Interview with Dr Enriqueta Felip on Lung Cancer

About Dr. Enriqueta Felip

Dr. Enriqueta Felip, member of the CareAcross Scientific Committee, is a renowned expert in lung cancer.. She holds a PhD in Medical Oncology, and has broad experience in cancer research as well as clinical practice.

 

Interview with Dr. Enriqueta Felip

CareAcross: Professor Felip, as a lung cancer expert, what is your comment on smoking and increased mortality in women with lung cancer?

Professor Felip: Lung cancer is the most frequent cause of cancer-related death worldwide and being a smoker is the principal risk factor for lung cancer. Sadly, lung cancer in women is on the increase due to the fact that more women smoke nowadays. Overall, the percentage of male smokers is slowly decreasing whereas in females the percentage is going up.

It is therefore extremely important that people are aware of this and modify their lifestyle in order to put a stop to this lung cancer epidemic.

 

CareAcross: Do you think that e-cigarettes are a safe substitute of cigarettes?

Professor Felip: E-cigarettes are not a safe option. Their components are not clearly described and should not be consumed.

 

CareAcross: There are lung cancer patients who continue smoking after their disease is diagnosed. Does this activity have an adverse effect on the outcome of their cancer?

Professor Felip: Yes, a number of studies have shown that the outcome of different cancers is better if the patient stops smoking. There should be a clear recommendation to quit smoking for patients with cancer, as there is for the general population. Ways to help people to quit smoking should be made available.

 

CareAcross: For people who decide to stop smoking, how long does it take for their lungs to return to “normal”?

Professor Felip: That depends on a number of factors (number of cigarettes smoked per day, duration of the habit, presence of other diseases). However, stopping smoking always contributes positively to better overall health.

 

Current activities

Dr. Felip is based in Spain, and more specifically at the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, which is located in Barcelona. There, she has been the Head of the Lung Cancer Unit of the Oncology Department since 1995.

As part of her rich academic activities, Dr. Felip is also Associate Professor of Medical Oncology (School of Medicine) at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB).

 

Membership in prestigious organizations

Dr. Enriqueta Felip is very active across initiatives that advance the research and development on cancer, and is a member of the following organizations:

• Steering Committee of the Spanish Lung Cancer Group
• Spanish Society of Medical Oncology Executive Committee
• European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO)
• American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
• International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC).

 

Hundreds of presentations, lectures and articles

Throughout her career, she always stays up to date through national and international congresses: she has presented almost 100 times and delivered more than 200 lectures in such events.

Dr. Felip has written more than 100 articles in oncology, and is scientific reviser of the following publications:

• Cancer
• European Journal of Cancer
• Journal of Thoracic Oncology
• Clinical and Translational Oncology
• Lung Cancer
• Annals of Oncology
• Cancer & Chemotherapy reviews
• Clinical Cancer Research
• Journal of Clinical Oncology.

She is also Editor-in-chief of Cancer & Chemotherapy Reviews, Associated Editor of the Spanish edition of Journal of Clinical Oncology, as well as Associated Editor of Annals of Oncology.

Selected publications from Dr. Felip

• Dienstmann R, Rodón J, Prat A, Pérez-García J, Adamo B, Felip E, Cortes J, Iafrate AJ, Nuciforo P, Tabernero J. Genomic aberrations in the FGFR pathway: opportunities for targeted therapies in solid tumors.Ann. Oncol. 2014 Mar; 25(3): 552-63
• Remon J, Molina-Montes E, Majem M, Lianes P, Isla D, Garrido P, Felip E, Viñolas N, de Castro J, Artal A, Sánchez MJ. Lung cancer in women: an overview with special focus on Spanish women. Clin Transl Oncol 2014 Jun; 16(6): 517-28
• Prat A, Adamo B, Fan C, Peg V, Vidal M, Galván P, Vivancos A, Nuciforo P, Pálmer HG, Dawood S, Rodón J, Cajal SR, del Campo JM, Felip E, Tabernero J, Cortes J. Genomic analyses across six cancer types identify basal-like breast cancer as a unique molecular entity. Sci Rep 2013; 3: 3544
• Vansteenkiste J, De Ruysscher D, Eberhardt WE, Lim E, Senan S, Felip E, Peters S. Early and locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC): ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. Ann. Oncol. 2013 Oct; 24 Suppl 6: vi89-98
• Serra V, Vivancos A, Puente XS, Felip E, Silberschmidt D, Caratù G, Parra JL, De Mattos-Arruda L, Grueso J, Hernandez-Losa J, Arribas J, Prudkin L, Nuciforo P, Scaltriti M, Seoane J, Baselga J. Clinical response to a lapatinib-based therapy for a Li-Fraumeni syndrome patient with a novel HER2V659E mutation. Cancer Discov 2013 Nov; 3(11): 1238-44
• Scagliotti GV, Felip E, Besse B, von Pawel J, Mellemgaard A, Reck M, Bosquee L, Chouaid C, Lianes-Barragán P, Paul EM, Ruiz-Soto R, Sigal E, Ottesen LH, Lechevalier T. An open-label, multicenter, randomized, phase II study of pazopanib in combination with pemetrexed in first-line treatment of patients with advanced-stage non-small-cell lung cancer. J Thorac Oncol 2013 Dec; 8(12): 1529-37
• Cedrés S, Montero MA, Zamora E, Martínez A, Martínez P, Fariñas L, Navarro A, Torrejón D, Gabaldon A, Ramón y Cajal S, Felip E. Expression of Wilms' tumor gene (WT1) is associated with survival in malignant pleural mesothelioma. Clin Transl Oncol 2013 Dec;
• Gamarra F, Boffetta P, De Ruysscher D, Felip E, Gaga M, Grigoriu B, Huber RM, Janes SM, Marquette CH, Massard G, Noel JL, Sculier JP, Meert AP. Thoracic Oncology HERMES syllabus: setting the basis for thoracic oncology training in Europe. Eur. Respir. J. 2013 Sep; 42(3): 568-71
• Stahel R, Peters S, Baas P, Brambilla E, Cappuzzo F, De Ruysscher D, Eberhardt WE, Felip E, Fennell D, Marchetti A, Paz-Ares L, Adjei AA. Strategies for improving outcomes in NSCLC: a look to the future. Lung Cancer 2013 Dec; 82(3): 375-82