Baumann named to 4 cancer advisory committees

Brian C. Baumann, MD, assistant professor of radiation oncology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and a radiation oncologist at Siteman Cancer Center, has been chosen to serve on four national cancer advisory committees.

They are the National Association for Proton Therapy (NAPT) Physician Advisory Committee; National Cancer Institute (NCI) Bladder Cancer Task Force; NRG Oncology Genitourinary Committee; and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology committee.

Physician-members of the NAPT advisory committee help promote the benefits of proton therapy, attend advocacy meetings with representatives of state and federal agencies and lawmakers, and support proton therapy research.

Proton therapy is a precise form of radiation that targets tumors while sparing surrounding healthy tissues, making it ideal for treating pediatric cancer patients, as well as adults with tumors near sensitive locations, such as the heart, brain, spinal cord or pelvis. This treatment is offered at the S. Lee Kling Proton Therapy Center on Siteman’s main campus.

As part of the NCI Bladder Cancer Task Force, Baumann works with the Genitourinary Steering Committee to address the design, prioritization and evaluation of concepts for phase 2 and phase 3 clinical trials for bladder cancer.

He and other members of the NRG Oncology Genitourinary Committee develop and evaluate concepts for NRG cooperative group clinical trials for genitourinary malignancies.

The NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology committee develops and updates recommendations for managing cancer treatment decisions and interventions in the U.S. Baumann is contributing to principles of radiation management of non-melanoma skin cancers.

Baumann, who also is chief of the genitourinary service in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the School of Medicine, has his principal clinical and academic focus in genitourinary oncology, sarcomas and skin cancers. He also researches the role of proton therapy in oncology and improving treatment options for patients with limited metastases or relapsed disease.