Henning Willers, MD
Dr. Henning Willers is a thoracic radiation oncologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. As Director of the Thoracic Radiation Oncology Program and Director of the Radiation Biology and Research Program, he focuses on the care of patients with all types of thoracic cancers, including malignant pleural mesothelioma, lung cancer, and thymomas. Dr. Willers has expertise in the use of precision radiation medicine, which combines the most advanced techniques combining biological therapies with high-precision radiation therapy.[1]
Dr. Willers’ clinical interests include the use of Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), Proton radiation therapy, targeted therapies, and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy to treat patients with lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies
Education and Career
Dr. Willers earned his medical degree from the University of Hamburg Medical School and followed this educational program with two years of residency training in Radiation Oncology in Germany. After coming to Boston, Massachusetts to work as a research fellow on DNA repair in the laboratory of Dr. Simon Powell, he completed residency training in Radiation Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital. He then served as an attending physician in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Boston Medical Center before returning to Massachusetts General to join the Thoracic Radiation Oncology Program.[1]
Research
Dr. Willers is focused on several different areas of clinical research inquiry, including:[]
- The development of personalized, high-precision radiation treatment approaches for tumors in the chest.
- Using proton beam radiation therapy in lung cancer to improve therapeutic efficacy and sparing of normal organs and tissue.
- The application of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in patients with early-stage and metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer as well as other lung metastases.
Dr. Willers’ research lab aims at improving the outcomes of radiation therapy and identifying markers of resistance or sensitivity to radiation. Specifically, he is working to understand and overcome genomically defined radiation resistance in lung cancer; to develop novel, biomarker-driven combinations of radiation with molecular targeted drugs in lung and other difficult-to-treat cancers like malignant pleural mesothelioma; and to target DNA repair pathways in lung and other cancers with proton radiation and PARP-inhibitor treatments. His long-term goal is to advance precision or personalized cancer therapy for patients with curable cancers.[1]
His most recent publications include:[2]
Recent Trends in “Manels” and Gender Representation Among Panelists at North American Annual Radiation Oncology Meetings. Laura Burgess, Anushka Ghosh, Beow Y Yeap, Siri Ragala, Anita Nwiloh, Henning Willers, Anthony Zietman, Neha Vapiwala, Sophia C Kamran, Nabeel Rasheed>; International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics. 2024 Mar 18
ASO Visual Abstract: Multimodality Management of Thoracic Tumors-Initial Experience with a Multidisciplinary Thoracic Ablation Conference. Graur, A., Saenger, J., Mercaldo, N., Simon, J., Abston, E., Lanciotti, K., Swisher, L., Price, M., Colson, Y., Willers, H., Lanuti, M., Fintelmann, F.>; Annals of Surgical Oncology. 2024 Feb 19
β1 integrin mediates unresponsiveness to PI3Kα inhibition for radiochemosensitization of 3D HNSCC models. Korovina, I., Elser, M., Borodins, O., Seifert, M., Cordes, N., Willers, H.>; Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy = Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapie. 2024 Feb 1
