Endowed Texas 4000 Distinguished Professor and Director, Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy Program, MD Anderson Cancer Center

Houston,TX
Combined immunotherapy with radiotherapy is exciting but also challenging. Biology-based clinical trial design and optimization is crucial.
LIVE from #ASTRO26: Joe Chang, MD, (@JoeChangMD) of @UTMDAnderson discusses the randomized I-SABR trial, which looks at adding four doses of nivolumab to SABR to improve 6-year overall survival (70% vs. 56%) and event-free survival (53% vs. 32%) in early-stage, node-negative NSCLC. The treatment had generally manageable toxicity, supporting further study of I-SABR and optimal immunotherapy sequencing. #MoffittASTRO26
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I am pleased to share the results of our phase II randomized I-SABR study @ASTRO_org 2026 which demonstrate improved overall survival (OS) when adding four doses of immunotherapy to SABR in early-stage NSCLC. These exciting findings are associated with the persistent activation of cytotoxic T cells for up to 6.5 years. Further optimization of I-SABR approaches will guide future research and clinical practice.
Replying to @UTMDAnderson
Dr. Joe Chang shared six-year data from the Phase 2 I-SABR trial. He also shared that patients who received both nivolumab and SBRT treatment showed increased activity of cancer-targeting CD8+ T cells: spr.ly/6018BGWA4O (2/2) #ASTRO26 #EndCancer
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#ASTRO26 Honored to chair today’s Tumor Board, “Integrating Immunotherapy With Definitive and Perioperative Radiation Strategies in Stage I-III NSCLC.” In the era of immunotherapy, combining IO and RT for stage I-III NSCLC presents both significant opportunities and unique challenges. Our MDT delivered excellent presentations and led engaging discussions around complex clinical cases. @ASTRO_org @AstraZeneca
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SABR is better tolerated than thermal ablation in oligo colorectal liver mets without significant differences in efficacy.
Microwave ablation versus stereotactic body radiotherapy for oligometastatic colorectal liver metastases (LAVA-CRLM): a prospective, randomised, phase II trial thelancet.com/journals/lanep…
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Joe Y Chang retweeted
#ASTRO26: Join us on Saturday, Sept. 26 for an Industry Satellite Symposium on "Tumor Board: Integrating Immunotherapy With Definitive and Perioperative Radiation Strategies in Stage I-III NSCLC" Commonwealth A-B, Westin Boston Seaport District Hotel 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. ET: Dinner & Hybrid Symposium With speakers Joe Chang, MD, PhD, MS, FASTRO, Nitin Ohri, MD, MS, & Hossein Borghaei, DO, MS. Learn more: bit.ly/4yJBbfk @AstraZeneca @JoeChangMD @HosseinBorghaei
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Great IASLC board directors and successful WCLC 2026 meeting in Seoul.
🌟 #WCLC26 Meet🆙 🤝Powerful💪 @IASLC Board Members ☑️Caicun Zhou (President) ☑️Paul Van Schil (Past President) ☑️Alex A. Adjei @DrAlexAdjei (President Elect) ☑️Ignacio Wistuba (Treasurer) ☑️Bejamin Solomon @bensolomon1 (Secretary) ☑️Karen Kelly @karenkellymd (CEO) ☑️Clarissa Baldotto @cbaldotto (BOD) ☑️Joe Chang @JoeChangMD (BOD) ☑️Fredrick Chite Asirwa (BOD) ☑️Narjust Florez @NarjustFlorezMD (BOD) ☑️Hidehito Horinouchi @HHorinouchi (BOD) ☑️Natasha Leighl (BOD) ☑️Isabelle Opitz @IsaOpitz (BOD) ☑️Mary Pasquinelli @MaryPasquinelli (BOD) ☑️Helmut Prosch (BOD) ☑️Antoni Rosell (BOD) ☑️Triparna Sen @triparnasen (BOD) ☑️Motoko Tachihara (BOD) ☑️Jie Wang (BOD) ☑️Wen-Zhao Zhong (BOD) #LCSM @OncoAlert
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Radiotherapy plays a crucial role in curative, consolidative, and palliative therapy for lung cancer. Outstanding faculty members of radiation oncology from across the world are gathering at WCLC 2026 in Seoul.
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Phase III randomized study PCI vs MRI alone in small cell lung cancer showed improvement cognitive failure free survival with MRI alone. Preliminary OS appears similar, pending final analysis. The authors conclude that MRI alone is preferred for small cell lung cancer, including both limited and extensive stage.
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Decapitation strike to primary lung cancer with radiotherapy before systemic therapy makes sense biologically in stage IV NSCLC. However, we need to be quick so we don’t delay systemic TX. I would prefer SBRT in 5 Fractions regiment as tolerated.
Great to kick off #WCLC2026 with the joint @IASLC - @ESTRO_RT forum “Reimagining #radiotherapy in Metastatic Lung Cancer” … many concepts now a clinical reality in routine practice - SABR, local consolidation, metastasis directed therapy, oligoprogression + more #lcsm #radonc
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The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) Board of Directors meeting is scheduled from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM today while the Korean Association for the Study of Lung Cancer’s "Legacy of the Masters" plenary session begins at 1:00 PM. As I am honored to be a speaker at the latter, I was concerned about missing either event, especially given the nearly thirty-minute commute between the two venues during peak traffic. Fortunately, Uber services in South Korea are exceptionally efficient, which made navigating between the locations quite smooth. During the drive, I even had the pleasure of listening to my driver—who was wearing a face mask—cheerfully singing along to Korean karaoke tunes on the radio. The World Conference on Lung Cancer officially commences tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing colleagues from all over the world!
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I recall one of my patients told me about 20 years ago “I want cyberknife, not radiation therapy”. This was one of the reasons that we promoted the name of “SABR “ knife instead of SBRT with several colleagues. @BLoo_LT_SABR
Can a single word influence cancer treatment preferences? In our randomized experiment, calling the same treatment “radiotherapy” rather than “radiation therapy” increased preference for radiation treatment by 8.3 percentage points. Just published in @IJROBP: redjournal.org/article/S0360… With @KatLudwikowska & @JustynaKlejdysz
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Yes, it is important to ensure that each NCCN MDT guidelines committee has radiation oncologists on board.
1/8 From Advances in Radiation Oncology (2025): how well are radiation oncologists represented on the committees that write NCCN guidelines? This study asks a practical question: does RO representation on NCCN guideline committees match RT's role in cancer care?
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Another important evidence that immune response plays an important role In radiotherapy in lung cancer, which has been ignored for a long time.
1/2 📢Terrific, impactful work in @Annals_Oncology by @HugoAerts @Dr_RayMak & Team on the potential importance of sparing the thymus when giving 🫁 #radiotherapy, on the heels of their recent @Nature papers🔥🔥🔥 ⬇️ Links below
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I am treating two limited stage small cell lung cancer now and will implement the results of this phase III randomized study to their management regarding PCI.
The PCI question has been answered in a contemporary phase III RCT. Final results remain embargoed until 9/13. #WCLC26 @PDBrownOnc @bslotman
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Honored to serve as a panelist in this exciting field , in an amazing city during a golden, 10/10 season.
Join us in Washington, DC on Saturday, October 10 for #DCLung26 - a one-day, comprehensive, multidisciplinary, discussion-based lung cancer CME update! What role does radiation plan in advanced NSCLC? Dr. @JoeChangMD @UTMDAnderson lends his perspective! medstarhealth.org/dclung
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It’s tough to see you both go, but I’m so happy for your next steps. Congratulations to Audrey on your MBA degree and new opportunity; Congratulations to Pam on your retirement. You’ve both been such a vital part of our patient care for years and we appreciate your great help and support very much! We, including our patients, will miss both of you!
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Joe Y Chang retweeted
What an honor for @UTMDAnderson to again be No.1 in the nation in cancer care, according to @USNews. I am thankful to every member of our community whose commitment, compassion and collaboration make this recognition possible. Together, we continue advancing our mission to #EndCancer.
UT MD Anderson is proud to be named No.1 in the nation for cancer care in @USNews’ “Best Hospitals” ranking. Read more: spr.ly/6010BE7x5O #BestHospitals #EndCancer
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Joe Y Chang retweeted
Recent data from Alex Bryant's group in the VA sheds more light on the AM vs PM immunotherapy infusion question. jitc.bmj.com/content/14/5/e0…
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Thank you for the opportunity to discuss SABR and I-SABR at the 28th Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Society of Radiation Oncology. It was an outstanding discussion, with delicious food and great company. I’m heading home tonight at 2 a.m. See you next time!
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Honored to be invited to the Brazil Society of Radiation Oncology 2026 annual meeting on behalf of the @IASLC. I gave two plenary presentations this morning on personalized RT and optimizing RT/IO in lung cancer. Brazil is a beautiful country with incredibly friendly and great people.
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