Michael Lanuti, MD
Dr. Michael Lanuti is the Director of Thoracic Oncology and the thoracic surgery liaison to the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center in Boston, Massachusetts. His clinical interests include minimally invasive surgery for lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies including malignant pleural mesothelioma, as well as multimodality treatment of esophageal cancer, advanced staging procedures, complex airway tumors, navigation bronchoscopy, and thermal ablation of lung tumors.
Education and Career
Dr. Lanutti earned his medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and he remained there for his internship and residency in General Surgery, as well as a two-year research fellowship in a thoracic oncology laboratory focusing on novel treatments for lung cancer. He continued his sub-specialty training with a Cardiothoracic fellowship at Massachusetts General and has been on staff in the Division of Thoracic Surgery as well as serving as an Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School ever since.
Research
Dr. Lanuti’s laboratory focuses on thoracic oncology translational research and designing novel therapeutics to treat lung and esophageal cancer to bring to clinical trials. The lab uses oncolytic viruses in combination with other modalities, including chemotherapy and angiotensin system inhibitors to target solid tumors. His main area of research is investigating losartan and lisinopril in the multi-modality management of lung or esophageal cancer in animal models. In non-small cell lung cancer, the laboratory has demonstrated an improved antitumor effect in the presence of chemotherapy.
Research projects include:
PET Imaging of Radiation-Induced Lung Injury
- Dates: April 2020-2023
- Funding: NIH/NHLBI 1R44CA250771-01
- Description: The goal of the proposed research is to optimize a type I collagen-specific PET probe 68Ga-CBP8 for direct imaging of radiation-induced lung injury
PET Imaging of Pulmonary Fibrosis
- Dates: April 2016 to March 2021
- Funding: NIH/NHLBI R01 HL 131907-01
- Description: The goal of the proposed research is to implement a type I collagen-specific PET probe for direct imaging of pulmonary fibrosis
Noninvasive Quantification of Pulmonary Fibrosis Due to Radiation-Induced Lung Injury Using [68Ga]CBP8 Type 1 Collagen Probe
- Dates: October 2019-2021
- Funding: Chest Foundation Grant
Notable Contributions and Publications
**indicate publications by trainees while in the lab
Investigating Molecular Markers and Oncogenes to Predict Recurrence in Resected Early-Stage Lung Cancer
Dr. Lanuti has clinical research interests in the predictive value of oncogenes in resected stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). His team has published on the prognostic significance of EGFR and KRAS mutation status in treatment-naive, surgically resected stage I NSCLC which was predictive of improved outcome. Patients harboring KRAS mutations appeared to have worse outcomes and may be considered for adjuvant therapy. The lab has also combined the detection of oncogene driver mutations coupled with predictive gene signatures to further delineate a high-risk cohort of patients with resected stage I NSCLC.
Related Publications
Angiotensin System Inhibitors Are Associated with Improved Survival in Locally Advanced NSCLC and Exhibit Anti-Tumor Synergism with Chemotherapy in a Murine Model of NSCLC
One of the major focuses of the lab is exploring the anti-tumor effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) inhibitors on lung and esophageal cancer. It found that angiotensin system inhibitors are associated with improved patient survival in stage III NSCLC. It also demonstrated the enhanced cytotoxic effect of cisplatin in lung cancer in animal models. The mechanism appears to be related to epithelial-to-mesenchyma- transition of the tumor.
Related Publications
Molecular Imaging of Pulmonary Fibrosis and Radiation-Induced Lung Injury with a Novel PET Probe with High Affinity to Collagen I
Dr. Lanuti has been collaborating with the Martino Center of Molecular Imaging at Mass General in the study of specific molecular probes. He currently has NIH funding to study a collagen I PET probe in humans as an extension of a line of investigation that demonstrated the detection of pulmonary fibrosis in an animal model that has also been tested in human subjects. The PET probe can detect patients with pulmonary fibrosis and may be more sensitive than the CT chest in demonstrating progression. The team has now embarked on studying this PET probe in radiation-induced lung injury and to help distinguish radiation injury from tumor if combined with FDG PET.
