Carlos H. Chan, MD, PhD
Dr. Carlos H. Chan is a surgical oncologist who practices at University of Iowa Health Care (UIHC) and the Carver College of Medicine in Iowa City, Iowa. He is the first board-certified surgical oncologist in the state with a primary clinical focus on pancreatic and advanced gastrointestinal cancers, including malignant peritoneal mesothelioma. Dr. Chan is credited with having built the UIHC’s program for hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy,[] an innovative complex surgical procedure that combines cytoreductive surgery with the administration of a heated, highly concentrated chemotherapy solution. The protocol has proven extremely effective at extending survival and improving quality of life for patients with advanced peritoneal and gynecologic malignancies.
Education and Career
Dr. Chan earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and Computer Science, as well as a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and his medical degree, at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. After completing a postdoctoral research fellowship in Cancer Biology, he completed his internship and residency in General Surgery at the McGill University Health Centre and then completed a fellowship in Complex Surgical Oncology at Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. He also completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in Cancer Biology at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.[1]
Research
In addition to his clinical care of patients, Dr. Chan is a basic and translational scientist. He is the Director of the BioMER core, which facilitates patient-oriented translational research at the University of Iowa. His research interests include pancreatic and gastrointestinal cancers; infection in cancer progression; the tumor immune microenvironment of the peritoneal cavity; cancer biomarker discovery and detection; and regional therapy for peritoneal surface malignancy.[1]
His recent publications include:[1]
- Brock P, Liynarachchi S, Nieminen TT, Chan C, Kohlmann W, Stout LA, Yao S, La Greca A, Jensen KE, Kolesar JM, Salhia B, Gulhati P, Hicks JK, Ringel MD. (2024). CHEK2 Founder Variants and Thyroid Cancer Risk. Thyroid. 2024 Feb 27. doi: 10.1089/thy.2023.0529. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38279823.
- Wang C, Ma A, Li Y, McNutt ME, Zhang S, Zhu J, Hoyd R, Wheeler CE, Robinson LA, Chan CHF, Zakharia Y, Dodd RD, Ulrich CM, Hardikar S, Churchman ML, Tarhini AA, Singer EA, Ikeguchi AP, McCarter MD, Denko N, Tinoco G, Husain M, Jin N, Osman AEG, Eljilany I, Tan AC, Coleman SS, Denko L, Riedlinger G, Schneider BP, Spakowicz D, Ma Q. (2024). A bioinformatics tool for identifying intratumoral microbes from the ORIEN dataset. Cancer Res Commun. 2024 Jan 23. doi: 10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-23-0213. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38259095; PMCID: PMC10840455.
- Beyer GV, Hueser S, Li R, Manika D, Lee M, Chan CHF, Howe JR, Ear PH. (2023). Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine carcinoma tumor spheroid drug screen reveals vulnerability to tyrosyl-DNA phosphodiesterase 1 inhibitors. Surgery. 2024 Mar;175(3):605-612. doi: 10.1016/j.surg.2023.08.044. Epub 2023 Oct 31. PMID: 37914572.
- Tow DH, Chan CH, Howe JR, Ear PH. (2023). A luminescent sensor for investigating serotonin metabolism in neuroendocrine cancer. Surgery. 2024 Mar;175(3):726-734. doi: 10.1016/j.surg.2023.09.018. Epub 2023 Oct 31. PMID: 37914574.
- Wientjes MG, Lu Z, Chan CHF, Turaga K, Au JLS. (2023). Surgical management of peritoneal metastasis: Opportunities for pharmaceutical research. Journal of Control Release. 2023 Sep;361:717-726. doi 10.1016/j.jconrel.2023.08.017. Epub 2023 Aug 22. PMID: 37574051; PMCID: PMC10560040.
- Kazarian AG, Conger HK, Mott SL, Loeffler BT, Dempewolf SM, Coleman KL, Pearlman AM, Chan CHF, Talbert EE. (2023). Retrospective study of testosterone deficiency and symptom burden in patients with pancreatic cancer. Translation Andrology Urology. 2023 Jul 31;12(7):1079-1089. doi: 10.21037/tau-22-684. Epub 2023 Jul 28. PMID: 37554534; PMCID: PMC10406543.
- Ellis RJ, Brajcich BC, Bertens KA, Chan CHF, Castillo CF, Karanicolas PJ, Maithel SK, Reames BN, Weber SM, Vidri RJ, Pitt HA, Thompson VM, Gonen M, Seo SK, Yopp AC, Ko CY, D’Angelica MI. (2023). Association Between Biliary Pathogens, Surgical Site Infection, and Pancreatic Fistula: Results of a Randomized Trial of Perioperative Antibiotic Prophylaxis in Patients Undergoing Pancreatoduodenectomy. Ann Surg. 2023 Sep 1;278(3):310-319. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000005955. Epub 2023 Jun 14. PMID: 37314221.
- van der Heide, D. M., Turaga, K. K., Chan CHF & Sherman, S. K. (2021). Mismatch Repair Status Correlates With Survival in Young Adults With Metastatic Colorectal Cancer. The Journal of Surgical Research 266 104-112. DOI: 10.1016/j.jss.2021.03.040. PMID: 33989889.
- Shrader, H. R., Miller, A. M., Tomanek-Chalkley, A., McCarthy, A., Coleman, K. L., Ear, P. H., Mangalam, A. K., Salem, A. K. & Chan CHF (2021). Effect of bacterial contamination in bile on pancreatic cancer cell survival. Surgery 169 (3) 617-622. DOI: 10.1016/j.surg.2020.09.029. PMID: 33268071. PMCID: PMC7870517.
- Miller, A. M., Lemke-Miltner, C. D., Blackwell, S., Tomanek-Chalkley, A., Gibson-Corely, K. N., Coleman, K. L., Weiner, G. J. & Chan CHF (2021). Intraperitoneal CMP-001: A Novel Immunotherapy for Treating Peritoneal Carcinomatosis of Gastrointestinal and Pancreaticobiliary Cancer. Annals of Surgical Oncology 28 (2) 1187-1197. DOI: 10.1245/s10434-020-08591-7. PMID: 32409965. PMCID: PMC7666039.
