There are very few oncologists in the world who can claim to have changed how an entire category of cancer is treated. Dr. Pasi A. Jänne is one of them. As one of the co-discoverers of epidermal growth factor receptor mutations in lung cancer, he helped lay the scientific foundation for the targeted therapy revolution that has transformed the prognosis for hundreds of thousands of patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Where patients once faced a disease with few effective options beyond chemotherapy, there are now multiple generations of targeted drugs precisely engineered to exploit the molecular vulnerabilities Dr. Jänne and his colleagues identified.

Named to the Boston Magazine Top Doctors 2026 list, Dr. Jänne practices at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Harvard-affiliated cancer center consistently ranked among the best in the United States, where he directs three major cancer programs and holds the institution’s most distinguished named chair in clinical research.

The Discovery That Changed Lung Cancer Treatment

To understand Dr. Jänne’s significance in oncology, it helps to understand what he helped discover. In 2004, a team of researchers at Dana-Farber that included Dr. Jänne published a landmark paper in Science demonstrating that mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor gene were present in a subset of non-small cell lung cancers, and that these mutations correlated with clinical response to the EGFR-targeting drug gefitinib.

This was a pivotal finding. It established that lung cancer was not a single disease but a collection of molecularly distinct diseases, each requiring a different treatment approach. It opened the era of precision oncology in lung cancer — the idea that the specific genetic alteration driving a patient’s tumor should determine the treatment they receive. The paper has been cited thousands of times and is widely regarded as one of the most impactful publications in the history of lung cancer research.

What followed was more than two decades of work by Dr. Jänne and his laboratory to build on that discovery: understanding how EGFR-targeted therapies work, identifying the mechanisms by which tumors develop resistance to them, and developing the next and subsequent generations of EGFR-directed treatments that have progressively improved outcomes for patients.

Clinical Expertise and Patient Focus

Dr. Jänne’s clinical practice is focused on patients with thoracic malignancies — cancers of the lung, pleura, and related structures. Within that broad category, he has particular expertise in patients whose tumors harbor specific genomic alterations including EGFR mutations, KRAS mutations, and ALK rearrangements — patients for whom targeted therapy is the primary treatment strategy rather than conventional chemotherapy.

His patient population includes those presenting with newly diagnosed EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer, patients whose tumors have developed resistance to first-line EGFR inhibitors, and patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma — a cancer of the lining of the lung often associated with asbestos exposure, for which Dr. Jänne has also conducted research into molecular targets.

As a leader in clinical trials, Dr. Jänne has been a principal investigator on numerous studies of novel targeted agents, including the FLAURA2 trial evaluating osimertinib-based combination therapy in EGFR-mutant lung cancer and studies of adagrasib in KRAS-mutant non-small cell lung cancer. Many of the drugs now used as standard of care in EGFR-mutant lung cancer have passed through clinical trials that Dr. Jänne led or co-led.

Leadership at Dana-Farber

Dr. Jänne holds an unusually broad set of leadership responsibilities for a practicing clinician, reflecting both the depth of his scientific reputation and his role as an institutional builder at Dana-Farber.

As Director of the Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology, he oversees one of the largest and most productive thoracic oncology programs in the world. The program brings together clinicians, researchers, pathologists, and genomic scientists to provide comprehensive care for patients with lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies.

As Scientific Director of the Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science, he leads a translational research program whose explicit mission is to bridge the gap between laboratory discoveries and clinical application — taking findings from the bench and engineering them into treatments that reach patients.

As Director of the Chen-Huang Center for EGFR Mutant Lung Cancers, he leads a program dedicated entirely to the disease subtype he helped define, ensuring that Dana-Farber remains at the leading edge of understanding and treating EGFR-driven lung cancer.

As Senior Vice President for Translational Medicine at Dana-Farber, he has institution-wide responsibility for ensuring that scientific discoveries move efficiently from research laboratories into clinical trials and ultimately into practice.

He also holds the David M. Livingston, MD, Chair — the most distinguished named chair at Dana-Farber, named for one of the institution’s founding scientific leaders.

Research Awards and Recognition

Dr. Jänne’s contributions to lung cancer science have been recognized by the field’s most respected institutions. In 2018 he received the National Cancer Institute Outstanding Investigator Award, a competitive grant supporting the most impactful cancer researchers in the United States over a sustained research program. In 2022 he received the Fondation ARC Léopold Griffuel Prize in translational and clinical research, one of the most prestigious European cancer research awards, recognizing scientists whose laboratory work has translated into direct clinical benefit for patients.

In 2025 he received the Adi F. Gazdar Merit Award at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer World Conference, presented to researchers who have made exceptional contributions to understanding lung cancer biology.

These recognitions span basic science, translational medicine, and clinical research — reflecting a career that has operated across all three domains simultaneously rather than in any one silo.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: The Setting

Dr. Jänne practices within Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, one of only 56 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the United States and consistently ranked among the top cancer centers in the country. Dana-Farber is an international referral center for patients with difficult or rare cancers, drawing patients from across the United States and from other countries specifically to access clinical trials and specialists who cannot be found elsewhere.

Dana-Farber’s affiliation with Brigham and Women’s Hospital means that patients receiving cancer care at Dana-Farber have direct access to one of the world’s leading academic medical centers for procedures, hospitalizations, and multidisciplinary consultation. The proximity of the two institutions within the Longwood Medical Area creates an integrated cancer care environment that few other cities can match.

How to See Dr. Jänne

Dr. Jänne sees patients at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at 450 Brookline Avenue in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, which is accessible by the MBTA Green Line D branch at the Longwood Medical Area stop.

New patient appointments for thoracic oncology consultations at Dana-Farber typically require a referral from a physician and relevant medical records including pathology reports, imaging, and any prior treatment records. The Dana-Farber new patient intake team can assist in assembling the required documentation and coordinating scheduling across disciplines when multiple consultations are needed.

Preparing for Your Appointment

Patients referred to Dr. Jänne for lung cancer evaluation should bring or arrange to have sent in advance their complete pathology report including molecular testing results if already performed, all relevant CT scans and PET scans with radiology reports, records of any prior treatments received including drug names and dates, and a complete list of current medications.

Molecular testing is central to Dr. Jänne’s practice — knowing whether a tumor harbors an EGFR mutation, KRAS mutation, or other actionable alteration is essential before an initial consultation can be most productive. If molecular testing has not yet been performed, Dana-Farber can arrange this as part of the initial evaluation.

For patients who have been previously treated with an EGFR inhibitor and have experienced disease progression, bringing a copy of the most recent imaging and any rebiopsy or liquid biopsy results is particularly helpful.

Dr. Pasi A. Jänne is recognized on the Boston Magazine Top Doctors 2026 list, produced in collaboration with Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. based on peer nomination and review of qualifications, appointments, outcomes, and professional reputation. Boston Health Journal profiles physicians from this list to help Greater Boston residents connect with the region’s most distinguished specialists.