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. Gomez A, Wisneski AD, Luu HY, Hirose K, Roberts JP, Hirose R, Freise CE, Nakakura EK, Corvera CU Contemporary Management of Hepatic Cyst Disease: Techniques and Outcomes at a Tertiary Hepatobiliary Center.  View on PubMed
  2. Kramer SP, Bowman CJ, Wang ZJ, Sheahon KM, Nakakura EK, Cho SJ, Umetsu SE, Behr SC Hybrid Low-Grade Fibromyxoid Sarcoma and Sclerosing Epithelioid Fibrosarcoma of the Pancreas.  View on PubMed
  3. Sharib JM, Nakakura EK Randomized Clinical Trial of Nasogastric Tube Placement After Pancreaticoduodenectomy.  View on PubMed
  4. Wisneski AD, Jin C, Huang CY, Warren R, Hirose K, Nakakura EK, Corvera CU Synchronous Versus Metachronous Colorectal Liver Metastasis Yields Similar Survival in Modern Era.  View on PubMed
  5. Kasai Y, Nakakura EK Awareness of a mesenteric mass as a common manifestation of ileal neuroendocrine tumor.  View on PubMed
  6. Zhang Z, Mäkinen N, Kasai Y, Kim GE, Diosdado B, Nakakura E, Meyerson M Patterns of chromosome 18 loss of heterozygosity in multifocal ileal neuroendocrine tumors.  View on PubMed
  7. Wisneski AD, Carter J, Nakakura EK, Posselt A, Rogers SJ, Cello JP, Arain M, Kirkwood KS, Hirose K, Stewart L, Corvera CU Ampullary stenosis and choledocholithiasis post Roux-En-Y gastric bypass: challenges of biliary access and intervention.  View on PubMed
  8. Kasai Y, Mahuron K, Hirose K, Corvera CU, Kim GE, Hope TA, Shih BE, Warren RS, Bergsland EK, Nakakura EK A novel stratification of mesenteric mass involvement as a predictor of challenging mesenteric lymph node dissection by minimally invasive approach for ileal neuroendocrine tumors.  View on PubMed
  9. Kasai Y, Hirose K, Corvera CU, Kim GE, Hope TA, Shih BE, Harun N, Kim MO, Warren RS, Bergsland EK, Nakakura EK Residual tumor volume discriminates prognosis after surgery for neuroendocrine liver metastasis.  View on PubMed
  10. Kasai Y, Mahuron K, Hirose K, Corvera CU, Kim GE, Hope TA, Shih BE, Warren RS, Bergsland EK, Nakakura EK Prognostic impact of a large mesenteric mass >2?cm in ileal neuroendocrine tumors.  View on PubMed
  11. Ko AH, Nakakura EK Adjuvant Therapy for Ampullary Cancer.  View on PubMed
  12. Donner DB, Nakakura EK, Venook AP, Lenz HJ, Zhang W, Hwang J, Bergsland EK, Lin MH, Toriguchi K, Antonia RJ, Warren RS High thymidylate synthase gene expression predicts poor outcome after resection of hepatocellular carcinoma.  View on PubMed
  13. Kwon DH, Paciorek A, Mulvey CK, Chan H, Fidelman N, Meng L, Nakakura EK, Zhang L, Bergsland EK, Van Loon K Periprocedural Management of Patients Undergoing Liver Resection or Embolotherapy for Neuroendocrine Tumor Metastases.  View on PubMed
  14. Kim SS, Ko AH, Nakakura EK, Wang ZJ, Corvera CU, Harris HW, Kirkwood KS, Hirose R, Tempero MA, Kim GE Comparison of Tumor Regression Grading of Residual Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Following Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Without Radiation: Would Fewer Tier-Stratification Be Favorable Toward Standardization?  View on PubMed
  15. Tempero MA, Malafa MP, Chiorean EG, Czito B, Scaife C, Narang AK, Fountzilas C, Wolpin BM, Al-Hawary M, Asbun H, Behrman SW, Benson AB, Binder E, Cardin DB, Cha C, Chung V, Dillhoff M, Dotan E, Ferrone CR, Fisher G, Hardacre J, Hawkins WG, Ko AH, LoConte N, Lowy AM, Moravek C, Nakakura EK, O'Reilly EM, Obando J, Reddy S, Thayer S, Wolff RA, Burns JL, Zuccarino-Catania G Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma, Version 1.2019.  View on PubMed
  16. Donner DB, Ruan DT, Toriguchi K, Bergsland EK, Nakakura EK, Lin MH, Antonia RJ, Warren RS Mitogen Inducible Gene-6 Is a Prognostic Marker for Patients with Colorectal Liver Metastases.  View on PubMed
  17. Chamberlain CE, German MS, Yang K, Wang J, VanBrocklin H, Regan M, Shokat KM, Ducker GS, Kim GE, Hann B, Donner DB, Warren RS, Venook AP, Bergsland EK, Lee D, Wang Y, Nakakura EK A Patient-derived Xenograft Model of Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors Identifies Sapanisertib as a Possible New Treatment for Everolimus-resistant Tumors.  View on PubMed
  18. Luu HY, Wang ED, Syed SM, Xu X, Hansen SL, Eichler CM, Nakakura EK Outcomes of arterial bypass preceding resection of retroperitoneal masses involving major vessels.  View on PubMed
  19. Nakakura EK Progress in the March to Precision Cancer Medicine: Left, Right, Left.  View on PubMed
  20. Nakakura EK Challenges Staging Neuroendocrine Tumors of the Pancreas, Jejunum and Ileum, and Appendix.  View on PubMed

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