New Haven Independent

Lynch, chief of hematology and oncology at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, will also oversee development of Yale’s 36-acre “West Campus” and continue to pursue research into the causes and treatments for lung cancer.

Lynch said he plans to recruit top cancer researchers, and emphasize translation of laboratory discoveries into clinical use. Lynch has pioneered the use of molecular testing for specific mutations in lung tissue for use in personalized therapy.

Lynch graduated from Yale College in 1982 and received his medical doctorate from Yale in 1986, before joining the medical staff at Massachusetts General in 1993.

“In his own research and in what he accomplished in building clinical programs, Tom is an incredibly dynamic thinker and leader,” said Dr. Robert J. Alpern, dean of the Yale School of Medicine.

Marna P. Borgstrom, president and chief executive officer of Yale-New Haven Hospital, said, “As we prepare to open the Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven, we’re delighted that Dr. Lynch will provide medical leadership that interweaves clinical expertise with compassionate, family-centered care for our patients.”

The 500,000 square-foot, 14-story Smilow hospital is expected to open in October.

Lynch said among his top priorities for the Cancer Center will be to devise new therapies and concentrate on personalized medicine. Personalized medicine depends on analyzing the patient’s genetic make up to determine the optimal treatment.
This benefits the patient by skipping potentially less effective treatment for his particular cancer.

While some cancers are caused by a small number of malfunctioning genes, many other forms of the disease are the result of irregularities in numerous molecular pathways, Lynch said.

“It’s not impossible to think we can cure some cancers,” Lynch said, referring to President Obama’s call for a comprehensive cure in a televised address Tuesday night.

“The question is, what makes the cancer cell different?” Lynch said. In addition to his responsibilities at the Cancer Center, the Smilow hospital and the West Campus, Lynch said he plans to continue research on lung cancer, looking for genetic changes in his patients.

Also among Lynch’s goals for the cancer center is to elevate its reputation to, perhaps, the best cancer research and treatment center in the country.
“If you don’t aspire to do the very best, you won’t,” he said.

“With these new facilities and programs, Yale will be nationally known for its expertise in personalized cancer therapy, using molecular profiling to match therapy to the genetic signature of the patient’s tumor, as well as its commitment to quality, safety and outcomes measurement,” he said.

Yale apparently expects great things from Lynch.

The Yale Cancer Center was founded in 1974 and is among 40 such centers nationwide designated by the National Cancer Institute.

The current director of the cancer center, Dr. Richard L. Edelson, who was appointed in 2003, will continue to carry on research at a professor of dermatology.

Edelson made fundamental contributions to the study of Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma (CTCL), a disease caused by malignant T lymphocytes that affects the skin. Edelson and his research team were the first to successfully use anti-T cell antibodies in the treatment of lymphoma and demonstrated that CTCL is an antigen-driven malignancy.

Edelson devised and implemented the first FDA approved selective immunotherapy for any cancer, a treatment now referred to as transimmunization.

Edelson was preceded by Dr. Vincent T. DeVita Jr., a former director of the National Cancer Institute who is world renowned for his cure of Hodgkin’s disease.