Description of Research Expertise:
Dr. Aggarwal is the Leslye Heisler Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Hematology-Oncology Division at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. She is an active member of the Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) where she serves as Physician Leader for the clinical research program for Airways Malignancies.
Dr. Aggarwal specializes in the management of patients with lung and head and neck cancer, with a specific and clinical research focus on the development of novel immunotherapeutic approaches, and the discovery and application of biomarkers to guide therapy and monitor treatment. She serves as the local and national principle investigator for multiple clinical trials focusing on the development of “targeted” immunotherapeutic approaches including cellular therapy and CAR-T for solid tumors. Dr. Aggarwal has led the development of a DNA plasmid based HPV specific immunotherapy for HPV associated head and neck cancers. She is actively involved in evaluating the role of plasma-based NGS in management of patients with metastatic lung cancer.
She has extensive experience in the planning, design and execution of clinical trials, is an active member of ECOG, and has served as a national sub-study chair for SWOG-NCI’s LUNG-MAP. She has served on the Annual Meeting Scientific Program Committee of American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), ASCO Education Committee, NCI- Head and Neck Metastatic Task Force Steering Committee and ACC’s Data Safety and Monitoring Committee. Dr. Aggarwal’s ultimate goal as a clinical and translational investigator is to perform patient-centered, scientifically relevant novel immunotherapy clinical trials that will make a tangible impact and advance our understanding of immunotherapy in patients with Lung and Head and Neck Cancer.
Selected Publications:
Balata H, Fong KM, Hendriks LE, Lam S, Ostroff JS, Peled N, Wu N, Aggarwal C: Prevention and Early Detection for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Advances in Thoracic Oncology 2018 J Thorac Oncol 14 (9): 1513-1527,2019.
Chao HH, Schonewolf CA, Tan EX, Swisher-McClure S, Ghiam AF, Weinstein GS, O'Malley BW Jr, Chalian AA, Rassekh CH, Newman JG, Cohen RB, Bauml JM, Aggarwal C, Lin A, Lukens JN: The impact of treatment package time on locoregional control for HPV+ oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma treated with surgery and postoperative (chemo)radiation Head Neck : 2019.
Bauml JM, Mick R, Ciunci C, Aggarwal C, Davis C, Evans T, Deshpande C, Miller L, Patel P, Alley E, Knepley C, Mutale F, Cohen RB, Langer CJ.: Pembrolizumab After Completion of Locally Ablative Therapy for Oligometastatic Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Phase 2 Trial. JAMA Oncol : 2019.
Beck TN, Boumber YA, Aggarwal C, Pei J, Thrash-Bingham C, Fittipaldi P, Vlasenkova R, Rao C, Borghaei H, Cristofanilli M, Mehra R, Serebriiskii I, Alpaugh RK.: Circulating tumor cell and cell-free RNA capture and expression analysis identify platelet-associated genes in metastatic lung cancer. BMC Cancer 19 (1): 603,2019.
Aggarwal C, Redman MW, Lara PN Jr, Borghaei H, Hoffman P, Bradley JD, Newman AJ 3rd, Feldman MJ, Minichiello K, Miao J, Mack PC, Papadimitrakopoulou VA, Herbst RS, Kelly K, Gandara DR.: Brief Report: SWOG S1400D (NCT02965378), a Phase II Study of the Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor Inhibitor AZD4547 in Previously-treated Patients with Fibroblast Growth Factor Pathway-Activated Stage IV Squamous Cell Lung Cancer (Lung-MAP Sub-Study). J Thorac Oncol. S1556-0864 (19): 30462-9,2019.
Garon EB, Hellmann MD, Rizvi NA, Carcereny E, Leighl NB, Ahn MJ, Eder JP, Balmanoukian AS, Aggarwal C, Horn L, Patnaik A, Gubens M, Ramalingam SS, Felip E, Goldman JW, Scalzo C, Jensen E, Kush DA, Hui R.: Five-Year Overall Survival for Patients With Advanced Non Small-Cell Lung Cancer Treated With Pembrolizumab: Results From the Phase I KEYNOTE-001 Study. J Clin Oncol. : 2019.
Langer CJ, Redman MW, Wade JL 3rd, Aggarwal C, Bradley JD, Crawford J, Stella PJ, Knapp MH, Miao J, Minichiello K, Herbst RS, Kelly K, Gandara DR, Papadimitrakopoulou VA: Brief Report: SWOG S1400B (NCT02785913), A Phase II Study of GDC-0032 (Taselisib) for Previously Treated PI3K-Positive Patients with Stage IV Squamous Cell Lung Cancer (Lung-MAP Sub-Study). J Thorac Oncol. S1556-0864 (19): 30414-9,2019.
Bauml JM, Vinnakota R, Anna Park YH, Bates SE, Fojo T, Aggarwal C, Limaye S, Damjanov N, Di Stefano J, Ciunci C, Genden EM, Wisnivesky JP, Ferrandino R, Mamtani R, Langer CJ, Cohen RB, Sigel K.: Cisplatin Every 3 Weeks Versus Weekly With Definitive Concurrent Radiotherapy for Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck. J Natl Cancer Inst. 111 (5): 490-97,2019.
Bange E, Marmarelis ME, Hwang WT, Yang YX, Thompson JC, Rosenbaum J, Bauml JM, Ciunci C, Alley EW, Cohen RB, Langer CJ, Carpenter EL and Aggarwal C: Impact of KRAS and TP53 Co-Mutations on Outcomes After First-Line Systemic Therapy Among Patients With STK11-Mutated Advanced Non–Small-Cell Lung Cancer JCO Precis Oncol : 2019.
Leighl NB, Hellmann MD, Hui R, Carcereny E, Felip E, Ahn MJ, Eder JP, Balmanoukian AS, Aggarwal C, Horn L, Patnaik A, Gubens M, Ramalingam SS, Lubiniecki GM, Zhang J, Piperdi B, Garon EB: Pembrolizumab in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer(KEYNOTE-001): 3-year results from an open-label, phase 1 study. Lancet Respir Med
7 (4): 347-57,2019.