David R. Gandara, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer, International Society of Liquid Biopsy
Co-Director, Center for Experimental Therapeutics in Cancer
Senior Advisor to Director, UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center
Adjunct Clinical Professor, Translational and Clinical Research Program, University of Hawaii Cancer Center
Professor Emeritus
To see if David R. Gandara is accepting new patients, or for assistance finding a UC Davis doctor, please call 800-2-UCDAVIS (800-282-3284).
Locations and Contact
UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center
UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center
2279 45th Street
Sacramento, CA 95817
Phone: 916-734-5959
Additional Numbers
Clinic Fax
Clinic Referral Phone
Physician Referrals
Philosophy of Care
Dr. Gandara provides expert knowledge and award-winning patient interaction skills designed to present and interpret complex concepts such as molecular testing in language easily understood by patients and their care givers. He has been acknowledged by patient advocacy groups for this expertise, including presentations through the Addario Lung Cancer Foundation Living Room, a highly regarded patient interaction group. His shared decision-making paradigm with patients is a model used in physician educational programs.
Clinical Interests
Dr. David Gandara is a clinician-scientist and lung cancer specialist internationally recognized for his expertise in thoracic cancers (lung cancer), cancer drug development and biomarker development. He delivers patient care through a second opinion clinic in thoracic cancers, specializing in video visits for patients from remote areas and offering expertise in diagnostics, including circulating tumor DNA and next generation sequencing for identification of driver tumor oncogenes, and advice and ongoing interaction with primary oncologists.
Research/Academic Interests
Dr. Gandara's research interests focus on developmental therapeutics of new anti-cancer agents , biomarker development, as well as pre-clinical modeling and clinical research in lung cancer. He has published over 450 peer-reviewed papers and reviews. He is the principal investigator on an cancer therapeutics award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), where he leads an interdisciplinary team of clinical oncologists, pharmacologists, molecular biologists and statisticians in the conduct of clinical trials investigating new anti-cancer agents in a variety of novel drug classes. He is also an expert in the development and application of plasma DNA analysis and serves as the Chief Medical Officer for the International Society of Liquid Biopsy.
Division
Hematology and Oncology
Center/Program Affiliation
Undergraduate School
B.A., Zoology, University of Texas, Austin TX 1969
Medical School
M.D., University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston TX 1973
Internship
Internal Medicine, Madigan Army Medical Center, Tacoma WA 1973-1976
Residency
Internal Medicine, Madigan Army Medical Center, Tacoma WA 1973-1976
Fellowship
Hematology/Oncology, Letterman Army Medical Center, Presidio of San Francisco CA 1976-1978
Trajectory Achievement Award, International Society for Liquid Biopsy, 2020
IASLC-LALCA Outstanding Scientific Committee Contribution Award, 2020
Honorary Member, ECO Foundation (Madrid, Spain), 2018
Top Cancer Doctors, Newsweek Health, 2015
Addario Lung Cancer Foundation Collaborative Research Award, 2014
For a comprehensive list of Dr. Gandara's publications, please click here (opens new window).
Ranganath H, Jain AL, Smith JR, Ryder J, Chaudry A, Miller E, Hare F, Valasareddy P, Seitz RS, Hout DR, Varga MG, Schweitzer BL, Nielsen TJ, Mullins J, Ross DT, Gandara DR, Vidal GA. Association of a novel 27-gene immuno-oncology assay with efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in advanced non-small cell lung cancer. BMC Cancer. 2022 Apr 14;22(1):407. doi:10.1186/s12885-022-09470-y. PMID:35421940.
Sun H, Cao S, Mashl RJ, Mo CK, Zaccaria S, Wendl MC, Davies SR, Bailey MH, Primeau TM, Hoog J, Mudd JL, Dean DA 2nd, Patidar R, Chen L, Wyczalkowski MA, Jayasinghe RG, Rodrigues FM, Terekhanova NV, Li Y, Lim KH, Wang-Gillam A, Van Tine BA, Ma CX, Aft R, Fuh KC, Schwarz JK, Zevallos JP, Puram SV, Dipersio JF; NCI PDXNet Consortium, Davis-Dusenbery B, Ellis MJ, Lewis MT, Davies MA, Herlyn M, Fang B, Roth JA, Welm AL, Welm BE, Meric-Bernstam F, Chen F, Fields RC, Li S, Govindan R, Doroshow JH, Moscow JA, Evrard YA, Chuang JH, Raphael BJ, Ding L. Author Correction: Comprehensive characterization of 536 patient-derived xenograft models prioritizes candidates for targeted treatment. Nat Commun. 2022 Jan 7;13(1):294. doi:10.1038/s41467-021-27678-7. Erratum for: Nat Commun. 2021 Aug 24;12(1):5086. PMID:34996889.
Gadgeel S, Hirsch FR, Kerr K, Barlesi F, Park K, Rittmeyer A, Zou W, Bhatia N, Koeppen H, Paul SM, Shames D, Yi J, Matheny C, Ballinger M, McCleland M, Gandara DR. Comparison of SP142 and 22C3 Immunohistochemistry PD-L1 Assays for Clinical Efficacy of Atezolizumab in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Results From the Randomized OAK Trial. Clin Lung Cancer. 2022 Jan;23(1):21-33. doi:10.1016/j.cllc.2021.05.007. Epub 2021 May 30. PMID:34226144.
Hirsch FR, Redman MW, Moon J, Agustoni F, Herbst RS, Semrad TJ, Varella-Garcia M, Rivard CJ, Kelly K, Gandara DR, Mack PC. EGFR High Copy Number Together With High EGFR Protein Expression Predicts Improved Outcome for Cetuximab-based Therapy in Squamous Cell Lung Cancer: Analysis From SWOG S0819, a Phase III Trial of Chemotherapy With or Without Cetuximab in Advanced NSCLC. Clin Lung Cancer. 2022 Jan;23(1):60-71. doi:10.1016/j.cllc.2021.10.002. Epub 2021 Oct 10. PMID:34753703.
Zou W, Yaung SJ, Fuhlbrück F, Ballinger M, Peters E, Palma JF, Shames DS, Gandara D, Jiang Y, Patil NS. ctDNA Predicts Overall Survival in Patients With NSCLC Treated With PD-L1 Blockade or With Chemotherapy. JCO Precis Oncol. 2021 Nov;5:827-838. doi:10.1200/PO.21.00057. PMID:34994614.
Riess JW, Reckamp KL, Frankel P, Longmate J, Kelly KA, Gandara DR, Weipert CM, Raymond VM, Keer HN, Mack PC, Newman EM, Lara PN Jr. Erlotinib and Onalespib Lactate Focused on EGFR Exon 20 Insertion Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC): A California Cancer Consortium Phase I/II Trial (NCI 9878). Clin Lung Cancer. 2021 Nov;22(6):541-548. doi:10.1016/j.cllc.2021.05.001. Epub 2021 May 15. PMID:34140248.
Argiris A, Miao J, Cristea MC, Chen AM, Sands JM, Decker RH, Gettinger SN, Daly ME, Faller BA, Albain KS, Yanagihara RH, Garland LL, Byers LA, Wang D, Koczywas M, Redman MW, Kelly K, Gandara DR. A Dose-finding Study Followed by a Phase II Randomized, Placebo-controlled Trial of Chemoradiotherapy With or Without Veliparib in Stage III Non-small-cell Lung Cancer: SWOG 1206 (8811). Clin Lung Cancer. 2021 Jul;22(4):313-323.e1. doi:10.1016/j.cllc.2021.02.009. Epub 2021 Feb 19. PMID:33745865.
Thomas JS, El-Khoueiry AB, Maurer BJ, Groshen S, Pinski JK, Cobos E, Gandara DR, Lenz HJ, Kang MH, Reynolds CP, Newman EM. A phase I study of intravenous fenretinide (4-HPR) for patients with malignant solid tumors. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 2021 Apr;87(4):525-532. doi:10.1007/s00280-020-04224-8. Epub 2021 Jan 10. PMID:33423090.
Gandara D, Reck M, Moro-Sibilot D, Mazieres J, Gadgeel S, Morris S, Cardona A, Mendus D, Ballinger M, Rittmeyer A, Peters S. Fast progression in non-small cell lung cancer: results from the randomized phase III OAK study evaluating second-line atezolizumab versus docetaxel. J Immunother Cancer. 2021 Mar;9(3):e001882. doi:10.1136/jitc-2020-001882. PMID:33737340.
Woo XY, Giordano J, Srivastava A, Zhao ZM, Lloyd MW, de Bruijn R, Suh YS, Patidar R, Chen L, Scherer S, Bailey MH, Yang CH, Cortes-Sanchez E, Xi Y, Wang J, Wickramasinghe J, Kossenkov AV, Rebecca VW, Sun H, Mashl RJ, Davies SR, Jeon R, Frech C, Randjelovic J, Rosains J, Galimi F, Bertotti A, Lafferty A, O'Farrell AC, Modave E, Lambrechts D, Ter Brugge P, Serra V, Marangoni E, El Botty R, Kim H, Kim JI, Yang HK, Lee C, Dean DA 2nd, Davis-Dusenbery B, Evrard YA, Doroshow JH, Welm AL, Welm BE, Lewis MT, Fang B, Roth JA, Meric-Bernstam F, Herlyn M, Davies MA, Ding L, Li S, Govindan R, Isella C, Moscow JA, Trusolino L, Byrne AT, Jonkers J, Bult CJ, Medico E, Chuang JH; PDXNET Consortium; EurOPDX Consortium. Conservation of copy number profiles during engraftment and passaging of patient-derived cancer xenografts. Nat Genet. 2021 Jan;53(1):86-99. doi:10.1038/s41588-020-00750-6. Epub 2021 Jan 7. Erratum in: Nat Genet. 2021 May;53(5):761. PMID:33414553.