Melisa Wong, MD, MAS
Associate Professor
Medicine
School of Medicine

Dr. Wong’s research focuses on understanding and improving patient-centered outcomes in older adults with cancer. She and her research team study the impact of lung cancer treatment on patients’ functional status and quality of life. In 2005, Dr. Wong earned her undergraduate degree in Human Biology with Honors and Distinction at Stanford University. She then completed medical school and training in internal medicine and medical oncology at UCSF. Dr. Wong also completed advanced research training as an Aging Research Fellow in the UCSF Division of Geriatrics and earned her Master’s Degree in Clinical Research in the UCSF Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Dr. Wong is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Cancer and Aging Research Group, Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, International Society of Geriatric Oncology, International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, and American Geriatrics Society.

Dr. Wong was a National Institute on Aging Butler-Williams Scholar in 2016 and received four Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO Merit Awards (2016 and 2017 ASCO Quality Care Symposium, 2016 and 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting). In 2017, she also received a Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO/Vicky Merryman Women Who Conquer Cancer Young Investigator Award, UCSF Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center Research Education Core Advanced Scholar Award, UCSF CTSI KL2 Career Development Award, and NIA GEMSSTAR R03. Dr. Wong's geriatric oncology research program is currently funded by an NIA Paul B. Beeson Emerging Leaders Career Development Award in Aging (K76).

• Higher Lifetime Stress and Symptom Burden Contribute to the Occurrence of Shortness of Breath.
  Seminars in oncology nursing 2023 Shin J, Kober K, Yates P, Wong ML, Cooper BA, Paul SM, Hammer M, Conley Y, Levine JD, Wright F, Miaskowski C
• Age-related differences in cancer relative survival in the United States: A SEER-18 analysis.
  International journal of cancer 2023 Withrow DR, Nicholson BD, Morris EJA, Wong ML, Pilleron S
• Osimertinib in NSCLC With Atypical EGFR-Activating Mutations: A Retrospective Multicenter Study.
  JTO clinical and research reports 2023 Ji J, Aredo JV, Piper-Vallillo A, Huppert L, Rotow JK, Husain H, Stewart S, Cobb R, Wakelee HA, Blakely CM, Wong ML, Gubens MA, Madani MH, Digumarthy SR, McCoach C, Piotrowska Z, Neal JW, Riess JW
• Integrating Geriatric Assessment Measures into National Cancer Institute Clinical Trials.
  Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs 2022 Magnuson A, Van der Walde N, McKoy JM, Wildes TM, Wong ML, Le-Rademacher J, Little RF, Klepin HD
• Distinct Shortness of Breath Profiles in Oncology Outpatients Undergoing Chemotherapy.
  Journal of pain and symptom management 2022 Shin J, Kober KM, Wong ML, Yates P, Cooper BA, Paul SM, Hammer M, Conley Y, Levine JD, Miaskowski C
• Systematic review of the literature on the occurrence and characteristics of dyspnea in oncology patients.
  Critical reviews in oncology/hematology 2022 Shin J, Kober K, Wong ML, Yates P, Miaskowski C
• Adapting a patient-centered communication tool for older patients with acute myeloid leukemia and their oncologist.
  Blood advances 2022 Watson E, Sanapala C, Cortes AM, Klepin HD, Wittink M, Norton S, Richardson DR, Dale W, Magnuson A, Mendler JH, Liesveld J, Huselton E, O'Dwyer K, LeBlanc TW, El-Jawahri A, Wong ML, Loh KP
• The epidemiology of preexisting geriatric and palliative conditions in older adults with poor prognosis cancers.
  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2022 Tsang M, Gan S, Boscardin WJ, Wong ML, Walter LC, Smith AK
• Change in four measures of physical function among older adults during lung cancer treatment: A mixed methods cohort study.
  Journal of geriatric oncology 2022 Singhal S, Walter LC, Smith AK, Loh KP, Cohen HJ, Zeng S, Shi Y, Boscardin WJ, Presley CJ, Williams GR, Magnuson A, Mohile SG, Wong ML
• Survive and thrive: Personal stories of persistence and resilience in aging research.
  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2022 Wong ML, Brown CJ, Kitzman DW, Zeng S, Mohile SG
• Functional Trajectories and Resilience Among Adults With Advanced Lung Cancer.
  JTO clinical and research reports 2022 Presley CJ, Arrato NA, Shields PG, Carbone DP, Wong ML, Benedict J, Reisinger SA, Han L, Gill TM, Allore H, Andersen BL, Janse S
• A Geriatric Assessment Intervention to Reduce Treatment Toxicity Among Older Adults With Advanced Lung Cancer: A Subgroup Analysis From a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.
  Frontiers in oncology 2022 Presley CJ, Mohamed MR, Culakova E, Flannery M, Vibhakar PH, Hoyd R, Amini A, VanderWalde N, Wong ML, Tsubata Y, Spakowicz DJ, Mohile SG
• "You have to be sure that the patient has the full picture": Adaptation of the Best Case/Worst Case communication tool for geriatric oncology.
  Journal of geriatric oncology 2022 Wong ML, Nicosia FM, Smith AK, Walter LC, Lam V, Cohen HJ, Loh KP, Mohile SG, Ursem CJ, Schwarze ML
• Changes in older adults' life space during lung cancer treatment: A mixed methods cohort study.
  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2021 Wong ML, Shi Y, Smith AK, Miaskowski C, Boscardin WJ, Cohen HJ, Lam V, Mazor M, Metzger L, Presley CJ, Williams GR, Loh KP, Ursem CJ, Friedlander TW, Blakely CM, Gubens MA, Allen G, Shumay D, Walter …
• Immunotherapy in Older Adults With Cancer.
  Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2021 Presley CJ, Gomes F, Burd CE, Kanesvaran R, Wong ML
• Functional Disability Among Older Versus Younger Adults With Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer.
  JCO oncology practice 2021 Presley CJ, Arrato NA, Janse S, Shields PG, Carbone DP, Wong ML, Han L, Gill TM, Allore HG, Andersen BL
• Characteristics Associated With Functional Changes During Systemic Cancer Treatments: A Systematic Review Focused on Older Adults.
  Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN 2021 Loh KP, Lam V, Webber K, Padam S, Sedrak MS, Musinipally V, Grogan M, Presley CJ, Grandi J, Sanapala C, Castillo DA, DiGiovanni G, Mohile SG, Walter LC, Wong ML
• Expanding Beyond Maximum Grade: Chemotherapy Toxicity over Time by Age and Performance Status in Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer in CALGB 9730 (Alliance A151729).
  The oncologist 2020 Wong ML, Gao J, Thanarajasingam G, Sloan JA, Dueck AC, Novotny PJ, Jatoi A, Hurria A, Walter LC, Miaskowski C, Cohen HJ, Wood WA, Feliciano JL, Stinchcombe TE, Wang X
• Toxicity and survival outcomes in older adults receiving concurrent or sequential chemoradiation for stage III non-small cell lung cancer in Alliance trials (Alliance A151812).
  Journal of geriatric oncology 2020 Maggiore RJ, Zahrieh D, McMurray RP, Feliciano JL, Samson P, Mohindra P, Chen H, Wong ML, Lafky JM, Jatoi A, Le-Rademacher JG
• Evaluation of a National Comprehensive Cancer Network Guidelines-Based Decision Support Tool in Patients With Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Nonrandomized Clinical Trial.
  JAMA network open 2020 Wu SY, Lazar AA, Gubens MA, Blakely CM, Gottschalk AR, Jablons DM, Jahan TM, Wang VEH, Dunbar TL, Wong ML, Chan JW, Guthrie W, Belkora J, Yom SS
• Co-occurrence of decrements in physical and cognitive function is common in older oncology patients receiving chemotherapy.
  European journal of oncology nursing : the official journal of European Oncology Nursing Society 2020 Utne I, Cooper BA, Ritchie C, Wong M, Dunn LB, Loyland B, Grov EK, Hammer MJ, Paul SM, Levine JD, Conley YP, Kober KM, Miaskowski C
• Hepatitis B Virus Screening and Management for Patients With Cancer Prior to Therapy: ASCO Provisional Clinical Opinion Update.
  Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2020 Hwang JP, Feld JJ, Hammond SP, Wang SH, Alston-Johnson DE, Cryer DR, Hershman DL, Loehrer AP, Sabichi AL, Symington BE, Terrault N, Wong ML, Somerfield MR, Artz AS
• Immunotherapy in older patients with non-small cell lung cancer: Young International Society of Geriatric Oncology position paper.
  British journal of cancer 2020 Gomes F, Wong M, Battisti NML, Kordbacheh T, Kiderlen M, Greystoke A, Luciani A
• Associations of Caregiver-Oncologist Discordance in Prognostic Understanding With Caregiver-Reported Therapeutic Alliance and Anxiety.
  Journal of pain and symptom management 2020 Loh KP, Xu H, Epstein RM, Mohile SG, Prigerson HG, Plumb S, Ladwig S, Kadambi S, Wong ML, McHugh C, An A, Trevino K, Saeed F, Duberstein PR
• Predicting risk of chemotherapy-induced severe neutropenia: A pooled analysis in individual patients data with advanced lung cancer.
  Lung cancer (Amsterdam, Netherlands) 2020 Cao X, Ganti AK, Stinchcombe T, Wong ML, Ho JC, Shen C, Liu Y, Crawford J, Pang H, Wang X
• Geriatric oncology health services research: Cancer and Aging Research Group infrastructure core.
  Journal of geriatric oncology 2019 Wong ML, Lichtman SM, Morrow GR, Simmons J, Hargraves T, Gross CP, Lund JL, Lowenstein LM, Walter LC, McDermott CL, Mohile SG, Cohen HJ
• Co-occuring symptoms in older oncology patients with distinct attentional function profiles.
  European journal of oncology nursing : the official journal of European Oncology Nursing Society 2019 Utne I, Løyland B, Grov EK, Paul S, Wong ML, Conley YP, Cooper BA, Levine JD, Miaskowski C
• Geriatric oncology research at the 2019 American Geriatrics Society (AGS) annual meeting: Joint perspectives from the Young International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) and AGS Cancer and Aging Special Interest Group.
  Journal of geriatric oncology 2019 Kotwal AA, Presley CJ, Loh KP, Huang LW, Lam V, Wong ML
• Arti Hurria, M.D.: A tribute to her shining legacy in the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology.
  Journal of geriatric oncology 2019 Alliance Cancer in the Older Adult Committee:, Adjei A, Buckner JC, Cathcart-Rake E, Chen H, Cohen HJ, Dao D, De Luca JE, Feliciano J, Freedman RA, Goldberg RM, Hopkins J, Hubbard J, Jatoi A, Karuturi…
• Mentoring pearls of wisdom: Lessons learned by mentees of Arti Hurria, MD.
  Journal of geriatric oncology 2019 Magnuson A, Li D, Hsu T, Loh KP, MacKenzie A, Presley CJ, Krok-Schoen JL, Subbiah IM, Williams GR, Wong M, Soto-Perez-de-Celis E, Sedrak MS, Junior Cancer and Aging Research Group
• Who Will Care for the Caregivers? Increased Needs When Caring for Frail Older Adults With Cancer.
  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2019 Huang LW, Smith AK, Wong ML
• Age-related differences in patient-reported and objective measures of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy among cancer survivors.
  Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer 2019 Wong ML, Cooper BA, Paul SM, Abrams G, Topp K, Kober KM, Chesney MA, Mazor M, Schumacher MA, Conley YP, Levine JD, Miaskowski C
• Stability of Symptom Clusters in Patients With Lung Cancer Receiving Chemotherapy.
  Journal of pain and symptom management 2019 Russell J, Wong ML, Mackin L, Paul SM, Cooper BA, Hammer M, Conley YP, Wright F, Levine JD, Miaskowski C
• From clinical trials to real-world practice: Immune checkpoint inhibitors in older adults.
  Journal of geriatric oncology 2019 Loh KP, Wong ML, Maggiore R
• Going Far Together: A Tribute to Arti Hurria, MD.
  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2019 Wong ML, Cohen HJ
• More Frequent Surveillance Following Lung Cancer Resection Is Not Associated With Improved Survival: A Nationally Representative Cohort Study.
  Annals of surgery 2018 McMurry TL, Stukenborg GJ, Kessler LG, Colditz GA, Wong ML, Francescatti AB, Jones DR, Schumacher JR, Greenberg CC, Chang GJ, Winchester DP, McKellar DP, Kozower BD
• Comorbidity Assessment in the National Cancer Database for Patients With Surgically Resected Breast, Colorectal, or Lung Cancer (AFT-01, -02, -03).
  Journal of oncology practice 2018 Wong ML, McMurry TL, Schumacher JR, Hu CY, Stukenborg GJ, Francescatti AB, Greenberg CC, Chang GJ, McKellar DP, Walter LC, Kozower BD
• Characteristics Associated With Physical Function Trajectories in Older Adults With Cancer During Chemotherapy.
  Journal of pain and symptom management 2018 Wong ML, Paul SM, Mastick J, Ritchie C, Steinman MA, Walter LC, Miaskowski C
• Distinct attentional function profiles in older adults receiving cancer chemotherapy.
  European journal of oncology nursing : the official journal of European Oncology Nursing Society 2018 Utne I, Løyland B, Grov EK, Rasmussen HL, Torstveit AH, Cooper BA, Mastick J, Mazor M, Wong M, Paul SM, Conley YP, Jahan T, Ritchie C, Levine JD, Miaskowski C
• Age, comorbidity, life expectancy, and pulmonary nodule follow-up in older veterans.
  PloS one 2018 Wong ML, Shi Y, Fung KZ, Ngo S, Elicker BM, Brown JK, Hiatt RA, Tang VL, Walter LC
• Individualizing PSA Monitoring Among Older Prostate Cancer Survivors.
  Journal of general internal medicine 2018 Shi Y, Fung KZ, John Boscardin W, Ngo S, Freedland SJ, Wong ML, Walter LC
• Time-to-Treatment-Failure and Related Outcomes Among 1000+ Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients: Comparisons Between Older Versus Younger Patients (Alliance A151711).
  Journal of thoracic oncology : official publication of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 2018 Gajra A, Zemla TJ, Jatoi A, Feliciano JL, Wong ML, Chen H, Maggiore R, McMurray RP, Hurria A, Muss HB, Cohen HJ, Lafky J, Edelman MJ, Lilenbaum R, Le-Rademacher JG
• Distinct Physical Function Profiles in Older Adults Receiving Cancer Chemotherapy.
  Journal of pain and symptom management 2017 Miaskowski C, Wong ML, Cooper BA, Mastick J, Paul SM, Possin K, Steinman M, Cataldo J, Dunn LB, Ritchie C
• Differences in Symptom Clusters Identified Using Ratings of Symptom Occurrence vs. Severity in Lung Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy.
  Journal of pain and symptom management 2017 Wong ML, Cooper BA, Paul SM, Levine JD, Conley YP, Wright F, Hammer M, Miaskowski C
• Predictors of the multidimensional symptom experience of lung cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.
  Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer 2017 Wong ML, Paul SM, Cooper BA, Dunn LB, Hammer MJ, Conley YP, Wright F, Levine JD, Walter LC, Cartwright F, Miaskowski C
• Chemotherapy-Induced Neuropathy in Cancer Survivors.
  Journal of pain and symptom management 2017 Miaskowski C, Mastick J, Paul SM, Topp K, Smoot B, Abrams G, Chen LM, Kober KM, Conley YP, Chesney M, Bolla K, Mausisa G, Mazor M, Wong M, Schumacher M, Levine JD
• Impact of age and comorbidity on treatment of non-small cell lung cancer recurrence following complete resection: A nationally representative cohort study.
  Lung cancer (Amsterdam, Netherlands) 2016 Wong ML, McMurry TL, Stukenborg GJ, Francescatti AB, Amato-Martz C, Schumacher JR, Chang GJ, Greenberg CC, Winchester DP, McKellar DP, Walter LC, Kozower BD
• Enrollment Trends and Disparity Among Patients With Lung Cancer in National Clinical Trials, 1990 to 2012.
  Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2016 Pang HH, Wang X, Stinchcombe TE, Wong ML, Cheng P, Ganti AK, Sargent DJ, Zhang Y, Hu C, Mandrekar SJ, Redman MW, Manola JB, Schilsky RL, Cohen HJ, Bradley JD, Adjei AA, Gandara D, Ramalingam SS, Vokes…
• Chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment in older patients with cancer.
  Journal of geriatric oncology 2016 Loh KP, Janelsins MC, Mohile SG, Holmes HM, Hsu T, Inouye SK, Karuturi MS, Kimmick GG, Lichtman SM, Magnuson A, Whitehead MI, Wong ML, Ahles TA
• Understanding cognition in older patients with cancer.
  Journal of geriatric oncology 2016 Karuturi M, Wong ML, Hsu T, Kimmick GG, Lichtman SM, Holmes HM, Inouye SK, Dale W, Loh KP, Whitehead MI, Magnuson A, Hurria A, Janelsins MC, Mohile S
• Clinician Factors Associated With Prostate-Specific Antigen Screening in Older Veterans With Limited Life Expectancy.
  JAMA internal medicine 2016 Tang VL, Shi Y, Fung K, Tan J, Espaldon R, Sudore R, Wong ML, Walter LC
• Incidence of non-small-cell lung cancer among California Hispanics according to neighborhood socioeconomic status.
  Journal of thoracic oncology : official publication of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 2013 Wong ML, Clarke CA, Yang J, Hwang J, Hiatt RA, Wang S
• Discovery of a potent small-molecule antagonist of inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) proteins and clinical candidate for the treatment of cancer (GDC-0152).
  Journal of medicinal chemistry 2012 Flygare JA, Beresini M, Budha N, Chan H, Chan IT, Cheeti S, Cohen F, Deshayes K, Doerner K, Eckhardt SG, Elliott LO, Feng B, Franklin MC, Reisner SF, Gazzard L, Halladay J, Hymowitz SG, La H, LoRusso …
• Impact of age and comorbidity on non-small-cell lung cancer treatment in older veterans.
  Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2012 Wang S, Wong ML, Hamilton N, Davoren JB, Jahan TM, Walter LC
• More to mutton than meets the eye.
  Journal of general internal medicine 2010 Pierce RG, Wong M, Skalet AB
• Children's perceived social support after a parent is diagnosed with cancer.
  Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings 2010 Wong M, Ratner J, Gladstone KA, Davtyan A, Koopman C
• Posttraumatic growth and adverse long-term effects of parental cancer in children.
  Families, systems & health : the journal of collaborative family healthcare 2009 Wong ML, Cavanaugh CE, Macleamy JB, Sojourner-Nelson A, Koopman C
• A preliminary study of peritraumatic dissociation, social support, and coping in relation to posttraumatic stress symptoms for a parent's cancer.
  Psycho-oncology 2006 Wong M, Looney E, Michaels J, Palesh O, Koopman C