Lorenzo Ferri
Professor of Surgery & Oncology, McGill University
Upper G.I. Cancer Program, McGill University
Dr. Lorenzo Ferri is the David S. Mulder Chair in Surgery, a clinical scientist in the Departments of Surgery and Oncology specializing in the management of complex malignancies of the foregut, and heads the McGill University Program in Upper GI Cancer. Through this, he has spearheaded numerous initiatives designed to improve outcomes in gastric and esophageal surgery through carefully coordinated basic, translational, and clinical scientific research, and patient care. He established the McGill University Foregut Malignancy Research Group, a multidisciplinary collection of researchers and clinicians with the objective of identifying and executing research ideas in the field of gastric and esophageal cancer.
Dr. Ferri is an independent investigator with active basic science, translational and clinical research programs, all concentrated primarily on malignancies of the chest and foregut. Dr. Ferri has initiated numerous clinical programs and studies for esophageal cancer including: Novel combination chemotherapy regimens for neoadjuvant treatment of adenocarcinoma; Optimizing the palliation of metastatic disease; and extensive work into the investigation and optimization of outcomes after esophageal surgery. He is the first physician in Canada to introduce a novel technique of removing early cancers of the esophagus and stomach through endoscopic means (Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection), and has been invited throughout North America to speak on this method.
This clinical work is closely coupled to both translational and fundamental research in the area of cancer-inflammation cross talk. Dr. Ferri is the recipient of numerous peer review grants (including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Canadian Cancer Society) for his work into the inflammatory basis of cancer metastasis. He has identified the important role of bacterial antigens and host neutrophils in propagating cancer dissemination, thus representing a new paradigm in the metastatic process. One of his most recent discoveries highlighting the novel finding implicating Neutrophil Extracellular Traps in the metastatic process (Journal of Clinical Investigation – August 2013) was widely reported in the global lay media including National Public Radio, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Radio Canada.
1: Esophageal Cancer Study Group Participating Centers. Predictors of staging
accuracy, pathologic nodal involvement, and overall survival for cT2N0 carcinoma
of the esophagus. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2018 Oct 19. pii:
S0022-5223(18)32814-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcvs.2018.10.057. [Epub ahead of print]
PubMed PMID: 30558879.
2: Eustache J, Ferri LE, Feldman LS, Lee L, Spicer JD. Enhanced recovery after
pulmonary surgery. J Thorac Dis. 2018 Nov;10(Suppl 32):S3755-S3760. doi:
10.21037/jtd.2018.09.61. Review. PubMed PMID: 30505562; PubMed Central PMCID:
PMC6258657.
3: Minnella EM, Awasthi R, Loiselle SE, Agnihotram RV, Ferri LE, Carli F. Effect
of Exercise and Nutrition Prehabilitation on Functional Capacity in
Esophagogastric Cancer Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Surg. 2018 Sep
5. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2018.1645. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 30193337.
4: St-Louis E, Gowing SD, Mossallanejad P, Leimanis ML, Mueller C, Ferri LE.
Outcomes after completion total gastrectomy for gastric remnant cancer:
experience from a Canadian tertiary centre. Can J Surg. 2018 Aug;61(4):270-277.
PubMed PMID: 30067186; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6066381.
5: Molina JC, Al-Hinai A, Gosseling-Tardif A, Bouchard P, Spicer J, Mulder D,
Mueller CL, Ferri LE. Multivisceral Resection for Locally Advanced Gastric and
Gastroesophageal Junction Cancers-11-Year Experience at a High-Volume North
American Center. J Gastrointest Surg. 2019 Jan;23(1):43-50. doi:
10.1007/s11605-018-3746-5. Epub 2018 Apr 16. PubMed PMID: 29663302.
6: Molina JC, Misariu AM, Nicolau I, Spicer J, Mulder D, Ferri LE, Mueller CL.
Same day discharge for benign laparoscopic hiatal surgery: a feasibility
analysis. Surg Endosc. 2018 Feb;32(2):937-944. doi: 10.1007/s00464-017-5769-5.
Epub 2017 Aug 4. PubMed PMID: 28779258.
7: Paci P, Madani A, Lee L, Mata J, Mulder DS, Spicer J, Ferri LE, Feldman LS.
Economic Impact of an Enhanced Recovery Pathway for Lung Resection. Ann Thorac
Surg. 2017 Sep;104(3):950-957. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2017.05.085. Epub 2017
Aug 2. PubMed PMID: 28778343.
8: Gowing SD, Chow SC, Cools-Lartigue JJ, Chen CB, Najmeh S, Jiang HY, Bourdeau
F, Beauchamp A, Mancini U, Angers I, Giannias B, Spicer JD, Rousseau S, Qureshi
ST, Ferri LE. Gram-positive pneumonia augments non-small cell lung cancer
metastasis via host toll-like receptor 2 activation. Int J Cancer. 2017 Aug
1;141(3):561-571. doi: 10.1002/ijc.30734. Epub 2017 May 15. PubMed PMID:
28401532.
9: Najmeh S, Cools-Lartigue J, Rayes RF, Gowing S, Vourtzoumis P, Bourdeau F,
Giannias B, Berube J, Rousseau S, Ferri LE, Spicer JD. Neutrophil extracellular
traps sequester circulating tumor cells via β1-integrin mediated interactions.
Int J Cancer. 2017 May 15;140(10):2321-2330. doi: 10.1002/ijc.30635. Epub 2017
Mar 2. PubMed PMID: 28177522.
10: Madani A, Pecorelli N, Razek T, Spicer J, Ferri LE, Mulder DS. Civilian
Airway Trauma: A Single-Institution Experience. World J Surg. 2016
Nov;40(11):2658-2666. PubMed PMID: 27255938.