Patricia Ganz

Dr. Patricia Ganz is Distinguished Professor of Health Policy and Management, in the Fielding School of Public Health, Distinguished Professor of Medicine in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and Director of the Center for Cancer Prevention & Control Research at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. She teaches Evidence Based Medicine and Organizational Change.

Dr. Ganz received her M.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine in 1973, and completed post-doctoral training in internal medicine and medical oncology at the UCLA Medical Center. She has been on the faculty of the School of Medicine since 1977, and joined the faculty of the School of Public Health in 1992. Since 1993 she has been the Director of Cancer Prevention and Control Research at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. In 1999 she was awarded an American Cancer Society Clinical Research Professorship for “Enhancing Patient Outcomes across the Cancer Control Continuum.” Dr. Ganz was elected to the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 2007. She served on the National Cancer Institute Board of Scientific Advisors from 2002-2007 and on the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Board of Directors from 2003-2006. She received the American Cancer Society Medal of Honor in 2010.

Dr. Ganz is a pioneer in the assessment of quality of life in cancer patients, and has focused much of her clinical and research efforts in the areas of breast cancer and its prevention. At the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, she leads the scientific program focused on Cancer Control and Survivorship.  Her major areas of research include cancer survivorship and late effects of cancer treatment, cancer in the elderly, and quality of care for cancer patients.  She was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute: JNCI from 2017-2022.  She has had NIH funding for her research for the past 35 years.

She was a founding member of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) in 1986, and has dedicated much of her research career to studying both the acute and late effects of cancer treatment in patients and survivors. She has served on four Institute of Medicine/National Academy of Medicine consensus studies that have focused on the needs of cancer survivors—the 2005 report “From Cancer Patient to Cancer Survivor: Lost in Transition”(Hewitt, Greenfield et al. 2006) and the 2007 report “Cancer Care for the Whole Patient: Meeting Psychosocial Needs.” (Adler and Page 2007) She has played an active role in the dissemination of these report recommendations nationally and internationally. In 2013, she chaired the IOM consensus study report entitled “Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a Course for a System in Crisis,” (Levit, Balogh et al. 2013) that has had a major impact on health care policy related to cancer care delivery.  Most recently, she served on a consensus study that provided updated information for the Social Security Administration regarding disabilities associated with the treatment of cancer in survivors (Diagnosing and Treating Adult Cancers and Associated Impairments, NSAEM 2021).  Her policy work related to quality of care has largely occurred as part of her membership in the IOM National Cancer Policy Forum (2005-2013) where she has played a critical leadership role in numerous workshops and meetings. Her bibliography is extensive with more than 600 peer-reviewed publications, editorials, reviews, and four edited books on evidence-based cancer care, cancer survivorship and quality of care, and breast cancer outcomes.

Center Affiliations

Education

  • UCLA School of Medicine, MD, 1973
  • Harvard University (Radcliffe College), BA, 1969

Related Tags

Selected Publications

  • Ganz, P.A., Land, S.R. Geyer, Jr.,C.E., et al. Menstrual History and Quality of Life Outcomes in Women with Node Positive Breast Cancer Treated with Adjuvant Therapy on the NSABP B-30 Trial. J Clin Oncol. 20;29(9):1110-6, 2011.
  • Ganz, P.A., Kwan, L., Stanton, A.L., Bower, J.E., Belin, T.R.:  Physical and Emotional Recovery in the Year after Primary Treatment of Breast Cancer. J Clin Oncol. 20;29(9):1101-9, 2011
  • Klabunde, C.N., Keating, N.L., Potosky, A.L., Ambs, A., He, Y., Hornbrook, M.C., Ganz, P.A.: A Population Based Assessment of Specialty Physicians’ Involvement in Cancer Clinical Trials.  JNCI 103:384-97, 2011.
  • Bower, J. E., Ganz, P. A., Irwin, M. R., Kwan, L., Breen, E. C., Cole, S. W.: Inflammation and behavioral symptoms after breast cancer treatment: do fatigue, depression, and sleep disturbance share a common underlying mechanism?  Journal of Clinical Oncology 29(26):3517-22, 2011.
  • Balogh, E. P., Ganz, P. A., Murphy, S. B., Nass, S. J., Ferrell, B. R., Stovall, E.: Patient-Centered Cancer Treatment Planning: Improving the Quality of Oncology Care. Summary of an Institute of Medicine Workshop. The Oncologist. 16(12):1800-5, 2011.
  • Howard-Anderson, J., Ganz, P. A., Bower, J. E., Stanton, A. L.: Quality of Life, Fertility Concerns, and Behavioral Health Outcomes in Younger Breast Cancer Survivors: A Systematic Review. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 104(5):386-405, 2012.
  • Ganz, P. A., Bower, J. E., Kwan, L., Castellon, S. A., Silverman, D. H., Geist, C., Breen, E. C., Irwin, M. R., Cole, S.W.: Does tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) play a role in post-chemotherapy cerebral dysfunction?. Brain, behavior, and immunity 30 Suppl:S99-108, 2013.
  • Sehl, M., Lu, X., Silliman, R., Ganz, P. A.: Decline in physical functioning in first 2 years after breast cancer diagnosis predicts 10-year survival in older women. Journal of Cancer Survivorship. Mar;7(1):20-31, 2013.
  • Ganz P A, Kwan L, Castellon S A, Oppenheim A, Bower J E, et al. Cognitive Complaints After Breast Cancer Treatments: Examining the Relationship With Neuropsychological Test Performance. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 105(11):791-801, 2013.
  • Virgo, K., Lerro, S.C., Klabunde, C.N., Earle, C., Ganz, P.A. Barriers to breast and colorectal cancer survivorship care: perceptions of primary care physicians and medical oncologists in the United States. Journal of clinical oncology 31 (18): 2322-2336, 2013.
  • Runowicz CD, Leach CR, Henry NL, Henry KS, Mackey HT, Cowens-Alvarado RL, Cannady RS, Pratt-Chapman ML, Edge SB, Jacobs LA, Hurria A, Marks LB, LaMonte SJ, Warner E, Lyman GH, Ganz PA. American Cancer Society/American Society of Clinical Oncology Breast Cancer Survivorship Care Guideline. CA: a cancer journal for clinicians. 2016;66(1):43-73.
  • Maly R C, Liang L, Liu Y, Griggs J, & Ganz P A. Randomized Controlled Trial of Survivorship Care Plans Among Low-Income, Predominantly Latina Breast Cancer Survivors. Journal of clinical oncology. 2017;35(16):1814-1821.
  • Gresham G, Diniz M A, Razaee Z S, Luu M, Kim S, Hays R D, Piantadosi S, Tighiouart M, Yothers G, Ganz PA, Rogatko A. Evaluating Treatment Tolerability in Cancer Clinical Trials using the Toxicity Index. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2020 Dec 14;112(12):1266-1274.
  • Bower JE, Partridge AH, Wolff AC, Thorner ED, Irwin MR, Joffe H, Petersen L, Crespi CM, Ganz PA. Targeting Depressive Symptoms in Younger Breast Cancer Survivors: The Pathways to Wellness Randomized Controlled Trial of Mindfulness Meditation and Survivorship Education. J Clin Oncol. 2021 Nov 1;39(31):3473-3484.
  • Nekhlyudov L, Campbell GB, Schmitz KH, Brooks GA, Kumar AJ, Ganz PA, Von Ah D. Cancer-related impairments and functional limitations among long-term cancer survivors: Gaps and opportunities for clinical practice. Cancer. 2021 Sep 16;. doi: 10.1002/cncr.33913. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 34529268.