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The one hundred honoree: Hensin Tsao, MD, PhD

Profile in Medicine

The one hundred honoree: Hensin Tsao, MD, PhD

by
Mass General Giving

Dr. Tsao has a three-pronged attack on melanoma, which is notoriously difficult to treat once it has spread. First, he identifies inherited genetic changes in families that have high frequencies of melanoma. Next, he investigates how ultraviolet radiation exposure actually causes melanoma to see if there are ways to prevent melanoma from occurring at all. Finally, he identifies disease-causing changes in the melanoma cells. Understanding these changes is critical for personalized medicine, which is the term used for selecting the right smart drugs for each individual patient.