Quick Facts
  • wavy circle icon with check mark inside
    Expertise:
    Robotic Surgery
    Lung Transplantation
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    Speciality:
    Thoracic Surgery
  • gender symbols interlocked icon
    Gender:
    Male
  • chat box with different language translations icon
    Language:
    English
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    Primary Location:
    Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins Bayview

Dr. Stephen C. Yang is a respected thoracic surgeon who specializes in caring for patients with a rare form of cancer – malignant mesothelioma.

Yang received a B.A. in Chemistry from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, in 1980, and his medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia in 1984. He completed a surgical residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center, in Houston; a thoracic surgery research fellowship at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; and a cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at the Medical College of Virginia. Yang is certified through the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.

Contact Dr. Stephen C. Yang

Dr. Yang’s Clinical Interests

  • Surgery, early diagnosis and detection of lung cancer, mesothelioma and other lung diseases like fibrosis and emphysema
  • Diagnosis and surgical treatment of mediastinal masses
  • Surgery, diagnosis, detection and neoadjuvant therapy (a preoperative multi-modal treatment combining chemo and radiation therapy) for esophageal cancer
  • CT scanning for tobacco-related diseases
  • Lung transplantation
  • Video-assisted thoracic surgery and thoracoscopy for lung, mediastinal and pleural diseases
  • Robotic assisted thoracic surgery
  • Lung volume reduction surgery for emphysema

Yang’s research interests are in the areas of development of molecular markers for the early diagnosis of lung cancer following surgical resection; the detection of telomerase activity as a guide for the presence of lung cancer; and the molecular biology of mesothelioma.

Author and Editor

Yang is editor of “Practical Reviews in Chest Medicine” and guest editor/reviewer for numerous peer-review journals. He is:

  • Co-editor of the book “Current Therapy in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery”
  • Editor of the esophageal surgical section in the 2nd edition of the “Atlas of Gastrointestinal Surgery”
  • Series editor-in-chief of “The Early Diagnosis of Cancer”

Yang published or co-authored many scholarly articles including: “DNA Methylation Markers and Early Recurrence in Stage I Lung Cancer,” in The New England Journal of Medicine and “p53 Mutations and Survival in Stage I Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: Results of a Prospective Study,” published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

In 2001, Yang and his lung transplant team were featured in the ABC Television series “24/7.” He has also appeared on the Discovery Channel and the British Broadcasting Corporation, displaying his work in preparing an esophageal cancer patient for surgery.

Yang is involved in the education of doctors and surgeons. In 2004, he became the Director of Medical Student Surgical Education at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Currently, he serves on the school’s Postgraduate Affairs, Medical School Admissions, Educational Policy, and Curriculum Reform Committees, and is the Taskforce Chair on the “Looking to the Future Residency Scholarships” for the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

Dr. Yan’s Publications

https://www.wakehealth.edu/Providers/L/Edward-A-Levine