Victoria Meucci Villaflor, M.D.
I feel there is so much we do not know about the body's immune system and enjoy exploring methods of improving our ability to harvest the immune system to target cancer and ultimately improve clinical outcomes.
Victoria M. Villaflor, M.D. specializes in the cancers of the "upper aerodigestive" system: head and neck cancer and thoracic cancers, including lung cancer and other malignancies. She's been cited multiple times by Castle Connolly as a "Top Doctor" and also won awards for her research and humanitarian work.
Dr. Villaflor was a researcher at a major pharmaceutical company before entering Rush Medical College in Chicago, where she earned her M.D. and completed her internship, residency and a fellowship in hematology/oncology. She joins City of Hope following a distinguished career as a medical oncologist at Rush, the University of Chicago and Northwestern University.
Motivated to enter the medical field following the loss of loved ones to cancer, Dr. Villaflor is passionate about the promise of targeted therapy and immunotherapy. She's excited to be part of the City of Hope team, saying it will "afford me the opportunity to give excellent care for patients...as well as the ability to do innovative research in a collaborative environment."
2004, 2014, American Board of Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology
2001, American Board of Internal Medicine
1998, Doctor of Medicine, Rush Medical College, Chicago, IL
1993, Postbaccalaureate Premedical Program, Loyola University, Chicago, IL
1985, Bachelor of Science, Microbiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
2001-2004, Hematology/Oncology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL
1998-2001, Internal Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL
2021-present, Section Chief, Head and Neck Medical Oncology, Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research
2020-present, Professor, Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research, City of Hope, Duarte, CA
2016-2020, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Hematology/Oncology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
2012-2016, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology/Oncology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2006-2012, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Hematology/Oncology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2004-2006, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Hematology/Oncology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL
2020, Castle Connolly Top Doctors
2019, ARCC 2019, Community-Engaged Research Partnership Award for The BE-LUNG Initiative
2019, AOSC Research Mentor Northwestern, Feinberg School of Medicine
2014-2019, Castle Connolly Top Doctors, Chicago Area, Featured in Chicago magazine
2017, Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin Humanitarian Award
2015, Clinical Productivity Award
2017-present, ASCO Cancer Education Committee Track - Tumor Biology
2016-present, Big Ten CRC Correlative Sciences Clinical Trials Working Group
2016-present, ECOG Lung committee
2016-present, SWOG, Lung committee
2015-2018, 2020-present, American Head and Neck Society
2009-present, International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus
2006-present, IASLC (International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer)
2005-present, Lung Cancer Initiative Advisory Council
2004-present, American Society of Clinical Oncology
2004-present, National Lung Cancer Partnership
- Cognetti DM, Villaflor VM, Fakhry C, Miller MC, Malloy KM. Survivorship support in head and neck cancer: American Head and Neck Society survey. Head Neck. 2020. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 31922320.
- Chae YK, Viveiros P, Lopes G, Sukhadia B, Sheikh MM, Saravia D, Florou V, Sokol ES, Framptom GM, Chalmers ZR, Ali SM Ross JS, Chang S, Wang S, Chiec L, Rahbari A, Monindra N, Villaflor V, Shin SH, Oh M, Anker J, Park LC, Wang V, Chuang J, Park W. Clinical and immunological implications of frameshift mutations in lung cancer. Journal of Thoracic Oncology. 2019.14(10):1807-1817. PMID: 31238177.
- Chae YK, Davis AA, Raparia K, Agte S, Pan A, Mohindra N, Villaflor V, Giles F. Association of Tumor Mutational Burden with DNA Repair Mutations and Response to Anti-PD1/PD-L1 Therapy in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Clin Lung Cancer 2019. 20(2):88-96. PMID: 30425022.
- Seiwert TY, Foster CC, Blair EA, Karrison TG, Agrawal N, Melotek JM, Portugal L, Brisson RJ, Dekker A, Kochanny S, Gooi Z, Lingen MW, Villaflor VM, Ginat DT, Haraf DJ, Vokes EE. OPTIMA: A Phase II Dose and Volume De-Escalation Trial for Human Papillomavirus-Positive Oropharyngeal Cancer. Ann Oncol. 2019. 30(2):297-302. PMID: 31987428.
- Chae YK, Davis AA, Agte S, Pan AP, Simon NI, Iams W, Cruz M, Tamragouri K, Rhee K, Mohindra N, Villaflor V, Park W, Lopes G, J. Giles FJ. Clinical implications of circulating tumor DNA tumor mutational burden (ctDNA TMB) in non-small cell lung cancer. The Oncologist. 2019. 24(6):88-96. PMID: 30867242.
- Mambetsariev I, Pharaon R, Nam A, Knopf K, Djulbegovic B, Villaflor VM, Vokes EE, Salgia R. Heuristic value-based framework for lung cancer decision-making. Oncotarget. 2018. 9(52):29877-29891. PMID: 29805749.
- Chae YK, Arya A, Iams W, Cruz M, Mohindra N, Villaflor V, Giles FJ. Immune checkpoint pathways in non-small cell lung cancer. Ann Transl Med. 2018. 6(5):88. PMID: 29666811.
- Davis AA, McKee AE, Kibbe WA, Villaflor VM. Complexity of delivering precision medicine: opportunities and challenges. Am Soc Clin Oncol Educ Book. 2018. 23(38):998-1007. PMID: 30231318.
- Rosenberg AJ, Wainwright DA, Rademaker A, Galvez C, Genet M, Zhai L, Lauing KL, Mulcahy MF, Hayes JP, Odell DD, Horbinski C, Komanduri S, Tetreault M-P, Kim K-Y A, Villaflor VM. Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 and overall survival of patients diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Oncotarget. 2018;9(34):23482-23493. PMID: 29805749.
- Gera A, Kamson DO, Villaflor VM, Lukas RV. Added diagnostic utility of PET in a patient with subacute encephalopathy and small-cell lung cancer. Lung Cancer Manag. 2017. 6(1):9-16. PMID: 30643565.
- Chae YK, Arya A, Chiec L, Shah H, Rosenberg A, Patel S, Raparia K, Choi J, Wainwright DA, Villaflor V, Cristofanilli M, Giles F. Challenges and future of biomarker tests in the era of precision oncology: Can we rely on immunohistochemistry (IHC) or fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to select the optimal patients for matched therapy? Oncotarget. 2017. 8(59):100863-100898. PMID: 29246028.
- Iams W, Villaflor VM. Neoadjuvant Treatment for Locally Invasive Esophageal Cancer. World Journal of Surgery. 2017. 41(7): 1719-1725. PMID: 28271259.
- Cipriani NA, Blair EA, Finkle J, Kraninger JL, Straus CM, Villaflor VM, Ginat DT. Salivary Gland Secretory Carcinoma with High-Grade Transformation, DCKN2A/B Loss, Distant Metastasis and Lack of Sustained Response to Crizotinib. Int J Surg Pathol. 2017. 25(7): 613-618. PMID: 28497708.
- Chae YK, Ranganath K, Hammerman PS, Vaklavas C, Mohindra N, Kalyan A, Matsangou M, Costa R, Carneiro B, Villaflor VM, Cristofanilli M, Giles FJ. Inhibition of the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) pathway: the current landscape and barriers to clinical application. Oncotarget. 2017; 8(9):16052-16074. PMID: 28030802.
- Chae YK, Pan A, Davis AA, Mohindra N, Matsangou M, Villaflor V, Giles F. Recent Advances and future strategies for Immune-Checkpoint inhibition in small cell lung cancer. Clin. Lung Cancer. 2017; 18(2):132-140. PMID: 27520630.
- Costa R, Carneiro BA, Agulnik M, Rademaker AW, Pai SG, Villaflor VM, Cristofanilli M, Sosman JA, Giles FJ. Toxicity profile of approved anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibodies in solid tumors: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. Oncotarget. 2017; 8(5):8910-8920. PMID: 27852042.
- Thomas M, Page R, Gressot L, Daniel D, Morgensztern D, Levy B, Hussein M, Razaq M, Villaflor VM, Aix SP, Sivarajan K, Engel-Riedel W, Staib P, Ko A, Ong TH, Trunova N, Spigel DR. MINI01.20: Interim Quality of Life (QOL) Results from ABOUND. Sqm: nab-Paclitaxel/Carboplatin induction therapy in squamous (SCC) NSCLC: Topic: Medical Oncology. J Thorac Oncol. 2016; 11(11S): S269 Epub. PMID: 27969468.
- Ginat DT, Villaflor V, Cipriani NA. Oral Cavity Clear Cell Odontogenic Carcinoma. Head Neck Pathol. 2016;10(2):217-220. PMID 25994920.