Gastrointestinal Cancer Research

Gastrointestinal Hematology Oncology Research concentrates on clinical and translational research to find new and more personalized treatment for areas of GI, Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Cancers. The physicians collaborate with research scientists of the Cancer Center at BIDMC to advance our knowledge of the genomics and pathogeneses of these cancers and to bring cutting-edge treatments to our patients.

The Gastrointestinal Hematology Oncology Research program physicians/researchers include Drs. Andrea Bullock and Susan Pandya. Supporting their clinical research are Adrianna Cortez, Clinical Research Associate and Meagan Lynch, Research Nurse.

Dr. Bullock's clinical research areas of interest include Pancreatic and Colorectal cancers and translational research in pancreatic cancer to understand the pathogenesis of the disease and develop new treatments with BRCA as a target. She is also involved is Health Services research that most recently has examined the economics of cancer care from the patient's perspective and the role of the physician.

Dr. Pandya's clinical interests include pancreatic and colon cancers. She is the overall Principal Investigator for a multi-center international Phase II clinical trial in pancreatic cancer. She is the associated director of the experimental therapeutics program at BIDMC which offers novel targeted drugs for clinical testing.

Recent publications

S. S. Pandya, J. W. Mier, D. F. McDermott, D. C. Cho. Addition of gemcitabine at time of sunitinib resistance in metastatic renal cell cancer. British Journal of Urology International 2011. doi: 10.1111/j.1464-410X.2011.10096.x. [Epub ahead of print] 

J. R. Diamond, B. R. Bastos, R. J. Hansen, D. L. Gustafson, S. G. Eckhardt, E. L. Kwak, S. S. Pandya, G. C. Fletcher, T. M. Pitts, G. N. Kulikowski, M. Morrow, J. Arnott, M. R. Bray, C. Sidor, W. Messersmith, G. I. Shapiro. Phase I safety, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic study of ENMD-2076, a novel angiogenic and aurora kinase inhibitor, in patients with advanced solid tumors. Clinical Cancer Research. 2011;17:849-860.

D. B. Costa, S. Kobayashi, S. S. Pandya, W. Yeo, Z. Shen, W. Tan, and K. D. Wilner. CSF Concentration of the Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase Inhibitor Crizotinib. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2011 29:e443-e445.

A. J. Bullock, E.J. Hofstatter, M.L. Yushak, M. K. Buss. Understanding Patients' Attitudes Toward Communication About the Cost of Cancer Care. Journal of Oncology Practice. Epub Feb 28, 2011 Abstract: http://ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/jop.2011.000418 

A. Mahadevan, R. Miksad, M. Goldstein, R. Sullivan, A. J. Bullock, E. Buchbinder, D. Pleskow, M. Sawhney, T. Kent, C. Vollmer, M. Callery. Induction gemcitabine and stereotactic body radiotherapy for locally advanced nonmetastatic pancreas cancer. International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics. 2011 Nov 15;81(4). Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21658854