tudies

Research Studies

Thoracic and lung specialized cancer research

Lung cancer is a major cause of morbidity and the number one cause of cancer death in Lebanon and worldwide. This is of particular importance in Lebanon given the extremely high prevalence of cigarette and Narjileh smoking in the country.

Recent developments in lung cancer understanding have led to the description of driver mutations and markers to increase the likelihood of response to specific therapeutics, like immunotherapy.

Based on the above facts, the need for a thoracic malignancy research center of utmost importance. The AUB Thoracic Oncology Research Group (TORG) is a multidisciplinary team of researchers with special interest in lung cancer that has been established at AUB. It includes medical and radiation oncologists, surgeons, basic science researchers, pathologists, epidemiologists and statisticians. The TORG holds regularly scheduled meetings where ideas for new and ongoing research projects are discussed and better developed.

Research activities of the TORG group include:

• Better understanding of the genetics of lung cancer in the region
• Collaborations with government and NGOs for better tobacco control programs
• Detailed statistical data on the morbidity and mortality of lung cancer
• Interventions that improve the quality of life of lung cancer patients
• Innovative therapeutic approaches to lung cancer including immunotherapeutic agents and novel agents under development.

Ongoing thoracic malignancies research studies include:

PI Dr. Arafat Tfayli:

• Outcomes of Patients with Head, Neck, or Lung Cancer Treated at the American University of Beirut: A prospective study

• Factors Influencing the Delay in Head and Neck Cancer Diagnosis in Lebanon 

• Repository of Lung Cancer at AUBMC

• Retrospective outcomes of patients with lung and head and neck cancer

• Effect of Lack of Access to Cancer Medications on Survival of Lung Cancer Patients

• Institutional Lung Cancer Data Collection Project

PI Dr. Hazem Assi:

• The prevalence of incidental lung nodules of CT scanning of the chest before and after the COVID-19 pandemic