Heather Wakelee

Clinical Focus

• Cancer > Thoracic Oncology
• Investigational Therapeutics
• Lung Cancer - Medical Oncology
• Medical Oncology
• Mesothelioma

Honors and Awards

• Teaching Award, Stanford University Division of Oncology (2007, 2008)
• Alpha Omega Alpha, Johns Hopkins University (06/1996)
• Merit Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology (05/2003)

Professional Education

Postdoctoral Advisees

Christelle Clement-Duchene

Industry Relationships

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Research Interests

Dr. Wakelee is a clinical investigator with a focus in lung cancer. Her current focus is on anti-angiogenesis strategies, primarily with the agent bevacizumab. She is investigating this antibody to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in combination with chemotherapy for patients with brain metastases from lung cancer, as well as with chemotherapy for newly diagnosed lung cancer patients. She is also conducting a trial with a related compound known as aflibercept (VEGF-TRAP) and a trial with the vascular disrupting agent ASA404.
Dr. Wakelee is an active member of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group and is the prinicipal investigator of a large adjuvant trial for patients with completely resected lung cancer who are randomized to chemotherapy or chemotherapy plus bevacizumab.
Dr. Wakelee is also involved in several collaborative efforts with her colleagues in thoracic surgery and radiation oncology (a multi-disciplinary trial for stage III non-small cell lung cancer patients and cyberknife protocols for early stage patients not eligible for surgery), as well as in pulmonary medicine (analysis of blood samples for circulating lung tumor cells and other basic science projects).

Clinical Trials

• A Phase 1/2 Study of Aflibercept Administered in Combination with Pemetrexed and Cisplatin in Patients with Advanced Carcinoma Recruiting
• A Study of ASA404 or Placebo in Combination With Docetaxel in Second-Line Treatment for (Stage IIIb/IV) Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (ATTRACT-2) Recruiting
• A Study of XL184 With or Without Erlotinib in Adults With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Recruiting
• AZD0530 in Treating Patients With Relapsed or Refractory Thymoma or Thymic Cancer Recruiting
• An Observational Study of the Ethnic Impact of Patients Undergoing 2nd Line Treatment for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Using Pemetrexed Recruiting

Publications

• Lung cancer incidence in never smokers. Wakelee HA, Chang ET, Gomez SL, Keegan TH, Feskanich D, Clarke CA, Holmberg L, Yong LC, Kolonel LN, Gould MK, West DW. J Clin Oncol. 2007; 25 (5): 472-8
• Monoclonal antibodies targeting vascular endothelial growth factor: current status and future challenges in cancer therapy. Hsu JY, Wakelee HA. BioDrugs. 2009; 23 (5): 289-304
• Phase I and pharmacokinetic study of lexatumumab (HGS-ETR2) given every 2 weeks in patients with advanced solid tumors. Wakelee HA, Patnaik A, Sikic BI, Mita M, Fox NL, Miceli R, Ullrich SJ, Fisher GA, Tolcher AW. Ann Oncol. 2009
• Osteoblastic bone flare on F18-FDG PET in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients receiving bevacizumab in addition to standard chemotherapy. Krupitskaya Y, Eslamy HK, Nguyen DD, Kumar A, Wakelee HA. J Thorac Oncol. 2009; 4 (3): 429-31
• Uncovering disparities in survival after non-small-cell lung cancer among Asian/Pacific Islander ethnic populations in California. Chang ET, Shema SJ, Wakelee HA, Clarke CA, Gomez SL. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2009; 18 (8): 2248-55