Dr. Anne Tsao

Director, Mesothelioma Program / Thoracic Chemo-Radiation Program

University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Unit 432
Houston, TX 77030
(713) 792-6363

University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine - 1998

Indiana University and University of Texas

University of Texas

Overview

As director of the mesothelioma program at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas in Houston, Anne Tsao M.D. is one of the nation's foremost authorities on malignant mesothelioma.

Educational Background

Tsao earned her medical degree from the prestigious University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. She completed her internship and residency at Indiana University in Indiana and an additional residency at the University of Texas. Before joining the staff at M.D. Anderson, she also completed a fellowship at the facility. Board certified in both internal medicine and medical oncology, Dr. Tsao specializes in thoracic, head, and neck oncology and serves as director of the Mesothelioma Program at the hospital.

Professional Highlights and Publications

Dr. Tsao and her colleagues at Anderson have penned many articles providing a large amount of information for many professional journals and have been involved in numerous clinical trials involving the treatment of malignant mesothelioma, an aggressive form of cancer that is often diagnosed in advanced stages and difficult to treat.
In articles in publications such as the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Tsao has discussed the impact of novel therapies, the importance of clinical trials, and controversial issues such as the use of extrapleural pneumonectomy in the treatment of the disease. She has also campaigned for the use of intrapleural therapies as well as gene therapy and immunotherapy for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma and lectures nationally and internationally on these subjects.

Clinical Research

Tsao has also performed studies involving smoking history and its impact on the prognosis of those with non-small cell lung cancers like mesothelioma. She has also stressed the need for chemo-prevention, the use of natural, synthetic, or biologic chemical agents to suppress cancer in high-risk populations or prevent carcinogenic progression to invasive cancer.

Awards and Affiliations

For her work in the field of thoracic and other cancers, Dr. Tsao has been the recipient of numerous awards including an ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) Merit Award, M.D. Anderson Achievement in Research Award, ASCO Young Investigator Award, ASCO Career Development Award, NIH Clinician Scientist K12 Award, and Head and Neck SPORE Career Development Award. Tsao also serves on the Southwest Oncology Steering Committee and is a member of the Scientific Board of the American Radium Society.