Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer/Oral Oncology Program

Douglas E. Peterson, D.M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Peterson received the D.M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in 1972 and 1976, respectively. He was awarded Diplomate status in the American Board of Oral Medicine in 1974, following his Oral Medicine residency at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. He was then appointed to the Cancer Center as well as Dental School faculty at the University of Maryland. In 1989, Dr. Peterson was named Professor and Head, Department of Oral Diagnosis, School of Dental Medicine at the University of Connecticut Health Center.

He currently serves as Professor of Oral Medicine in the Department of Oral Health and Diagnostic Sciences in the School of Dental Medicine, as well as Chair of the Head and Neck/Oral Oncology Program in the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Connecticut Health Center. His present responsibilities include conducting research directed to mucositis caused by high-dose cancer therapies, managing cancer patients with oral complications, teaching in the Schools of Dental Medicine and Medicine, and directing the Head and Neck/Oral Oncology Program in the Cancer Center.

Dr. Peterson presented a late-breaking abstract at the 2004 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting regarding a Phase III clinical trial for mucositis in breast cancer patients. The full study was subsequently published in Cancer. Dr. Peterson is a frequent invited speaker at the regional, national and international level relative to oral management of the cancer patient.

He is a manuscript reviewer for several cancer journals, and is on the Editorial Board of Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology, and Endodontology. He serves as a grant application reviewer for the National Institutes of Health several times per year, and is an advisor to the United States Food and Drug Administration.

Dr. Peterson is the lead scientific author for the National Cancer Institutes’ PDQ website addressing oral complications in chemotherapy and head/neck radiation cancer patients.

Appointments

• Professor, Oral Medicine, Department of Oral Health and Diagnostic Sciences, School of Dental Medicine
• Co-chair, Head and Neck/Oral Oncology Program, Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center

Specialty

• Oral Medicine

Certification
Diplomate, American Board of Oral Medicine

Education
D.M.D., University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine

Residency
University of Pennsylvania Hospital

Affiliation

• John Dempsey Hospital

Honors and Awards

• Fellowship in Biology, Predoctoral Research Associate, NIH (sponsor), Univ. of Colorado, Summers 1970-71
• Certificate of Achievement, Internal Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Graduate Medicine, 1972
• PHS Training Grant #DE-281, Clinical Specialty (Oral Medicine) and Ph.D. (Pathology), 1972-76
• Gigliotti Memorial Award for Excellence in Dental Education, 1989
• Visiting Professor, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2001
• Omicron Kappa Upsilon, Honorary Scholastic Dental Society, 1980-present (President, Phi Chi Chapter 1997-99)
• Searle Endowment for Mucosal Immunology Research, 1997-present
• Samuel C. Miller Award: Significant contribution to art and science of oral medicine. American Academy of Oral Medicine, 2004 (highest academic award administered by the Academy)
• Invited Late-Breaking Abstract presentation: Multi-center international clinical trial. Phase III study: AES-14 in patients at risk for mucositis secondary to anthracycline-based chemotherapy. Am Soc Clin Oncol annual meeting, 2004 (received national and international media coverage)
• CancerCare: Physician of the Year Award, 2006
• Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer Distinguished Achievement Award, 2008 (highest award administered by the Society)

Selected Publications

Recent Original Articles and Book Chapters

Peterson DE, Jones JB, Petit II RG. Randomized, placebo-controlled trial of Saforis for prevention and treatment of oral mucositis in breast cancer patients receiving anthracycline-based chemotherapy. Cancer 2007;109:322-331.

Brown CG, McGuire DB, Beck SL, Peterson DE, Mooney KH. Visual graphical analysis: A technique to investigate symptom trajectories over time. Nurs Res. 2007;56:195-201.

Baccaglini L, Atkinson JC, Patton LL, Glick M, Ficarra G, Peterson DE. Management of oral lesions in HIV-positive patients. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod. 2007;103 Suppl:S50.e1-23.

Aframian DJ, Lalla RV, Peterson DE. Management of dental patients taking common hemostasis-altering medications. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod. 2007;103 Suppl:S45.e1-11.

Lockhart PB, Wray D, Peterson DE, Greenberg MS. Fourth World Workshop on Oral Medicine. Introduction. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod. 2007;103 Suppl:S1-2.

Peterson DE, Siegel MA, Suzuki JB. Medications influencing immune response and wound healing. Grand Rounds Oral-Sys Med. 2007;2:26-33A.

Lalla RV, Peterson DE, Brennan MT, Schubert MM. Oral toxicity. In: Perry MC (ed.). The Chemotherapy Source Book (4th ed). Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2007;115-135.

Keefe DM et al.; Peterson DE (senior author). Updated clinical practice guidelines for the prevention and treatment of mucositis. Cancer 2007;109:820-831.

Lalla RV, Sonis ST, Peterson DE. Management of oral mucositis in patients who have cancer. Dent Clin N Am. 2008:52:61-77.

Peterson DE and Lalla RV. Mucositis in patients receiving high-dose cancer therapy. Lyman GH and Crawford J (eds). Cancer Supportive Care: Advances in Therapeutic Strategies, Informa Healthcare USA, Inc.: New York City; 2008;187-205.

Papadimitrakopoulou VA, William WN Jr, Dannenberg AJ et al (Peterson DE cited as 7th author). Pilot randomized phase II study of celecoxib in oral premalignant lesions. Clin Cancer Res. 2008:14:2095-2101.

Peterson DE, Bensadoun RJ, Roila F (ESMO Guidelines Working Group). Management of oral and gastrointestinal mucositis: ESMO clinical recommendations. Ann Oncol. 2008;19 Suppl 2:ii122-125.

Lalla RV and Peterson DE. Oral symptoms. In: Walsh D (ed.). Palliative Medicine. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier 2009; 937-946.

Schubert MM and Peterson DE. Oral complications. In: Thomas' Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation. 4th edition. Appelbaum F, Forman SJ, Negrin RS, Blume KG (eds.) Malden: Blackwell Scientific Publ., in press.

View more publications, see Pubmed listing.

Clinical Interests
Oral complications in cancer patients

Research Interests

Clinical Research

• Mucosal injury in cancer patients
   

Basic Science Research

• Molecular network pathways and mucosal injury caused by high-dose cancer therapies