The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has selected leading surgeon and researcher Jack A. Roth, MD, FCCP, as the 2015 Honorary Member, the highest honor ASTRO bestows on distinguished cancer researchers, scientists, and leaders in disciplines other than radiation oncology, radiobiology, or radiation physics. Dr. Roth will be inducted as the 2015 ASTRO Honorary Member during the Awards Ceremony in October, at ASTRO’s 57th Annual Meeting, in San Antonio.
Dr. Jack A. Roth
Dr. Roth is professor, Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Division of Surgery, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, and chief, Section of Thoracic Molecular Oncology, Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Division of Surgery, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston.
He cited his and colleagues’ study “Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy versus lobectomy for operable stage I non-small-cell lung cancer: a pooled analysis of two randomized trials,” published in Lancet Oncology in May 2015, as his most recent career highlight. Dr. Roth was an early innovator in the development of gene therapy for cancer, and led the first tumor suppressor gene therapy clinical trials approved by the National Institutes of Health Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. His work was the first gene therapy in cancer approved for human use.