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Keith A. Cengel, MD/PhD

Professor of Radiation Oncology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

  • Director, Photodynamic Therapy Program, University of Pennsylvania
  • Executive Director, Penn Mesothelioma and Pleural Diseases Program
  • Vice-Chair, Data and Safety Monitoring Board, Abramson Cancer Center

Department: Radiation Oncology


Contact Information

Smilow Center for Translational Research, Room 8-136
Univ of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine
3400 Civic Center Blvd, Bldg 421
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: 215-898-1035
Lab Phone: 215-898-0838
Fax: 215-349-5445
Email: cengel@pennmedicine.upenn.edu


I3H Keywords

  • Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy

Publications

Pubmed Link


Links


Education

  • BS (Biochemistry)
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1991
  • BS (Biology)
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1991
  • MS (Cellular/Molecular Biology)
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1993
  • PhD (Cellular/Molecular Biology)
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1998
  • MD (Medical)
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2001

Post-Graduate Training

  • Medical Scholars Program Endowment Fellowship
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1999 - 2001
  • Resident in Internal Medicine
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2001 - 2002
  • Resident in Radiation Oncology
    Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 2002 - 2006

Certifications

  • American Board of Radiology, 2008

Description of Clinical Expertise

Photodynamic Therapy
Radiation therapy for neuroendocrine and thoracic tumors

Description of Research Expertise

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
1. Defining Mechanisms and Reducing Toxicity from Normal Tissue Damage Caused by Ionizing Radiation: These projects center on modeling the physical patterns of dose deposition by x-rays, gamma rays and charged particles and determining the mechanism(s) that lead to normal tissue toxicity. From a greater understanding of these mechanisms, these projects seek to identify and formulate potential radiation protectors and mitigators for use in human medicine.

2. Cellular Signaling and PDT cytotoxicity: This project is focused on defining the molecular mechanism by which PDT-initiated growth factor and anti-oxidant signaling leads to decreased PDT-mediated cytotoxicity in human cancer cells and tumors.

3. Clinical trials of RT and PDT: These projects involve using insights gained from pre-clinical studies to design early phase interventional trials for patients with cancers that are difficult to treat using current standard modalities.

Description of ITMAT Expertise

Dr. Cengel works on modulating the therapeutic index of radiation therapy (RT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) in cancer patients using in vitro and in vivo and clinical models. Ongoing studies include exploration of the potential therapeutic gains achieved using hadron RT (e.g. proton, HZE particles), physical countermeasures (e.g. magnetic fields, flash dose rate) and molecular/immunologic modulators (e.g. EGFR, PI3K, checkpoint inhibitors).

Selected Publications

  • Friberg AM, Tan HS, Diffenderfer ES, Verginadis I, Kim MM, Cengel K, Wiersma R, Dong L, Koumenis C, Teo BK, Zou W. : Physicochemical indication of the FLASH effect from shoot-through proton pencil beam scanning parameters delivered under ultra-high dose rates Phys Med Biol 70 Aug 2025
  • Feigenberg SJ, Costabile F, Tanes C, Bittinger K, O'Connor R, Agarwal D, Skoufos G, Salaris S, Hatzigeorgiou A, Kostopoulos N, Lloyd S, Friedes C, Chen L, Yegya-Raman N, Cengel K, Levin W, Valentić B, Quarton T, Shestov AA, Berman A, Bradley J, Maity A, Koumenis C, Ben-Josef E, Facciabene A. : Enhancing outcomes in medically inoperable early-stage NSCLC with gut-targeted antibiotics and stereotactic body radiotherapy: results from a randomized pilot study J Immunother Cancer 13 : e011356, Jul 2025
  • Jenna Rocchetti 1, Nikhil Yegya-Raman 1, Michelle Iocolano 1, William P Levin 1, Keith A Cengel 1, Jeffrey Bradley 1, Steven J Feigenberg 1, Cole Friedes 2 : Salvage thoracic reirradiation for recurrent non-small cell lung cancer: Clinical efficacy and the impact of consolidative immunotherapy Radiother Oncol July 2025
  • Seyyedeh Azar Oliaei Motlagh 1, François Vander Stappen 2, Michele M Kim 1, Rudi Labarbe 2, Lucian Hotoiu 2, Arnaud Pin 2, Rasmus Nilsson 3, Erik Traneus 3, Keith A Cengel 1, Wei Zou 1, Boon-Keng Kevin Teo 1, Lei Dong 1, Eric S Diffenderfer 1 : Verification of dose and dose rate for quality assurance of spread-out-Bragg-peak proton FLASH radiotherapy using machine log files Med Phys June 2025
  • Gwendolyn M Cramer 1, Richard W Davis 4th 1, Emmanouil Papasavvas 2, Astero Klampatsa 3, Joann M Miller 1, Shirron Carter 1, Ruth Ikpe 1, Min Yuan 1, Sandy Widura 2, R Sonali Majumdar 2, Sally McNulty 1, Mary Putt 4, Andrew V Kossenkov 2, Luis J Montaner 2, Sunil Singhal 5, Edmund K Moon 3, Steven M Albelda 3, Keith A Cengel 1, Theresa M Busch 1 : PD-1 Blockade Mitigates Surgery-Induced Immunosuppression and Increases the Efficacy of Photodynamic Therapy for Pleural Mesothelioma Cancer Res Commun 5 : 841-856, May 2025
  • Ioannis I Verginadis 1, Anastasia Velalopoulou 1, Michele M Kim 1, Kyle Kim 1, Ioannis Paraskevaidis 1, Brett Bell 2, Seyyedeh Azar Oliaei Motlagh 1, Antoneta Karaj 3, Esha Banerjee 4, Giovanni Finesso 4, Charles-Antoine Assenmacher 4, Enrico Radaelli 4, Jiawei Lu 5, Yuewei Lin 5, Mary E Putt 3, Eric S Diffenderfer 1, Chandan Guha 2, Ling Qin 5, James M Metz 1, Amit Maity 1, Keith A Cengel 1, Constantinos Koumenis 1, Theresa M Busch 6 : FLASH proton reirradiation, with or without hypofractionation, reduces chronic toxicity in the normal murine intestine, skin, and bone Radiother Oncol April 2025
  • Stalker M, Walker SL, Lebow E, Pai EL, Watts A, Hwang WT, Banihashemi A, Anderson E, Roshkovan L, Katz SI, Litzky L, Haas AR, Singhal S, Langer CJ, Cengel K, Marmarelis ME. : Incidence and Outcomes of Brain Metastasis in Pleural Mesothelioma in the Era of Immunotherapy JTO Clin Res Rep 6 : 100823, Mar 2025
  • Hongjing Sun 1 2, Michele M Kim 1, Yi Hong Ong 1, Andreea Dimofte 1, Sunil Singhal 3, Theresa M Busch 1, Keith A Cengel 1, Timothy C Zhu 1 : Comprehensive reanalysis of light fluence distribution in pleural photodynamic therapy using standardized anatomical coordinates Photochem Photobiol Jan 2025
  • Wang H, Yao L, Zhong L, Fang J, He Q, Busch TM, Cengel K, Qin L. : Marrow adipogenic lineage precursors (MALPs) facilitate bone marrow recovery after chemotherapy Bone 2025
  • Cengel KA, Belal Z, Kim MM, Hagan S, Camps S, Kalinin A, Hsue W, Diffenderfer E, Garonna A, Tschabrunn C. : Cardiorespiratory-gated cardiac proton radiotherapy using a novel ultrasound guidance system Clin Transl Radiat Oncol 51 : 100904, Dec 2024