Kei Suzuki1,2, Jin Ye Yeo3
1Division of Thoracic Surgery, Inova Fairfax Medical Center, Fairfax, VA, USA; 2Thoracic Surgery Research, Schar Cancer Institute, Fairfax, VA, USA; 3CCTS AME Publishing Company
Correspondence to: Jin Ye Yeo. CCTS Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company. Email: ccts@amegroups.com
This interview can be cited as: Suzuki K, Yeo JY. Meeting the Editorial Board Member of CCTS: Dr. Kei Suzuki. Curr Chall Thorac Surg. 2025. Available from: https://ccts.amegroups.org/post/view/meeting-the-editorial-board-member-of-ccts-dr-kei-suzuki.
Expert introduction
Dr. Kei Suzuki (Figure 1) is a thoracic surgeon at Inova in Virginia, USA, Director of Thoracic Surgery at the Schar Cancer Institute, and an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Dr. Suzuki studied biological engineering and graduated Cum Laude from Cornell University. He then did his general surgery residency at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. During his residency, he took two years off to do a research fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he investigated the prognostic role of the tumor-immune microenvironment in lung cancer. He then did his cardiothoracic fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and New York Presbyterian. Dr. Suzuki’s research interests include tumor-immune microenvironment and prognostic/predictive markers in lung cancer as well as improving lung cancer screening efforts, and he has received several grants. Dr. Suzuki is board-certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. He also has a medical license in Japan.
Figure 1 Dr. Kei Suzuki
Interview
CCTS: What sparked your transition from biological engineering to thoracic surgery, and what led you to specialize in lung cancer?
Prof. Suzuki: I believe the background and the mental approach in engineering translates well to surgery – in both fields, the daily work is hands-on and revolves around problem solving. My interest in lung cancer came to fruition during my research time as a resident, when I was deeply involved in the topic and found it both fascinating and clinically important.
CCTS: You have done extensive research on the prognostic role of the tumor-immune microenvironment in lung cancer. What are some recent findings that stood out to you, and what impact do they have on the field?
Prof. Suzuki: The more we learn about the biology of lung cancer, I believe we are realizing the importance of the role the tumor-immune microenvironment plays. Our current efforts focus on newer and improved technology and methods to characterize the tumor-immune microenvironment and also to obtain this information from small biopsy samples such that we can make important clinical decisions before treatment is started, whether that means deciding the extent of surgery or deciding appropriate treatment modality in general.
CCTS: Lung cancer screening is a crucial area of your research. What are some of the challenges in current screening efforts, and how do you envision improving these efforts through biomarkers or other innovations?
Prof. Suzuki: I always think of and focus on what I believe are the two main issues in lung cancer screening: 1) uptake and 2) yield.
For uptake, the first important step is to identify the barriers so we can strategize how to overcome them. This can come in the form of improving the identification of screen-eligible patients within the hospital system and developing an infrastructure to capture and reach these patients, which our hospital is doing. Another important barrier is the socioeconomic disparity.
In terms of the “yield”, the question is how we can better identify those at high risk of lung cancer. I believe the current screening criteria of age and smoking history can be somewhat arbitrary, and we know many lung cancers are missed based on these criteria. Our work focuses on identifying additional and potentially novel risk factors for lung cancer and devising a refined/improved risk model, with the goal of capturing more patients at risk for lung cancer.
CCTS: You have received several grants for your work. What research projects are you currently focusing on, and what do you hope to achieve with these grants in advancing lung cancer treatment or early detection?
Prof. Suzuki: One goal is identifying a novel risk factor for lung cancer by investigating the nasal epithelium. If smoking causes genetic changes in the lung that lead to cancer, the thought is that genetic changes in the nose, which is also exposed to the cigarette smoke, may tell us who may be at risk for developing lung cancer. This may allow us to better capture patients at risk of lung cancer compared to the current screening criteria.
Another study is better defining the tumor-immune microenvironment, which may provide a better sense of prognosis as well as response to treatments such as immunotherapy. This may in turn allow us to better strategize treatment plans for lung cancer patients.
CCTS: What do you think will be the next big breakthrough in lung cancer treatment or surgery, and how can surgeons, researchers, and other healthcare professionals contribute to making that breakthrough a reality?
Prof. Suzuki: I think some change in the lung cancer screening criteria to capture more people at risk would be an important step forward.
Another is a biomarker that will allow us to make important clinical decisions, whether that is in determining the extent of surgical resection or deciding the best course of treatment (induction chemo-immunotherapy or not).
As always, truly collaborative efforts on all fronts, including clinicians, researchers, and the hospital system, are essential.
CCTS: How has your experience been as an Editorial Board Member of CCTS?
Prof. Suzuki: As thoracic oncology and surgery is an evolving field, the scope of the journal is very important, and I am privileged to be on the editorial board.
CCTS: As an Editorial Board Member, what are your expectations for CCTS?
Prof. Suzuki: It is important to think ahead and continue to identify current and evolving challenges in our field. Our job is to identify the pertinent issues and the experts to write about them.