Rafael Santana-Davila, MD
Dr. Rafael Santana-Davila is a medical oncologist who specializes in treating patients with thoracic cancers including lung cancer and malignant pleural mesothelioma, as well as head and neck cancers. He practices at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center in Seattle, Washington, where he holds the titles of Medical Director, Infusion and Pharmacy Services and Associate Professor, Clinical Research Division. He is also an Associate Professor in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Washington School of Medicine.[1]
Asked about his practice philosophy, Dr. Santana-Davila says, “My patients teach me life lessons that make me a better person.” His interests include harnessing the immune system in treating virus-associated cancers.[1]
Education and Career
Dr. Santana-Davila earned his medical degree at the Anahuac University School of Medicine in Mexico. He then completed an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He completed a fellowship in Hematology and Medical Oncology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science and earned a Master of Science degree in Clinical and Translational Science from the Medical College of Wisconsin.[1]
Research
Dr. Santana-Davila is actively involved in medical discovery. His wide-ranging interests include health services research, where his main goal is to understand how to bring the latest advances to patients who can’t access cancer care at specialized centers. He is also interested in using new agents for the treatment of lung cancer and is very active in Fred Hutch developmental therapeutics and Phase 1 clinical trials.[2]
He is currently leading eight different investigations. These include:[]
· Study of JTX 8064, as Monotherapy and in Combination With a PD-1 Inhibitor, in Adult Subjects With Advanced Refractory Solid Tumors Phase 1 First-in-Human (FIH) Study of Leukocyte Immunoglobulin-Like Receptor B2 (LILRB2) Inhibitor Monoclonal Antibody (mAb) JTX-8064, as Monotherapy and in Combination with a Programmed Cell Death Receptor-1 (PD-1) Inhibitor, in Adult Subjects with Advanced Refractory Solid Tumor Malignancies
Trial phase: I/II
PET/?CT Changes During Chemoimmunotherapy and Radiation Therapy in Patients With Stage IV Non-small Cell Lung Cancer An Observational Study of PET/CT Changes during Chemoimmunotherapy and Radiation Therapy for Patients with Metastatic NSCLC
Trial phase: N/A
Study Investigating BGB-24714 as Monotherapy and in Combination With Chemotherapy in Participants With Advanced or Metastatic Solid Tumors A Phase 1 Study Investigating the Safety, Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Preliminary Antitumor Activity of Second Mitochondrial-derived Activator of Caspases Mimetic BGB-24714 as Monotherapy and in Combination With Chemotherapy in Patients With Advanced or Metastatic Solid Tumors
Trial phase: I
His most recent publications include:[4]
Molecular phenotyping of small cell lung cancer using targeted cfDNA profiling of transcriptional regulatory regions. Hiatt JB, Doebley AL, Arnold HU, Adil M, Sandborg H, Persse TW, Ko M, Wu F, Quintanal Villalonga A, Santana-Davila R, Eaton K, Dive C, Rudin CM, Thomas A, Houghton AM, Ha G, MacPherson D.Sci Adv. 2024 Apr 12;10(15):eadk2082. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adk2082. Epub 2024 Apr 10.PMID: 38598634
Chemo and Immuno-Therapeutic Options for Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Lung Cancer. Santana-Davila R.Surg Clin North Am. 2022 Jun;102(3):493-498. doi: 10.1016/j.suc.2022.02.005.PMID: 35671769
Prognostic Value of Early Fluorodeoxyglucose-Positron Emission Tomography Response Imaging and Peripheral Immunologic Biomarkers: Substudy of a Phase II Trial of Risk-Adaptive Chemoradiation for Unresectable Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Bowen SR, Hippe DS, Thomas HM, Sasidharan B, Lampe PD, Baik CS, Eaton KD, Lee S, Martins RG, Santana-Davila R, Chen DL, Kinahan PE, Miyaoka RS, Vesselle HJ, Houghton AM, Rengan R, Zeng J.Adv Radiat Oncol. 2021 Nov 21;7(2):100857. doi: 10.1016/j.adro.2021.100857. eCollection 2022 Mar-Apr.PMID: 35387421
Performance status (PS) as a predictor of poor response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in recurrent/metastatic head and neck cancer (RMHNSCC) patients. Chalker C, Voutsinas JM, Wu QV, Santana-Davila R, Hwang V, Baik CS, Lee S, Barber B, Futran ND, Houlton JJ, Laramore GE, Liao JJ, Parvathaneni U, Martins RG, Eaton KD, Rodriguez CP.Cancer Med. 2022 Nov;11(22):4104-4111. doi: 10.1002/cam4.4722. Epub 2022 Mar 29.PMID: 35349227
