- Benign tumor
- Head and neck cancer
- Skin cancer
- Brachytherapy
- Proton therapy
- Radiation therapy
I am an Assistant Professor and Site Chief of Head and Neck Cancer in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania. I treat head and neck and skin cancer patients. I work in a multi-disciplinary setting collaborating with head and neck surgeons, Mohs surgeons, and medical oncologists to care for a complex patient population.
My research interests include de-intensification trials for favorable risk HPV+ oropharyngeal SCC patients, and in this capacity I served as the Principal Investigator of a clinical trial enrolling 150 HPV+ OPSCC patients decreasing both radiation dose and volumes, and correlating outcomes with circulating HPV DNA.
Another research interest is the integration of immunotherapy into the treatment of metastatic melanoma patients, investigating the use of high dose radiation to salvage responses to melanoma patients not responding to immunotherapy, and correlating with expansion of the T cell receptor repertoire. I now serve as a co-project-leader of a randomized clinical trial investigating dual checkpoint therapy (Ipi/Nivo) +/- hypofractionated RT for patient with metastatic melanoma.
Publications
Icht O, Sun A, Wong P, McPartlin A, Muniz TP, Spreafico A, Saibil SD, Lukens JN, Karam SD, De Almeida J, Butler MO, Tsai CJ Consolidative use of radiotherapy to block oligoprogression in patients with metastatic melanoma on Systemic Therapy (CURB-Melanoma) - a single arm, phase 2 clinical trial , Front Oncol., 6(16): 2026
Chang A, Jacoby D, Lin A, Lukens JN, Deng J, Banas S, Zheng J Lymphedema therapy in head & neck cancer with carotid stenosis: a systematic review and care pathway. , Oral Oncol., 180: 2026
Kassamali B, Schoenfeld JD, Sethi R, Bakst RL, Barker CA, Bhatt AA, Bradford CR, Bunch PM, Carr DR, Carucci JA, Chandra S, Chen M, Connolly KL, Demer AM, Doonan B, Emerick K, Friedman BJ, Gali LL, Galloway TJ, Geiger JL, Guenette JP, Kelly HR, Khushalani NI, Kohen L, Koyfman S, Kumar SS, Learned KO, Leitenberger JJ, Lilley EJ, Lukens JN, Medina T, Mitra D, Ozog D, Pashtan I, Patel VA, Pham N, Powers MC, Srivastava D, Swiecicki PL, Taylor CS, Witek ME, Wysong A, Zander D, Silk AW, Jambusaria-Pahlajani A, Ruiz ES Consensus Guidelines for Staging and Surveillance Imaging in Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma , JAMA Dermatol.: 2026
Lin SK, Deitermann AM, Hunter ER, Wang SY, Valdes Morales KL, Lubeck M, Miller CJ, Etzkorn JR, Sobanko JF, Higgins HW 2nd, Walker JL, Zhang J, Cannady SB, Rajasekaran K, Brody RM, Kovach SJ 3rd, Chang B, Lin IC, Fischer JP, Lukens JN, Cohen JV, Mitchell TC, Amaravadi RK, Mehta S, Briceño CA, McMurray SL Mohs-facilitated excision: A case series of a multidisciplinary approach to reduce local recurrence of advanced keratinocyte carcinomas , J Am Acad Dermatol. : 2026
Lukens JN, Riina MD, Weinstein G, MacDuffie E, Ramkissoon A, Baron J, Berger M, Messing I, Gentile M, Maxwell R, Ojerholm E, Swisher-McClure S, Santos AG, Porier K, Basu D, Brody R, Cannady S, Carey R, Chalian A, Newman J, Rajasekaran K, Rassekh C, Shanti R, Cohen RB, Singh A, Sun L, Montone K, Lin A Long-Term Results of a Phase 2 Clinical Trial of Radiation Volume and Dose Deintensification Following Transoral Robotic Surgery and Neck Dissection for Human Papillomavirus-Associated Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma , Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys.: 2026
Messing I, Linkowski L, Riina MD, Berger M, Baron J, Wang X, Kallan M, Hubbeling HG, Lustig RA, Dorsey JF, Kurtz G, Nagda S, Lukens JN, Flowers A, Lee JYK, Amankulor NM, Jackson C, Mohan S, Amaravadi RK, Schuchter LM, Huang AC, Mitchell TC, Alonso-Basanta M, Lebow ES Outcomes after SRS and ipilimumab plus nivolumab for melanoma brain metastases following prior immune checkpoint inhibitor or targeted therapy , Oncologist: 2026
Cahn BA, Zhang R, Sidwell AM, Adam CM, Tiv J, Murrar R, Koh J, Griffin T, Nadir U, Yi MD, Ahmed A, Ma M, Koza E, Haq M, Shi V, Bale AE, Lewin JM, Christensen SR, Waldman A, Harmon CB, Alt-Holland A, Arkin LM, Morrison JC, Bogart K, Gregory MD, Lohman ME, Rossi A, Marghoob AA, Goldberg L, Jiang SB, Giordano CN, Choi JN, Teng JMC, Mittal BB, Vidimos AT, Leffell DJ, Xu YG, Haber R, Storrs PA, Tsoukas M, Samie FH, Bickers DR, Nehal KS, Mosterd K, Billingsley EM, Epstein EH Jr, Elston D; Gorlin Syndrome Work Group; Alam M Clinical practice guidelines for the management of basal cell carcinoma in Gorlin syndrome , J Am Acad Dermatol.: 2026
Frank SJ, Busse PM, Lee JJ, Rosenthal DI, Hernandez M, Swanson DM, Garden AS, Gunn GB, Patel SH, Snider JW, Ma DJ, Molitoris JK, Lee NY, Parvathaneni U, McDonald MW, Kalman NS, Lin A, Mohammed N, Henson C, Hyde C, Bajaj GK, Katz SR, Dagan R, Morrison WH, Reddy JP, Fuller CD, Shah SJ, Phan J, Chronowski GM, Mayo L, Sturgis EM, Ferrarotto R, Zhu XR, Zhang X, Wang L, Hutcheson KA, El-Naggar AK, Moreno AC, Lee A, Spiotto MT, Gross ND, Lai SY, Liao JJ, Paly J, Liao Z, Foote RL Proton versus photon radiotherapy for patients with oropharyngeal cancer in the USA: a multicentre, randomised, open-label, non-inferiority phase 3 trial , Lancet: 2026
Deng J, Lukens JN, Murphy BA, McMenamin E, Rajasekaran K, Quinn RJ, Cohn JC, Schlessinger W, Andersen LP, Spinelli BA, Lin A Photobiomodulation in Treatment of Head and Neck Cancer-Related Chronic Lymphedema: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial , Integr Cancer Ther.: 2026
Trifoi MD, Morales KV, Frankel D, Lin SK, Deitermann AM, Haynes D, Lubeck M, Etzkorn JR, Sobanko JF, Giordano CN, Walker JL, Zhang J, Lewis DJ, Higgins HW 2nd, Miura JT, Karakousis GC, Rajasekaran K, Cannady SB, Brody RM, Mitchell TC, Amaravadi RK, Lukens JN, Miller CJ. Compliance with guidelines and timeliness of sentinel lymph node biopsy for Merkel cell carcinoma treated with Mohs micrographic surgery versus conventional excision at a tertiary academic center. , J Am Acad Dermatol.: 2025