Jay M. Lee, MD
Dr. Jay M. Lee is the Surgical Director of UCLA and Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Thoracic Oncology Program and an Associate Professor of Surgery (Tenure Track) at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. An internationally recognized expert in all aspects of thoracic surgical oncology, his clinical focus is on patients with lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies, including malignant pleural mesothelioma.[1]
Education and Career
Dr. Lee received his medical degree from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and then completed his internship and General Surgery residency at Georgetown University Medical Center. He completed an additional residency in Surgery at Duke University Medical Center, a research fellowship in Thoracic Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and a fellowship in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.[1]
Dr. Lee has held numerous titles at UCLA Health, including Director of the Center for Esophageal Disorders, Surgical Director of the Robert G. Kardashian Center for Esophageal Health, Chief of the Section of Thoracic Surgery of the Division of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery, and Chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery.[1]
Professional Activities and Memberships
In addition to holding positions on steering committees of important clinical trials, he is also involved and has held leadership positions in many professional medical organizations, including:[1]
- Committee Member, American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) Japanese Association of Thoracic Surgery (JATS) Fellowship Committee, 2021-2025
- Steering Committee. Lung Cancer Mutational Consortium 4 (LCMC4), 2021
- Member, Annual Meeting Scientific Program Committee, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), 2018-2021
- Chair, Early Stage/Localized Disease Program Committee. International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2020 World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC), 2020
- Member, American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) Foundation Advisory Council, 2019
- Member, Education Committee, International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC), 2018-2019
- Member, Annual Meeting Abstract Committee, American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS), 2017-2018
- General Thoracic Chair, Video Committee, American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS), 2015-2017
- Thoracic Surgery Co-Chair. Lung Cancer Mutational Consortium 3 (LCMC3). Genentech Trial ML39236, 2016
- Examiner, American Board of Thoracic Surgery (ABTS) General Thoracic Consultant Subcommittee, 2013-2015
- Examiner, American Board of Thoracic Surgery (ABTS) General Thoracic Oral Board Exam, 2013-2015
- Member, Basic and Translational Science Committee, American College of Surgeons Oncology Group (ACOSOG), 2011-2013
- Examiner, American Board of Thoracic Surgery (ABTS) General Thoracic Consultant Subcommittee, 2011-2012
Research
Dr. Lee is a renowned and prolific researcher in all aspects of thoracic oncology. He has a funded research laboratory whose efforts are focused on translational trials involving investigator-initiated immunotherapy in human lung cancer and modulation of the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment.[1]
Dr. Lee is the Principal Investigator of the “Combined Gene Modified Dendritic Cell Therapy and PD-1 Inhibition for lung cancer” trial, which is patented at UCLA. He has served on the steering/executive committee of several neoadjuvant or perioperative immunotherapy or targeted therapy clinical trials in resectable non-small cell lung cancer.
Studies he is currently guiding include:[1]
- Steering Committee. INTerpath-002 (Phase 3, Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo- and Active-Comparator-Controlled Clinical Study of Adjuvant V940 (mRNA-4157) Plus Pembrolizumab Versus Adjuvant Placebo Plus Pembrolizumab in Participants with Resected Stage II-IIIB (N2) Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (V940-002; Merck), 2023
- Steering Committee. Phase 3 Randomized Open-Label Study of Adjuvant Pembrolizumab with or without MK-2870 in Resectable Stage II to IIIB (N2) NSCLC for Participants not Achieving pCR after Receiving Neoadjuvant Pembrolizumab with Platinum-based Doublet Chemotherapy Followed by Surgery (MK2870-019; Merck), 2023
- Co-chair and Steering Committee. Phase 3, Randomized, Double-Blind Study of Tiragolumab plus Atezolizumab Compared with Placebo plus Atezolizumab in Participants with Completely Resected Stage IIB, IIIA, or Select IIIB, PD-L1 positive, Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Who Have Received Adjuvant Platinum-based Chemotherapy (Skyscraper-15; Roche/ Genentech), 2023
- Steering Committee. NeoKAN Trial (Phase 2 trial of neoadjuvant adagrasib in resectable NSCLC; Mirati and Johns Hopkins), 2022-2023
- Steering Committee. GEOMETRY-N Trial (Phase 2 trial of perioperative capmatinib in resectable NSCLC; Novartis), 2020-2023
His recent publications include:
- Accelerated Hypofractionated Chemoradiation Followed by Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy Boost for Locally Advanced, Unresectable Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Nonrandomized Controlled Trial. JAMA Oncol. 2024 Jan 11. Wu TC, Luterstein E, Neilsen BK, Goldman JW, Garon EB, Lee JM, Felix C, Cao M, Tenn SE, Low DA, Kupelian PA, Steinberg ML, Lee P. PMID: 38206614; PMCID: PMC10784998.
- Unresectable Stage III NSCLC Should Not be Treated With Neoadjuvant Therapy and Re-Evaluated for Resection. J Thorac Oncol. 2023 09; 18(9):1129-1133. Moghanaki D, Lisberg A, Oh S, Lee JM. PMID: 37599046.
- Neoadjuvant Targeted Therapy in Resectable NSCLC: Current and Future Perspectives. J Thorac Oncol. 2023 11; 18(11):1458-1477. Lee JM, McNamee CJ, Toloza E, Negrao MV, Lin J, Shum E, Cummings AL, Kris MG, Sepesi B, Bara I, Kurtsikidze N, Schulze K, Ngiam C, Chaft JE. PMID: 37451404.
- Safety and Efficacy Results From iSABR, a Phase 1 Study of Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy in Combination With Durvalumab for Early-Stage Medically Inoperable Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2023 09 01; 117(1):118-122. Wu TC, Stube A, Felix C, Oseguera D, Romero T, Goldman J, Garon EB, Lee JM, Glaspy J, Lisberg AE, Rusthoven CG, Camidge DR, Siva S, Solomon B, Lee A, Tenn SE, Shaverdian N, Steinberg ML, Raldow AC, Lee P. PMID: 37023987.
- Effect of Bilateral Cardiac Sympathetic Denervation on Burden of Premature Ventricular Contractions. Circ Arrhythm Electrophysiol. 2023 04; 16(4):e011546. Sridharan A, Tang A, Sorg JM, Hoftman NN, Lee JM, Yanagawa J, Vaseghi M. PMID: 36916281; PMCID: PMC10132769.
- Economic Burden of Recurrence Among Resected Medicare Patients With Early Stage NSCLC. JTO Clin Res Rep. 2023 Apr; 4(4):100487. Lee JM, Wang R, Johnson A, Ogale S, Kent M, Lee JS. PMID: 37007869; PMCID: PMC10050774.
- Safety of adjuvant atezolizumab after pneumonectomy/bilobectomy in stage II-IIIA non-small cell lung cancer in the randomized phase III IMpower010 trial. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2023 09; 166(3):655-666.e7. Lee JM, Vallières E, Ding B, Johnson A, Bhagwakar J, Rashidi S, Zhu QC, Gitlitz BJ, Weksler B, Costas K, Altorki N. PMID: 36841745.
- Real-world adjuvant chemotherapy patterns and outcomes among elderly patients with resected early non-small-cell lung cancer in the USA. Future Oncol. 2023 Jan; 19(1):37-47. Lee JM, Wang R, Johnson A, Ogale S, Kent M, Lee JS. PMID: 36662515
