Debora S. Bruno, MD
Dr. Debora S. Bruno is a medical oncologist at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center in Cleveland, Ohio. She is focused on caring for patients with lung cancer, thymic malignancies, and malignant pleural mesothelioma, with an emphasis on the use of new therapies that improve the time patients have without disease progression.[1]
Dr. Bruno says that as important as innovative therapies are to improving outcomes, it is equally important to establish a respectful and easy rapport with her patients. She says the “number one approach from my standpoint is to interact with the patient and the family, listening first.”
Education and Career
Dr. Bruno earned her medical degree at the Federal University of Ceara in Brazil. She completed her internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia and remained in that city to pursue a fellowship in Hematology and Medical Oncology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.[2]
Following the completion of her education, Dr. Bruno established a multidisciplinary clinic for thoracic oncology patients in rural Nebraska, then pursued a master’s degree in Cancer Biology at the Graduate School for Biomedical Sciences at the University of Houston/MD Anderson Cancer Center. She spent four years on the medical staff at MetroHealth, where she expanded the number of clinical trials for lung cancer patients and led the multidisciplinary thoracic team.[2]
Research
Dr. Bruno conducts clinical trials investigating the safety and efficacy of new and promising therapies for lung cancer, thoracic malignancies such as thymomas, and mesothelioma. She conducts clinical trials investigating the safety and efficacy of new and promising therapies and is the institutional Principal Investigator of many NCI- and industry-sponsored studies at all phases of clinical drug development.
She is particularly interested in studying disparities in lung cancer treatment and developing interventions to overcome them. She identified the existence of racial disparities in comprehensive genomic testing for patients with advanced lung cancer throughout the United States and demonstrated that biomarker and NGS testing are independently associated with clinical trial participation. Her findings are important in explaining some of the reasons for racial inequities when it comes to representation in oncology clinical trials.[1]
Professional Activities
Dr. Bruno is a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s thoracic oncology guidelines committee, where she helps advise her colleagues nationwide on the latest research findings and how best to use targeted therapies.[2]
