Gregory Marshall Heestand, M.D. Clinical Assistant Professor, Dept. of Medicine, Oncology Division; Fellowship Director – Oncology, Stanford University School of Medicine
Research description: Pancreas and hepatobiliary cancers are a major clinical problem, causing needless suffering for patients and families. Despite recent improvements in chemotherapy regimens, these cancers are difficult to treat and have a high risk of recurrence when patients undergo curative surgery. In the advanced setting, they can cause pain, jaundice, and weight loss, which can make receiving treatment difficult. As a gastrointestinal oncologist, Dr. Heestand is dedicated to developing new treatments and biomarkers to improve treatment modalities for these patients. He has been the PI on multiple clinical trials to administer experimental treatments, and has researched biomarkers that can be used clinically to guide care plans.
Selected relevant publications (Stanford PCRG members in bold):
Heestand G, Pipas M, Valone F, McMullen A, Gadea P, Williams D, Zhong M, Neff T, Fisher G, Koong A. A Phase I Trial of the Monoclonal Antibody FG-3019 to Connective Tissue Growth Factor (CTGF) in Locally Advanced or Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer. ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, San Francisco, California, January 21, 2011. Abstract 269.
Heestand G, Murphy J, Moughan J, Regine W, Luo J, Graber M, Kunz P, Fisher G, Guha C, Lin B, Mowat R, Gaur R, Buyyounouski M, Chen Y, Chang D, Koong A. A novel biomarker panel examining response to adjuvant pancreatic cancer therapy in RTOG 9704. ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, San Francisco, California, January 17, 2014. Abstract 176.
Heestand G, Kurzrock R. Molecular Landscape of Pancreatic Cancer: Implications for Current Clinical Trials. Oncotarget 2015; 6(7) 4553-61.
Heestand G, Murphy D, Lowy A. Approach to Patients with Pancreatic Cancer without Detectable Metastases. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2015; 33(16) 1770-8.