Amanda Schwer, M.D.

Radiation oncologist Amanda Schwer, M.D. knew she wanted to be a cancer doctor for as long as she can remember, inspired by the doctors who cured a sibling who faced aggressive disease in early childhood. Her treatment approach is very much in line with City of Hope’s tradition of compassion: Quite simply, the patient always comes first. As a third-generation Orange County native, Dr. Schwer is proud to play a part in bringing extraordinary cancer care to the community that is so close to her heart.

Dr. Schwer earned her medical degree from the Ohio State University College of Medicine. Her postgraduate training was comprised of a preliminary medicine internship at The Ohio State University  and a radiation oncology residency at the University of Colorado Denver, where she served as chief resident. At her previous institution, Hoag Memorial Hospital, she cultivated extensive experience in stereotactic radiation, a method to deliver high doses of radiation precisely to a tumor while sparing healthy tissue.

Outside of her work, Dr. Schwer enjoys surfing, skiing, and boating as well as spending time with her spouse and three young kids.

Memberships

• 2009-Present, The Radiosurgery Society
• 2006-Present, American Brachytherapy Society
• 2005-Present, American College of Radiology
• 2005-Present, American Society of Clinical Oncology
• 2005-Present, American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology
• 2000-Present, American Medical Association

Published Manuscripts

• Rabinovitch, R and Schwer, A. MammoSite brachytherapy –evolution and current status. Breast Cancer Online, October 2005.
• Schwer, A. and Gaspar, L. Update in the treatment of brain metastases from lung cancer. Clinical Lung Cancer 8(3):180-186, 2006.
• Schwer, A; Damek, D; Kavanagh, B; Gaspar, L; Lillehei, K; Stuhr, K; Chen, C. A phase I dose escalation study of hypofractionated stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) in combination with gefitinib (ZD1839, IRESSA®) in patients with recurrent malignant gliomas. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 70(4): 993-1001, 2008.
• Ballonoff, A; Rusthoven, K; Schwer, A; McCammon, R; Kavanagh, B; Bassetti, M; Newman, F; Rabinovitch, R. Outcomes and effect of radiotherapy in patients with stage I or II diffuse large b-cell lymphoma: a surveillance, epidemiology and end results (SEER) analysis. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 72(5): 1465-1471, 2008.
• McCammon, R; Schwer, A; Finlayson, C; Rabinovitch R. Survival impact of postmastectomy radiotherapy in T3N0 invasive ductal or lobular carcinoma of the breast: a Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database analysis. Cancer 113(4): 683-689, 2008.
• Schwer, A; Ballonoff, A; McCammon, R; Rusthoven, K; Schefter, T. Survival impact of neoadjuvant radiotherapy prior to esophagectomy for patients with esophageal cancer: a surveillance, epidemiology, and end-results (SEER) analysis. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 73(2): 449-455, 2009.
• Schwer, A; Kavanagh, B; McCammon, R; Gaspar, L; DeMasters, B; Stuhr, K; Chen, C. Radiographic and histopathologic observations after combined EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibition and hypofractionated stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) in patients with recurrent malignant gliomas. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 73(5): 1352-1357, 2009.
• Sperduto, P; Chao, S; Sneed, P; Luo, X; Suh, J; Roberge, D; Bhatt, A; Jensen, A; Brown, P; Shih, H; Kirkpatrick, J; Schwer, A; Gaspar, L; Fiveash, J; Chiang, V; Knisely, J; Sperduto, C; Mehta, M. Diagnosis-specific prognostic factors, indices and treatment outcomes for patients with new and recurrent brain metastases: a multi institutional analysis of 4259 patients. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 77(3): 655-661, 2010.
• Haider, Y; Bhatt, J; Ghavami, Y; Moshtaghi, O; Schwer, A; Chenery, S; Djalilian; H. Dosimetric analysis of neural and vascular structures in skull base tumors treated with stereotactic radiosurgery. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 156(5):857-862, 2017.
• Salgia, R; Mambetsariev, I; Tan, T; Schwer, A; Pearlstein, D; Chehabi, H; Baroz, A; Fricke, J; Pharaon, R; Romo, H; Waddington, T; Babikian, R; Buck, L; Kulkarni, P; Djulbegovic, B; Pal, S. Complex oncological decision-making utilizing fast-and-frugal trees in a community setting—role of academic and hybrid modeling. J Clin Med 9(6):1884, 2020.
• Liu, J; Ladbury, C; Waddington, T; Erhunmwunsee, L, Raz, D; Kim, J; Salgia, R; Schwer, A; Amini, A. Improved survival outcomes in medically fit patients with early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer undergoing stereotactic body radiation therapy. (Clin Lung Cancer. 2021 Sep;22(5):e678-e683. doi: 10.1016/j.cllc.2021.01.003. Epub 2021 Jan 19).

National Presentations/Published Abstracts

• Schwer, A. “Pancoast tumors”. The 4th Annual Rocky Mountain Region Thoracic Oncology Symposium, Denver, CO. Oral case presentation September 2006.
• Schwer, A; Borges, V; Ding, M and Kavanagh, B. The Norton-Simon hypothesis applied to murine and human tumor growth: implications for patient selection in stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). ASTRO poster presentation October 2006. (Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 66(3); S597, 2006.)
• Schwer, A; McCammon, R; Kavanagh, B; Gaspar, L; Damek, D; Chen, C. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) T1 and T2 volumetric changes and their implications after hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy (SRS) in Patients with Recurrent Malignant Gliomas. ASTRO poster discussion November 2007. (Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 69(3); S167, 2007.)
• Ballonoff, A; McCammon, R; Schwer, A; Rusthoven, K; Rabinovitch, R. Improved survival in patients with stage I or II diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with radiotherapy: a surveillance, epidemiology and end results (SEER) analysis. ASTRO oral presentation November 2007. (Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 69(3); S15-16, 2007.)
• Sperduto, P; Sneed, P; Bhatt, A; Schwer, A; Fiveash, J; Knisely, J; Zhu, Y; Sperduto, M; Gaspar L; Mehta, M. A multi-institutional validation study of a new prognostic index (Graded Prognostic Assessment) for patients with brain metastases. ASTRO oral presentation September 2008. (Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 72(1); S51, 2008.)
• Altoos, T; Schwer, A; Modiano, J; Varella-Garcia, M; Iczkowski, KA; Franklin, W; Skokan, M; Helm, K; Sage-el, A; Schefter, TE. Temporal changes in PET SUV, tissue EGFR and CEC in neoadjuvant CRT for esophageal cancer. ASCO GI symposium poster presentation, January 2009.
• Sperduto, P; Chao, S; Sneed, P; Luo, X; Roberge, D; Bhatt, A; Jensen, A; Shih, H; Kirkpatrick, J; Schwer, A; Gaspar, L; Fiveash, J; Chiang, V; Knisely, J; Sperduto, C; Mehta, M. Diagnosis-specific prognostic factors, indices and treatment outcomes for patients with new and recurrent brain metastases: a multi-institutional analysis of over 5000 patients. ASTRO poster presentation, November 2009 (Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 75(3); S225, 2009.)
• Sperduto, P; Xu, Z; Sneed, P; Luo, X; Roberge, A; Bhatt, A; Jensen, A; Shih, J; Kirkpatrick, J; Schwer, A; Gaspar, L. A graded prognostic assessment (GPA) for women with breast cancer and brain metastases. ASCO Annual Meeting Oral Presentation, June 2010 (J Clin Oncol 28(15s); 1028, 2010.)

Local/Regional/ Invited Presentations

• Keynote speaker at dozens of hospital grand rounds presentations, resident lecture series, patient support group lectures, nursing CME lectures, etc. (list available upon request)

Book Chapters

• Raben D, Schwer A, VanHoutte P. In: Pass HI, ed. Lung cancer: principles and practice, 4th ed. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins, 2010.