Mass General Brigham Cancer leadership (l-r Gerard Doherty, MD, Daphne Haas-Kogan, MD, E. Antonio “Nino” Chiocca, MD, PhD, David Ryan, MD) speaking at the Massachusetts State House on Feb. 26, 2025. The panel discussion was moderated by O’Neil Britton, MD.
Daphne Haas-Kogan, MD
After seeing a recent patient with a very rare brain tumor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Daphne Haas-Kogan, MD, was struck by how much integration has already transformed cancer care at Mass General Brigham (MGB).
The rarity and complexity of her patient’s tumor demanded specialized expertise, said Haas-Kogan, radiation oncologist-in-chief for MGB Cancer. Yet they lived in a more remote area of Western Massachusetts where such subspecialists simply were not available. Moreover, in addition to being very sick, the patient had a disability that made travel even more difficult.
Previously, patients in Western Massachusetts were limited to the treatment options available at their local healthcare facility. However, with Cooley Dickinson’s integration into MGB, they now have access to a comprehensive range of specialized care and advanced technology while still receiving treatment in the comfort of their community.
As Haas-Kogan and colleagues shared during a panel discussion at the Massachusetts State House on Feb. 26, MGB Cancer is advancing this new vision and strategy for cancer care — one that harnesses our combined capabilities and resources to dramatically improve outcomes, expand access to world-class care and deliver a more patient-centered experience.
“Because of integration, now I know the docs at Cooley Dickinson — I know them well — so all I had to do was make one phone call and the patient gets treated 10 minutes from home,” Haas-Kogan said. “Because the system is so robust and seamless, it was easy, and I had the utmost confidence that the exact treatment that I would give this patient in Boston will be delivered at Cooley Dickinson.”
The anecdote was one of several that MGB Cancer leaders highlighted to illustrate the pillars of our cancer strategy to legislative leaders and staff on Beacon Hill. The forum was part of a regular series of events co-hosted by Mass General Brigham and members of the Legislature that is designed to share progress on our major initiatives aimed at improving the health of the patients and communities we serve.
We don't see cancer patients. We see patients who happen to have cancer. These patients require a comprehensive team of people to care for them, and we are very fortunate to have developed this expertise across many domains.
O’Neil Britton, MD
Chief Integration Officer and Executive Vice President
Mass General Brigham
David Ryan, MD
In addition to creating a seamless experience across hospitals in the system, MGB Cancer stands apart for its excellence in research-infused, multispecialty care.
David Ryan, MD, physician-in-chief for MGB Cancer, recalled how a multidisciplinary team at Massachusetts General Hospital collaborated to engineer a CAR-T cell therapy to treat patients with glioblastoma, the deadliest form of brain cancer. He described what happened next as “a moon landing” that succeeded due to the diverse expertise and unwavering commitment of those involved.
“[The infusion] was delivered by the incredible nurses on Lunder 10. You had a neurosurgeon and medical oncologist sleeping over that night on the floor, and you had the neuro ICU on call in case it caused brain swelling,” Ryan remembered. “And not only was it safe, but there were also early signs it was working. It’s just an amazing example of what can happen at a place like Mass General Brigham.”
Gerard Doherty, MD
Gerard Doherty, MD, surgeon-in-chief for MGB Cancer, reflected on how extraordinary advances and multidisciplinary collaboration have reshaped the narrative for another aggressive cancer, anaplastic thyroid cancer.
“Most thyroid cancer patients do relatively well. We’re good at treating them, and patients have a good life expectancy. Anaplastic thyroid cancer has not been that way through my 30-year career. It’s been almost uniformly lethal,” Doherty said. “But now that we have immunotherapies and other kinds of targeted therapies that can shrink the tumor and then enable us to remove it in an operation, it’s changed the course for those patients. The operation alone wouldn't work. The immunotherapy alone wouldn’t work. But the two of those things together is the new strategy. It's been very effective for more than a third of our patients, which is a tremendous difference.”
E. Antonio “Nino” Chiocca, MD, PhD
The robust research enterprise within MGB Cancer serves as a beacon of hope for patients and families seeking answers, added E. Antonio “Nino” Chiocca, MD, PhD, chair of Neurosurgery for MGB and executive director of the Center for Tumors of the Nervous System for MGB Cancer.
“We’ve done an amazing job curing — truly curing — some cancers, but there are others that are still dismal in terms of diagnosis. Research is the only way we’re going to go forward,” Chiocca said. “That is the great thing about Mass General Brigham — our bench-to-bedside process. We’re not going to rest until we cure your cancer.”
