al.

Journal of Hepatology. 2021 May 13. PMID: 33992698

This study provides novel insights that help clarify the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)-hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Findings indicate that tumors arising in NASH are significantly associated with the Wnt/TGF-β proliferation subclass, present a higher prevalence of ACVR2A mutations—a potential tumor suppressor—and are associated with immunosuppressive traits in the adjacent non-tumoral tissue. Further immune characterization of NASH tumors will support testing treatments that provide greater survival benefit to NASH-HCC patients.

Mansi Saxena, PhD; Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD; et al.

Nature Reviews Cancer. 2021 Apr 27. PMID: 33907315

Tomohiro Enokida, PhD; Alvaro Moreira, PhD; Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD

Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2021 May 3. PMID: 33938446

In this paper, the authors review the currently approved preventive cancer vaccines, discuss the challenges related to ongoing preclinical and clinical human trials in various cancers, and address various issues related to maximizing cancer vaccine benefit.

Arun Cumpelik, MD; David Heja, PhD; David Dominguez-Sola, MD, PhD; Peter Heeger, MD; et al.

Nature Immunology. 2021 May 24. PMID: 34031614

This research shows how B cells rewire complement signaling—a key pathway in innate immunity—for optimal germinal center responses, which are essential to the generation of antibodies and adaptive immunity. The findings identify unrecognized targets for therapeutic manipulation of humoral immunity in health and disease—manipulation of complement signaling could facilitate targeted modulation of adaptive immunity in multiple settings, with implications in vaccine design, management of transplants, and the modulation of immune responses to cancer.

Related News & Views article

Camille Bigenwald, MD; Jessica Le Berichel; Miriam Merad, MD, PhD; et al.

BRAF ^V600E-induced senescence drives Langerhans cell histiocytosis pathophysiology

Nature Medicine. 2021 May. PMID: 33958797

Researchers have finally cracked the code of Langerhans cells histiocytosis (LCH)—a bewildering pediatric inflammatory myeloid neoplasia driven by BRAF^V600E—that may also lead to multisystem organ failure or neurodegeneration. They have found that B BRAF^V600E-induced senescence in hematopoietic progenitors are the main drivers of disease pathophysiology and have identified senolytics as a potential key therapeutic strategy for the treatment of LCH patients. This work was done in collaboration with the Poulikakos laboratory.

Jian Jin, PhD, et al.

Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2021 May 19. PMID: 33970635

The research team, led by Dr. Jian Jin at Mount Sinai and Dr. Wenyi Wei at Harvard, developed a novel folate-caging technology for selectively targeting oncogenic proteins in cancer cells by proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) while minimizing potential toxicity/side effects in normal cells. This generalizable platform enables PROTACs to be used as precision medicine.

Kenen Onel, MD, PhD; Kuan-Lin Huang, PhD; et al.

Cancer Management and Research. 2021 Jun 1.

Lisa A. Carey, MD, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Camila dos Santos, PhD, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Peggi M. Angel, PhD, Medical University of South Carolina

  TCI Connections  is a monthly publication of The Tisch Cancer Institute

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