Specializing in colorectal cancer, Dr. Lai makes a point of learning as much as possible about each patient's lifestyle and needs to ensure the best possible outcome.

“It’s a different discussion with every individual patient. I come up with a different answer depending on my interaction with them. And I think getting better at cancer care is being able to tell where a patient is in their life, what they value, what they need to do.”

Currently, Dr. Lai is a colorectal surgeon and associate professor in the Division of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, at City of Hope.

Location

Duarte - Main Campus

1500 East Duarte Road
Duarte, CA 91010

(626) 256-4673

Education & Experience

Board Certifications

1998, Fluoroscopy: California
1994, Medical: California
1999, Dilpomate: American Board of Surgery
1998, Qualifying Examination: American Board of Surgery

Degrees

1989-1993, M.D., University of California San Diego School of Medicine
1983-1987, A.B. cum laude in East Asian Languages and Civilizations with specialization in Chinese art history, Harvard University

Fellowship

1998 2001, Surgical Oncology Fellowship, City of Hope, Duarte, CA

Residency

1997-1998, Chief Resident, General Surgery, UCSD Medical Center, San Diego, CA
1994-1997, Resident, General Surgery, UCSD Medical Center, San Diego, CA

Internship

1993-1994, Intern, Categorical Surgery, UCSD Medical Center, San Diego, CA

Professional Experience

2014-2016, Associate Cancer Center Director, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA
2001-present, Associate Professor and Surgical Oncologist, Division of Colorectal Surgery, Department of Surgery, City of Hope, Duarte, CA
2001-2006, NIH K-12 Fellow, City of Hope, Duarte, CA

Research

Lab Members

Clinical Trials

NRG Oncology NSAPB B-51/RTOG 1304: A Randomized Phase III Clinical Trial Evaluating Post-Mastectomy Chestwall and Regional Nodal XRT and Post-Lumpectomy Regional Nodal XRT in Patients with Positive Axillary Nodes Before Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Who Convert to Pathologically Negative Axillary Nodes After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy
Evaluation of Colon/Rectal Cancer Patterns and Outcomes of Care
Novel Imaging Devices for Use in the Anal Canal
Improving access to comprehensive axillary lymphedema education, prevention and management for patients with breast cancer through telehealth

Publications

Lin L, Tong X, Hu P, Invernizzi M, Lai LL, Wang LV. Photoacoustic Computed Tomography of Breast Cancer in Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy. Adv. Sci. 2021, 2003396. https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202003396 IF 15.8
Lin L, Tong X, Hu P, Invernizzi M, Lai LL, Wong L. Clinical photoacoustic computed tomography of breast cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy; SPIE (2021) Proceedings Volume 11642; online only IF 0.6
Chatani P, Dominguez D, Aversa J, Davis J, Hernandez J, Lai LL, Blakely AM. Local excision and chemoradiation for clinical node-negative anal adenocarcinoma,Surgical Oncology, Volume 37, 2021, 101551, ISSN 0960-7404, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.suronc.2021.101551. IF 3.2
Ashing KT, Yeung S, Lai LL, et al. A preliminary prospective study of health-related quality of life among Chinese-American breast cancer survivors. Support Care Cancer (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-021-06181-1 IF 2.7
Kothari R, Jones V, Mena D, Bermúdez Reyes V, Shon Y, Smith JP, Schmolze D, Cha PD, Lai LL, Fong Y. Storrie-Lombardi MC. Raman spectroscopy and artificial intelligence to predict the Bayesian probability of breast cancer. Sci Rep. 2021 Mar 22;11(1):6482. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-85758-6. IF 4.0
Lai LL, Player H, Hite S, Satyananda V, Stacey J, Sun V, Jones V, Hayter J. Feasibility of Remote Occupational Therapy Services via Telemedicine in a Breast Cancer Recovery Program. Am J Occup Ther. 2021 Mar-Apr;75(2):7502205030p1-7502205030p9. doi: 10.5014/ajot.2021.042119. IF 2.9
Lai LL, Invernizzi M, White M, et al. Feasibility and safety study of a high-resolution wide field-of-view scanning endoscope for intraluminal intestinal imaging in patients at risk for anal cancer. Scientific Reports, 2021. IF 4.0
Khan A, Ituarte PHG, Raoof M, Melstrom L, Li H, Yuan YC, Lai L, Paz B, Goel A, FongY, Woo Y. Disparate and Alarming Impact of Gastrointestinal Cancers in Young Adult Patients. Annals of Surgical Oncology. https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-020-08969-7. 2021. IF 4.2
Le VH, Thornblade L, Ituarte PHG, Lai L, Melstrom KA. Metachronous peritoneal metastases following curative resection for colon cancer: Understanding risk factors and patterns of recurrence. J Surg Oncol. 2021;123:622–629. https://doi.org/10.1002/jso.26322 IF 2.8
Lai L, Blakely A, Invernizzi M, Lin J, Kidambi T, Melstrom KA, Yu K, Lu T. "Separation of color channels from conventional colonoscopy images improves deep neural network detection of polyps," J. Biomed. Opt. 26(1), 015001 (2021), doi: 10.1117/1.JBO.26.1.015001. IF 2.8
Hill MV, Ross EA, Crawford D, Lai L, Turaga K, Grubbs EG, Mullen J, Dineen S, D'Angelica M, Reddy S, Farma JM. Program and candidate experience with virtual interviews for the 2020 Complex General Surgical Oncology interview season during the COVID pandemic. Am J Surg. 2020 Nov 9:S0002-9610(20)30730-3. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2020.11.007. IF 2.1
Blakely AM, Chanson D, Wong L, Sentovich SM, Melstrom KA, Lai L, Fong Y, Sun V. Health-Related Quality of Life and Oncologic Outcomes after Surgery in Older Adults with Colorectal Cancer. Supportive Care in Cancer (2020) June 28(6): 2857–2865. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-05087-3. Epub 2019 Nov 15. IF 2.7
Frankhauser D, Talisman T, Lai L, et al. Spatiotemporal strategies to identify aggressive biology in precancerous breast biopsies, WIREs Systems Biology and Medicine, 2020. DOI: 10.1002/wsbm.1506. Article ID: WSBM1506. IF 4.3.
Lai LL, Player H, Hite S, Satyananda V, Stacey J, Sun V, Jones V, Hayter J. Overcoming barriers t to recovery: a pilot study of telemedicine occupational therapy in breast cancer patients. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 2020. I.F. 3.325. Accepted for publication.
Konstantinidis I, Lee B, Trisal V, Paz I, Melstrom K, Sentovich S, Lai L, Raoof M. National postoperative and oncologic outcomes after pelvic exenteration for T4b rectal cancer. Journal of Surgical Oncology, 2020 June 9; 1 -6. PMID: 32516469. I.F. 3.325
Ashing KT, Lai L, Meyers E, Serrano M, George M. Exploring the association between diabetes and breast cancer morbidity: considerations for quality care improvements among Latinas. International Journal for Quality of Health Care. 2020 Apr 27;32(2):120-125. doi: 10.1093/intqhc/mzz130. PMID: 32277234. I.F. 2.356.
Zheleva V, Lai LL. ASO Author Reflections: A Call to Modify Factors Predictive of Noncompliance with Quality Measures in Breast Cancer Treatment. Annals of Surgical Oncology. 2020 Mar 31. doi: 10.1245/s10434-020-08405-w. 2020 PMID: 32236743. I.F. 3.857.
Stewart CL, Ituarte PHG, Melstrom KA, Warner SG, Melstrom LG, Lai LL, Fong Y, Woo Y. Robotic surgery trends in general surgical oncology from the National Inpatient Sample. Surgical Endoscopy, 2019 Aug;33(8):2591-2601. doi: 10.1007/s00464-018-6554-9. Epub 2018 Oct 24. PMID: 30357525. I.F. 3.747.
Zhai J, Giannini G, Ewalt MD, Zhang EY, Invernizzi M, Niland J, Lai LL. Molecular characterization of metaplastic breast carcinoma via next generation sequencing. Human Pathology, 2019 Apr;86:85-92. PMID: 30537493. I.F. 3.054.
Reyngold M, Niland J, ter Veer A, Bekaii-Saab T, Lai L, Meyer JE, Nurkin SJ, Schrag D, Skibber JM, Benson AB, Weiser MR, Crane CH, Goodman KA. Trends in intensity-modulated radiation therapy use for locally advanced rectal cancer at national comprehensive cancer network (NCCN) centers. Advances in Radiation Oncology. 2017 Oct 12;3(1):34-41. doi: 10.1016/j.adro.2017.10.001. eCollection 2018 Jan-Mar. PMID: 2956578. I.F. 2.862.
Lai L. Familial CRC Syndromes. The SCORE Portal. http://www.surgicalcore.org. Published July 2017. Accessed July 2017.
Reb A, Ruel N, Fakih M, Lai L, Salgia R, Ferrell B, Sampath S, Kim J, Raz D, Sun V. Empowering survivors after colorectal and lung cancer treatment: Pilot study of a Self-Management Survivorship Care Planning intervention. European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 2017, 125-134. PMID 27820259. I.F. 1.812.
Tam Ashing K, Cho D, Lai L, Yeung S, Young L, Yeon C, Fong Y. Exploring characteristics, predictors, and consequences of fear of cancer recurrence among Asian American breast cancer survivors. Psycho-oncology, 2017 Dec;26 (12):2253-2260. D.o.i: 10.1002/pon.4350. Epub 2017 Feb 10. PMID: 27992680. I. F. 2.443.
Abdel-Misih SR, Wei L, Benson AB 3rd, Cohen S, Lai L, Skibber J, Wilkinson N, Weiser M, Schrag D, Bekaii-Saab T. Neoadjuvant Therapy for Rectal Cancer Affects Lymph Node Yield and Status Without Clear Implications on Outcome: The Case for Eliminating a Metric and Using Preoperative Staging to Guide Therapy. Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, 2016 Dec;14(12):1528-1534. PMID: 27956537. PMID 27956537. I.F 4.17.
Sun G, Cheng YW, Lai L, Huang TC, Wang J, Wu X, Wang Y, Huang Y, Zhang K, Hu S, Yang JR, Yen Y. Signature miRNAs in colorectal cancers were revealed using reduction small RNA deep sequencing protocol. Oncotarget, 2016 Jan 26;7(4):3857-72. doi: 10.18632/6460. PMID: 26646696. IF 5.168.
Nelson RA, Guye ML, Luu T, Lai LL. Survival outcomes of metaplastic breast cancer patients: results from a US population-based analysis. Annals of Surgical Oncology, 2015; 22(1):24-31. PMID: 25012264. I.F. 3.857.
Ashing KT, Lai L, Brown S, McDowell, K, Carter D, Smith J, Mitchell E, Santifer RH, Martin V, Betts-Turner B, Fielder O, Miller V. Developing a treatment summary and survivorship care plan responsive to African-American breast cancer survivors. Psycho-oncology, 2015. DOI: 10.1002/pon.3939. PMID: 26315465. I.F 2.443.
Han C, Huangfu J, Lai L, Yang C. A wide field-of-view scanning endocscope for whole anal canal imaging. Biomedical Optics Express, 2015 (6): 607-14. PMID 25780750. I.F 3.337.
Yeo H, Niland J, Milne D, Bekaii-Saab T, Cohen SJ, Lai L, Shrag D, Skibber JM,Small Jr. W, Wilkinson N Weiser M. Incidence of Minimally Invasive Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Surgery in Patients Treated at National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Centers. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2015;107(1): dju362. Doi:10.1093/jmci/dju362. PMID 25527640. I.F 12.589.
Ashing K, Rosales M, Lai L, Hurria A. Occurrence of comorbidities among African-American and Latina breast cancer survivors. Journal of Cancer Survivorship: Research and Practice. 2014; 8(2):312-8. PMID: 24473830. I.F 3.30.
Ashing K, Serrano M, Weitzel J, Lai L, Paz B, Vargas R. Towards developing a bilingual treatment summary and survivorship care plan responsive to Spanish language preferred breast cancer survivors. Journal of Cancer Survivorship: Research and Practice, 2014; 8(4):580-94. PMID: 24859132. I.F. 3.30.
Yeo H, Niland J, Milne D, ter Veer A, Bekaii-Saab T, Farma JM, Lai L, Skibber JM, Small W Jr, Wilkinson N, Schrag D, Weiser MR. Incidence of minimally invasive colorectal cancer surgery at National Comprehensive Cancer Network centers. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2014 Dec 19;107(1):362. doi: 10.1093/jnci/dju362. Print 2015 Jan. PMID: 25527640; PMCID: PMC4296195. I.F. 12.589.
Ashing, K, Serrano M, Weitzel J, Lai L, et al. Towards developing a bilingual treatment summary and survivorship care plan responsive to Spanish language preferred breast cancer survivors. DOI 10.1007/s11764-014-0363-5. Journal of Cancer Survivorship, 2014; PMCID: NA; PMID 24859132. I.F. 3.303.
Nelson R, Guye M. Luu T, Lai LL. Survival outcomes of metaplastic breast cancer patients: results from a US population–based analysis. Annals of Surgical Oncology, 2014 July 11; DOI 10.1245/s10434-014-3890-4. ISSN 1068-9265. PMID 25012264. I.F 3.857.

Ratings & Reviews

Ratings and reviews below are gathered from the Press Ganey Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CG CAHPS) survey. CG CAHPS is a standardized survey that is used to measure a patient's experience in the physician office setting. Ratings are an average of all responses to questions about a provider's care, with 5 stars being the highest.

Ratings

5.0

Show respect for what you say

5.0

Recommend this provider office

5.0

Provider explain in way you understand

5.0

Provider listen carefully to you

4.9

Know important info medical history

4.9

Spend enough time with you

4.9

Rate provider 0-10

Reviews

02/11/23

Dr Lai is the best - Verified patient

12/20/22

My Doc is the best and I've only meet her ounce so far being a new patient, I like her style of professionalism and aggressive plan of action to my medical needs. Make us feel that we are in good hands of my medical needs and care - Verified patient

11/01/22

Everyone was very nice. - Verified patient

09/20/22

Can rely on Dr Lai - Verified patient

05/28/22

Dr. Lai is extraordinary. - Verified patient