Monali Vasekar, MD - Penn State Cancer Institute
Researcher Profile

Monali Vasekar, MD
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
Division of Hematology and Oncology
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
Division of Hematology and Oncology
Scientific Program:Next-Generation Therapies
Clinical Trials
CCTG MA.39:Tailor RT: A Randomized Trial of Regional Radiotherapy in Biomarker Low Risk Node Positive and T3N0 Breast Cancer
NRG-BR009: A Phase III Adjuvant Trial Evaluating the Addition of Adjuvant Chemotherapy to Ovarian Function Suppression plus Endocrine Therapy in Premenopausal Patients with pN0-1, ER-Positive/HER2-Negative Breast Cancer and an Oncotype Recurrence Score (OFSET)
A012103: OptimICE-PCR: De-Escalation of Therapy in Early-Stage TNBC Patients Who Achieve pCR After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy with Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy
NRG-BR008: A Phase III Randomized Trial of Radiotherapy Optimization for Low-Risk HER2-Positive Breast Cancer (HERO)
CAMBRIA-2: A Phase III, Open-Label, Randomised Study to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of Camizestrant (AZD9833, a Next Generation, Oral Selective Estrogen Receptor Degrader) vs Standard Endocrine Therapy (Aromatase nhibitor or Tamoxifen) as Adjuvant Treatment for Patients With ER+/HER2- Early Breast Cancer and an Intermediate-high or High risk of Recurrence Who Have Completed Definitive Locoregional Treatment and Have No evidence of Disease
S1501, Prospective Observational Cohort Study of Patients with Metastatic HER-2+ Breast Cancer at Risk of Cardiac Toxicity
NRG-BR007: A Phase III Clinical Trial Evaluating Deescalation of Breast Radiation for Conservative Treatment of Stage I, Hormone sensitive, HER2- Negative Oncotype recurrence Score Less Than or Equal to 18 Breast Cancer (DEBRA)
BINGO: Bridging Knowledge, Increasing Awareness - Empowering the Black Community through Educational Gamification on Cancer Screenings and Clinical Trial Diversity
A Phase 1b/2 Study Assessing the Safety and Efficacy of Evexomostat (SDX-7320) in Combination with a PI3K Pathway Inhibitor plus Fulvestrant in Postmenopausal Women with Advanced Breast Cancer and PI3K Pathway Alterations Who Have Progressed on or Following Endocrine Therapy plus a CDK4/6 Inhibitor
An Open Label, Phase II Trial of Pre-operative Neratinib and Endocrine Therapy with Trastuzumab in Triple Positive Breast Cancers
A Phase II Study of Ribociclib and Endocrine Treatment of Physician's Choice for Locoregional Recurrent, Resected Hormone Receptor Positive HER2 Negative Breast Cancer (RaPhLRR Study) (HCRN-BRE20-468)
Shorter Anthracycline-Free Chemo Immunotherapy Adapted to Pathological Response in Early Triple Negative Breast Cancer (SCARLET), A Randomized Phase III Study
Phase 1, open label clinical trial to treat Stage IV cancer patients with multiple patient-specific mutated cell surface proteins with chimeric antibodies
Recent Publications
2025
Rao, P, Segel, JE, Bingen, K, Devine, KA, Scott, AM, Koehly, LM, Verdery, AM, Rumbaugh, CL, Wasserman, E, Costigan, HJ, Dandekar, S, Rakszawski, K, Songdej, N, Blackall, GF, Vasekar, M, Naik, S, Lengerich, EJ & Van Scoy, LJ 2025, 'The impact of a personal cancer diagnosis on adolescent and young adult cancer survivors’ social connectedness: A qualitative analysis', Journal of Health Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053241311977
2024
Labe, S, Jones, G, Dailey, H, Bhasker, J, Kanwar, R, Crago, M, Fitzgerald, B, Mikhail, D, Hafiz, S, Kramer, C, Zhu, J & Vasekar, M 2025, 'D-CRSE: Diminishing chemotherapy-related side effects through patient education, a mixed-methods pilot study', Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, vol. 43, no. 1, pp. 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/07347332.2024.2345124
2023
Gordon, BR, Qiu, L, Doerksen, SE, Kanski, B, Lorenzo, A, Truica, CI, Vasekar, M, Wang, M, Winkels, RM, Abdullah, S & Schmitz, KH 2023, 'Addressing metastatic individuals everyday: Rationale and design of the nurse AMIE for Amazon Echo Show trial among metastatic breast cancer patients', Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications, vol. 32, 101058. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conctc.2023.101058
Dailey, H, Labe, S, Jones, G, Bhasker, J, Kanwar, R, Hafiz, S, Crago, M, Fitzgerald, B, Mikhail, D, Zhu, J & Vasekar, M 2023, 'D-CRSE: Diminishing chemotherapy related side effects through patient education', Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, vol. 41, no. 16_suppl, e24148.
Julian, K & Vasekar, M 2023, 'Thoracic splenosis: an important consideration in oncology patients', BMJ case reports, vol. 16, no. 11, e257091. https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2023-257091
2022
Weng, X, Shen, C, Vasekar, M, Boltz, M, Joshi, M, Van Scoy, LJ & Wang, L 2023, 'Alzheimer's disease and related dementias is a risk factor for lower utilization of breast cancer screening and unstaged cancer diagnosis: Observational study from SEER-Medicare 2004–2016 data', Journal of Geriatric Oncology, vol. 14, no. 3, 101407. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jgo.2022.11.006
2021
Nesterova, D, Zhu, J, Kramer, C, Vasekar, M, Truica, C, Joshi, A, Hayes, M, Kessler, J, Saunders, EFH, Drabick, JJ & Joshi, M 2022, 'Group-led creative writing and behavioural health in cancer: A randomised clinical trial', BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 91-98. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjspcare-2020-002463
Mrowczynski, OD, Vasekar, M, Fox, E, Harbaugh, K, Aregawi, D, Pameijer, CR, Zaorsky, N, Payne, R & Rizk, E 2021, 'Spontaneous Hip Dislocation Complicating the Management of Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumor Arising Within a Plexiform Neurofibroma', Cureus, vol. 13, no. 7, e16320. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.16320