Johannes Kratz MD

Associate Professor of Surgery
Interim Chief of Thoracic Surgery
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
Van Auken Endowed Chair in Thoracic Oncology
Director, Minimally Invasive and Robotic Thoracic Surgery
Director, Thoracic Surgery Residency Program
Medical Director of Robotic Surgery, UCSF Health

Molecularly-Targeted Therapies for Thoracic Cancers

Cancer treatment is rapidly proceeding towards the era of personalized medicine where treatment is based on the distinctive molecular characteristics of a patient's tumor. This knowledge will allow patients to receive novel combinations of therapies that will maximize clinical benefit, more accurately predict disease outcome, and allow patients at the highest risk of relapse to receive the most aggressive treatment. The Thoracic Oncology Lab is pursuing a variety of strategies to treat and cure lung cancer, mesothelioma and esophageal cancer. These include the investigation of molecular pathways such as Wnt and Hh, the role of inflammation in lung carcinogenesis, isolation of lung cancer stems cells, and the Lung Cancer Systems Genetics Project, An Approach to Individualized Lung Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy. Eventually, these efforts will have a major impact on these diseases.