Research Summary

Dr. Eric Nakakura is a gastrointestinal cancer surgeon who specializes in tumors of the pancreas, bile ducts, liver, and GI tract. He also treats soft tissue sarcomas, including tumors of the retroperitoneum, trunk and extremities. Dr. Nakakura is a leading authority on neuroendocrine carcinoid tumors of the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas. In 2017, he was awarded a $1.2m grant from the Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation (NETRF) to elucidate the causes of small intestinal neuroendocrine tumors (SI-NETs).

Dr. Nakakura earned a medical degree at Stanford Medical School and a doctorate degree in cellular and molecular medicine at the Johns Hopkins University. He completed a residency in general surgery at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and was a specialist registrar in surgery at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England. He also completed a fellowship in surgical oncology at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.

Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) of the small intestine and pancreas frequently spread throughout the body (i.e., metastasize). Surgery is often not possible for patients with advanced disease, and current therapies are ineffective for shrinking tumors and durable palliation of debilitating symptoms, often caused by the release of hormones into the blood. Dr. Nakakura and his colleagues' long-term goal is to find the causes of NETs of the small intestine and pancreas, which can lead to earlier diagnosis and ultimately a cure.

Education

University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, BS, 1990, Bioengineering-Premedic
Stanford Medical School, Stanford, CA, MD, 1995, Medicine
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, PhD, 2001, Cellular/Molecular Medicine

Honors & Awards

  • 1988
    Phi Beta Kappa, University of California, San Diego
  • 1990
    Magna Cum Laude, University of California, San Diego
  • 1991
    Stanford Medical Student Scholars Program Research Fellow
  • 1992
    International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation Poster Award Recipient
  • 1992
    American Heart Association Medical Student Research Fellow
  • 2000
    George D. Zuidema Award for Laboratory Research, Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
  • 2003
    John L. Cameron Technical Excellence Award, Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
  • 2007
    Excellence in Teaching Award, Department of Surgery, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
  • 2009
    Excellence in Teaching Award, The Haile T. Debas Academy of Medical Educators Memberships

Selected Publications

  1. Ashraf Ganjouei A, Romero-Hernandez F, Wang JJ, Casey M, Frye W, Hoffman D, Hirose K, Nakakura E, Corvera C, Maker AV, Kirkwood KS, Alseidi A, Adam MA. ASO Visual Abstract: A Machine-Learning Approach to Predict Postoperative Pancreatic Fistula after Pancreaticoduodenectomy Using only Preoperatively Known Data. Ann Surg Oncol. 2023 Nov; 30(12):7776-7777.  View on PubMed
  2. Ashraf Ganjouei A, Romero-Hernandez F, Wang JJ, Casey M, Frye W, Hoffman D, Hirose K, Nakakura E, Corvera C, Maker AV, Kirkwood KS, Alseidi A, Adam MA. A Machine Learning Approach to Predict Postoperative Pancreatic Fistula After Pancreaticoduodenectomy Using Only Preoperatively Known Data. Ann Surg Oncol. 2023 Nov; 30(12):7738-7747.  View on PubMed
  3. Calthorpe L, Romero-Hernandez F, Casey M, Nunez M, Conroy PC, Hirose K, Kim A, Kirkwood K, Maker AV, Corvera C, Nakakura E, Alseidi A, Adam MA. ASO Visual Abstract: National Practice Patterns in Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma-Updates in Management and Survival. Ann Surg Oncol. 2023 Aug; 30(8):5131.  View on PubMed
  4. Eads JR, Halfdanarson TR, Asmis T, Bellizzi AM, Bergsland EK, Dasari A, El-Haddad G, Frumovitz M, Meyer J, Mittra E, Myrehaug S, Nakakura E, Raj N, Soares HP, Untch B, Vijayvergia N, Chan JA. Expert Consensus Practice Recommendations of the North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society for the management of high grade gastroenteropancreatic and gynecologic neuroendocrine neoplasms. Endocr Relat Cancer. 2023 08 01; 30(8).  View on PubMed
  5. Kasai Y, Nakakura EK, Yogo A, Nagai K, Masui T, Hatano E. Residual Tumor Volume, Not Percent Cytoreduction, Matters for Surgery of Neuroendocrine Liver Metastasis. Ann Surg Oncol. 2023 09; 30(9):5457-5458.  View on PubMed
  6. Chiorean EG, Chiaro MD, Tempero MA, Malafa MP, Benson AB, Cardin DB, Christensen JA, Chung V, Czito B, Dillhoff M, Donahue TR, Dotan E, Fountzilas C, Glazer ES, Hardacre J, Hawkins WG, Klute K, Ko AH, Kunstman JW, LoConte N, Lowy AM, Masood A, Moravek C, Nakakura EK, Narang AK, Nardo L, Obando J, Polanco PM, Reddy S, Reyngold M, Scaife C, Shen J, Truty MJ, Vollmer C, Wolff RA, Wolpin BM, Rn BM, Lubin S, Darlow SD. Ampullary Adenocarcinoma, Version 1.2023, NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2023 07; 21(7):753-782.  View on PubMed
  7. Calthorpe L, Romero-Hernandez F, Casey M, Nunez M, Conroy PC, Hirose K, Kim A, Kirkwood K, Maker AV, Corvera C, Nakakura E, Alseidi A, Adam MA. National Practice Patterns in Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma: Updates in Management and Survival. Ann Surg Oncol. 2023 Aug; 30(8):5119-5129.  View on PubMed
  8. Hoffman DB, Nakakura EK. Laparoscopic Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer. JAMA Surg. 2023 05 01; 158(5):454-455.  View on PubMed
  9. Tbeileh N, Timmerman L, Mattis AN, Toriguchi K, Kasai Y, Corvera C, Nakakura E, Hirose K, Donner DB, Warren RS, Karelehto E. Metastatic colorectal adenocarcinoma tumor purity assessment from whole exome sequencing data. PLoS One. 2023; 18(4):e0271354.  View on PubMed
  10. Wang SJ, Whitman J, Paciorek A, Le BK, Nakakura EK, Behr SC, Joseph N, Zhang L, Hope TA, Bergsland EK. Baseline tumor growth rate highlights the heterogeneity of well differentiated gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors and predicts for increases in Ki67 index over time. J Neuroendocrinol. 2023 04; 35(4):e13260.  View on PubMed
  11. Lin JJ, Conroy PC, Romero-Hernandez F, Yilma M, Feng J, Hirose K, Nakakura E, Maker AV, Corvera C, Kirkwood K, Alseidi A, Adam MA. Hypertension Requiring Medication Use: a Silent Predictor of Poor Outcomes After Pancreaticoduodenectomy. J Gastrointest Surg. 2023 02; 27(2):328-336.  View on PubMed
  12. Calthorpe L, Romero-Hernandez F, Miller P, Conroy PC, Hirose K, Kim A, Kirkwood K, Nakakura E, Corvera C, Maker AV, Alseidi A, Adam MA. Contemporary Trends in Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma: Incidence and Survival in the United States. Cancers (Basel). 2022 Dec 30; 15(1).  View on PubMed
  13. Miller PN, Romero-Hernandez F, Conroy P, Calthorpe L, Yilma M, Mohamedaly S, Kelly YM, Feng J, Hirose K, Kirkwood K, Maker AV, Corvera C, Nakakura E, Alseidi A, Adam MA. Hand-Assisted Versus Pure Minimally-Invasive Distal Pancreatectomy: Is There a Downside to Lending a Hand? World J Surg. 2023 03; 47(3):750-758.  View on PubMed
  14. Romero-Hernandez F, Mohamedaly S, Miller P, Rodriguez N, Calthorpe L, Conroy PC, Ganjouei AA, Hirose K, Maker AV, Nakakura E, Corvera C, Kirkwood KS, Alseidi A, Adam MA. Minimally Invasive Distal Pancreatectomy Techniques: A Contemporary Analysis Exploring Trends, Similarities, and Differences to Open Surgery. Cancers (Basel). 2022 Nov 16; 14(22).  View on PubMed
  15. Mäkinen N, Zhou M, Zhang Z, Kasai Y, Perez E, Kim GE, Thirlwell C, Nakakura E, Meyerson M. Whole genome sequencing reveals the independent clonal origin of multifocal ileal neuroendocrine tumors. Genome Med. 2022 08 03; 14(1):82.  View on PubMed
  16. Conroy PC, Calthorpe L, Lin JA, Mohamedaly S, Kim A, Hirose K, Nakakura E, Corvera C, Sosa JA, Sarin A, Kirkwood KS, Alseidi A, Adam MA. ASO Visual Abstract: Determining Hospital Volume Threshold for the Safety of Minimally Invasive Pancreaticoduodenectomy: A Contemporary Cutpoint Analysis. Ann Surg Oncol. 2022 Jan 15.  View on PubMed
  17. Brown AE, Nakakura EK. Optimal Staging for Gastric Cancer Starts With High-Resolution Computed Tomography. JAMA Surg. 2021 12 01; 156(12):e215330.  View on PubMed
  18. Conroy PC, Calthorpe L, Lin JA, Mohamedaly S, Kim A, Hirose K, Nakakura E, Corvera C, Sosa JA, Sarin A, Kirkwood KS, Alseidi A, Adam MA. Determining Hospital Volume Threshold for Safety of Minimally Invasive Pancreaticoduodenectomy: A Contemporary Cutpoint Analysis. Ann Surg Oncol. 2022 Mar; 29(3):1566-1574.  View on PubMed
  19. Kasai Y, Masui T, Nakakura EK, Nakano K, Sato A, Uchida Y, Yogo A, Nagai K, Anazawa T, Hope TA, Kim GE, Whitman J, Le BK, Takaori K, Bergsland EK, Hatano E, Uemoto S. Preoperative risk stratification of lymph node metastasis for non-functional pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasm: An international dual-institutional study. Pancreatology. 2022 Jan; 22(1):123-129.  View on PubMed
  20. Conroy PC, Nakakura E. Evidence-Based Guidelines for Branch-Duct Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasm Management: Still a Lot of Room to Grow. JAMA Surg. 2021 07 01; 156(7):661-662.  View on PubMed

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