Dr. Thierry M. Jahan

Bio

Thierry Jahan, M.D., is an associate professor and lung cancer specialist at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. Jahan's practice is not limited to lung cancer patients, as he also treats patients with mesothelioma, sarcomas and endocrine tumors.

Jahan, who also serves as the endowed chair in Thoracic Oncology at the University of California, San Francisco Comprehensive Cancer Center, often recommends that his patients obtain several forms of treatment, known as a multimodality approach. This blend of several treatments helps to ensure that all cancerous cells are killed, giving the patient the best possible chance for recovery.

Palliative care is another significant focus of Jahan's practice. When patients are determined to be ineligible for curative treatment, palliative therapies can help improve their quality of life and reduce symptoms, even when surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy cannot fully remove their tumors. Jahan's commitment to providing this comforting care earned him the 1st Annual Friend of the Palliative Care Service Award in 2006.

Most of Jahan's research has centered on these two aspects of treatment. He has contributed to a number of papers and scientific articles including a 1998 article discussing trimodality therapy for mesothelioma. In the same year, he also contributed to an abstract that focused on surgery and radiation therapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma patients.

Jahan also was a primary investigator for a 2006 clinical trial that explored the chemotherapeutic drug Vatalanib for malignant mesothelioma patients. The study yielded an average survival rate of 10 months, which is consistent with most other single-agent drug studies.  Many studies have shown that combining two or more types of therapy may further increase this survival rate for mesothelioma patients.

A hands-on residency and fellowship at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles gave Jahan the medical experience he now uses in his own practice. He initially joined the team at the University of California's Division of Hematology and Oncology as a clinical fellow and worked his way up to his current positions.

Publications

In 2002, Jahan published his only article discussing mesothelioma. The article, "Radical pleurectomy/decortication and intraoperative radiotherapy followed by conformal radiation with or without chemotherapy for malignant pleural mesothelioma," appeared in the Journal of Thoracic Cardiovascular Surgery.