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

Aggarwal C, Thompson JC, Chien AL, Quinn KJ, Hwang WT, Black TA, Yee SS, Christensen T, LaRiviere MJ, Silva BA, Banks KC, Nagy RJ, Helman E, Berman AT, Ciunci CA, Singh AP, Wasser JS, Bauml JM, Langer CJ, Cohen RB, Carpenter EL: Baseline plasma tumor mutation burden predicts response to pembrolizumab-based therapy in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. Clinical Cancer Research : doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-19-3663,2020.

Jabbour SK, Berman AT, Decker RH, Lin Y, Feigenberg SJ, Gettinger SN, Aggarwal C, Langer CJ, Simone CB 2nd, Bradley JD, Aisner J, Malhotra J: Phase 1 Trial of Pembrolizumab Administered Concurrently With Chemoradiotherapy for Locally Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Nonrandomized Controlled Trial JAMA Oncology : doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2019.6731,2020.

Aggarwal C, Cohen RB, Morrow MP, Kraynyak KA, Sylvester AJ, Cheung J, Dickerson K, Schulten V, Knoblock D, Gillespie E, Bauml JM, Yan J, Diehl M, Boyer J, Dallas M, Kim JJ, Weiner DB, Skolnik JM: Immune Therapy Targeting E6/E7 Oncogenes of Human Paillomavirus Type 6 (HPV-6) Reduces or Eliminates the Need for Surgical Intervention in the Treatment of HPV-6 Associated Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis Vaccines (Basel) : 2020.

Aggarwal C, Langer CJ: Systemic therapy for elderly patients with non–small cell lung cancer: Where do we stand in 2019? Cancer : 2020.

Swisher-McClure S, Lukens JN, Aggarwal C, Ahn P, Basu D, Bauml JM, Brody R, Chalian A, Cohen RB, Fotouhi-Ghiam A, Geiger G, Gershowitz J, Livolsi V, Mitra N, Montone K, Newman J, Ojerholm E, O'Malley B Jr, Rajasekaran K, Tan E, Weinstein G, Lin A: A Phase II Trial of Alternative Volumes of Oropharyngeal Irradiation for De-intensification (AVOID): Omission of the Resected Primary Tumor Bed Following Transoral Robotic Surgery for Human Papilloma Virus Related Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Oropharynx Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys : pii: S0360-3016(19)34057-X,2019.

Gershowitz J, Chao HH, Doucette A, Lukens JN, Swisher-McClure S, Weinstein GS, O'Malley BW Jr, Chalian AA, Rassekh CH, Newman JG, Cohen RB, Bauml JM, Aggarwal C, Lin A: Risk of post-operative, pre-radiotherapy contralateral neck recurrence in patients treated with surgery followed by adjuvant radiotherapy for human papilloma virus-associated tonsil cancer Br J Radiol doi: 10.1259/bjr.20190466 : 2019.

Grewal AS, Min EJ, Long Q, Grewal SK, Jain V, Levin WP, Cengel KA, Swisher-McClure S, Aggarwal C, Bauml JM, Singh A, Ciunci C, Cohen RB, Langer C, Feigenberg SJ, Berman AT: Early Tumor and Nodal Response in Patients with Locally-advanced NSCLC Predict for Oncologic Outcomes in Patients Treated with Concurrent Proton Therapy and Chemotherapy: Tumor Regression Predicts Outcomes in LA-NSCLC Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys : pii: S0360-3016(19)33901-X,,2019.

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, Aggarwal C, Cohen RB: Immunotherapy for head and neck cancer: where are we now and where are we going? Annals of Translational Medicine : (Suppl 3):S75. doi: 10.21037/atm.2019.03.58,2019.

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