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

Nimgaonkar V, Aggarwal C, Berman AT, Gabriel P, Shulman LN, Kucharczuk J, Roy M, Bauml JM, Singh AP, Cohen RB, Langer CJ, Marmarelis ME: Impact of telemedicine adoption on accessibility and time to treatment in patients with thoracic malignancies during the COVID-19 pandemic BMC Cancer 21 ((1):1094): 2021.

Till JE, Black TA, Gentile C, Abdalla A, Wang Z, Sangha HK, Roth JJ, Sussman R, Yee SS, O'Hara MH, Thompson JC, Aggarwal C, Hwang WT, Elenitoba-Johnson KSJ, Carpenter EL: Optimization of Sources of Circulating Cell-Free DNA Variability for Downstream Molecular Analysis Journal of Molecular Diagnostics 21 : S1525-1578(21)00263-4.,2021.

Gray J, Thompson JC, Carpenter EL, Elkhouly E, Aggarwal C: Plasma cell-free DNA genotyping-from an emerging concept to a standard-of-care tool in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer Oncologist : doi: 10.1002/onco.13889,2021.

Trivedi S, Sun L, Aggarwal C: Immunotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer. Hematol Oncol Clin North Am : doi: 10.1016/j.hoc.2021.05.010,2021.

Rolfo C, Mack P, Scagliotti GV, Aggarwal C, Arcila ME, Barlesi F, Bivona T, Diehn M, Dive C, Dziadziuszko R, Leighl N, Malapelle U, Mok T, Peled N, Raez LE, Sequist L, Sholl L, Swanton C, Abbosh C, Tan D, Wakelee H, Wistuba I, Bunn R, Freeman-Daily J, Wynes M, Belani C, Mitsudomi T, Gandara D: Liquid Biopsy for Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Consensus Statement from The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) Journal of Thoracic Oncology : doi: 10.1016/j.jtho.2021.06.017,2021.

Sun L, Shimunov D, Tan EX, Swisher-Mcclure S, Lin A, Lukens JN, Basu D, Chalian AA, Cannady SB, Newman JG, Rajasekaran K, O'Malley BW Jr, Rassekh CH, Weinstein GS, Loevner LA, Aggarwal C, Singh A, Cohen RB, Bauml JM, Brody RM: Survival and toxicity in patients with human papilloma virus-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer receiving trimodality therapy including transoral robotic surgery Head Neck. : doi: 10.1002/hed.26797,2021.

Yousefi B, LaRiviere MJ, Cohen EA, Buckingham TH, Yee SS, Black TA, Chien AL, Noël P, Hwang WT, Katz SI, Aggarwal C, Thompson JC, Carpenter EL, Kontos D: Combining radiomic phenotypes of non-small cell lung cancer with liquid biopsy data may improve prediction of response to EGFR inhibitors. Sci Rep. 2021 May 11;11(1):9984. Scientific Reports : doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-88239-y. ,2021.

Yver CM, Shimunov D, Weinstein GS, Rajasekaran K, Cannady SB, Lukens JN, Lin A, Swisher-McClure S, Cohen RB, Aggarwal C, Bauml JM, Loevner LA, Newman JG, Chalian AA, Rassekh CH, Basu D, O'Malley BW Jr, Brody RM: Oncologic and survival outcomes for resectable locally-advanced HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer treated with transoral robotic surgery Oral Oncology : 118:105307,2021.

Sun L, Tan M, Cohen RB, Langer CJ, Mamtani R, Aggarwal C: Association Between KRAS Variant Status and Outcomes With First-line Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor-Based Therapy in Patients With Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer. JAMA Oncology : doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2021.0546,2021.

Lee SH, Kao GD, Feigenberg SJ, Dorsey JF, Frick MA, Jean-Baptiste S, Uche CZ, Cengel KA, Levin WP, Berman AT, Aggarwal C, Fan Y, Xiao Y: Multi-block Discriminant Analysis of Integrative 18 F-FDG-PET/CT Radiomics for Predicting Circulating Tumor Cells in Early Stage Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Treated with Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 21 (1:S0360-3016(21)00208-X): 2021.

Academic Contact Information

Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine
10-137, South Pavilion
3400 Civic Center Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Phone: 215-662-6318
Patient appointments: 800-789-7366