Dr. Raphael Bueno is the Chief of Thoracic Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He is also the director of the renowned International Mesothelioma Program.

Dr. Bueno is considered a leading pleural mesothelioma expert but also has extensive experience in working with peritoneal mesothelioma and pericardial mesothelioma.

Medical & Professional History

Dr. Raphael Bueno’s medical education began at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he earned his medical degree from their joint program. He continued his professional development and medical training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) as a surgical intern. He completed his cardiothoracic residency at Massachusetts General Hospital before being recruited back to Brigham and Women’s Hospital to create a thoracic surgery practice and conduct mesothelioma research.

Dr. Bueno is a board-certified surgeon who specializes in mesothelioma and lung cancer but is interested in biogenetics and advancing how we detect mesothelioma. Most of his research is focused on early detection of mesothelioma and how we can use genomic to better predict, detect and even treating mesothelioma and other thoracic cancers.

Major accomplishments of Dr. Bueno include conducting the first minimally invasive esophagectomies in Israel, leading the BWH thoracic team and helping inform the Israeli surgeons on how to conduct the procedures. Additionally, in 2013 he was the first to perform an Image-Guided Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery procedure on a patient with lung cancer.

Mesothelioma Research & Clinical Trials

Dr. Bueno is dedicated to his cancer research and has explored a wide range of topics relating to mesothelioma, including innovative work on biomarkers and detection, chemotherapy drug resistance, and cell signal pathways—important research fields that are changing the landscape of mesothelioma detection, diagnosis and treatment.

Dr. Bueno’s research has primarily focused on the development of novel translational tools in genomics for the purpose of predicting and identifying diagnostic markers for cancer, as well as developing novel targets for therapy for lung cancer and mesothelioma. He has sought to identify and understand cancers caused by asbestos, delve into their molecular structure and in doing so, discover more about how the disease reacts and responds to treatments.

In collaboration with other renowned researchers and doctors, such as Dr. Paul Sugarbaker and Dr. David Sugarbaker, Dr. Bueno has delved into a variety of publication topics, including a deeper understanding of mesothelioma on a cellular level, mesothelioma gene expression, the relation of genetic mutations with malignant pleural mesothelioma, molecular features of malignant pleural mesothelioma and the therapeutic and surgical effectiveness in addressing malignant pleural mesothelioma. With a deep understanding of malignant mesothelioma on a cellular level, Dr. Bueno has sought to find aggressive and highly effective treatments for the cancer through a variety of collaborative studies.

Selected Publications

Extrapleural pneumonectomy in the treatment of epithelioid malignant pleural mesothelioma: novel prognostic implications of combined N1 and N2 nodal involvement based on experience with 539 patients. Annals of Surgery. October 2014;26-(4):577-580. doi:10.1097/SLA.0000000000000903.

Gender-Specific Molecular and Clinical Features Underlie Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma. Cancer Research. January 15, 2016;76(2)319-328. doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-15-0751.

Hypothermic intraoperative pleural cisplatin chemotherapy extends interval to recurrence and survival among low-risk patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma undergoing surgical macroscopic complete resection. Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. April 2013;145(4):955-963. doi:10.1016/j.jtcvs.2012.12.037.

Sequential binary gene ratio tests define a novel molecular diagnostic strategy for malignant pleural mesothelioma. Clinical Cancer Research. May 1, 2013;19(9)2493-2502. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-12-2117.

Validation of a Gene Expression Test for Mesothelioma Prognosis in Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded Tissues. Journal of Molecular Diagnostics. January 2017;19(1):65-71. doi:10.1016/j.jmoldx.2016.07.011.

Accolades

Through his educational and professional successes, Dr. Raphael Bueno has earned accolades that are a testimony to his excellence.

• Henry A. Christian Award – Harvard Medical School
• “Boston’s Top Docs” of 2017 – Boston Magazine
• “America’s Top Doctors” of 2017 – Castle Connolly’s Top Doctors