About Edwin Choy, MD, PhD
Dr. Choy is the Director of Sarcoma Research at the Division of Hematology Oncology at MGH. He specialized in the medical management of patients with sarcomas, gastrointestinal stromal tumors, chordomas, and desmoid tumors. He works closely with a team of world class surgical, orthopedic, and radiation oncologists as well as connective tissue pathologists and radiologists to provide optimal care for his patients. He directs a clinical trials program at the MGH Center for Sarcoma and Connective Tissue Oncology that includes 9-12 active phase I-III clinical trials. He also maintains an active scientific research program that investigates diverse areas of sarcoma therapy ranging from the use of nanotechnology and other translational research tools aimed at developing new targeted therapies for treating cancers to preclinical studies using cell lines and animal models to better understand the molecular basis of sarcoma biology.
Departments, Centers, & Programs:
Clinical Interests:
- Chordoma
- Desmoid tumor
- Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST)
- Gastrointestinal tumor
- Osteosarcoma
- Sarcoma and Connective Tissue Oncology
- Soft tissue sarcoma
Treats:
- Adult
Locations
Mass General Cancer Center: Hematology Oncology
55 Fruit St.
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 617-724-4000
Fax: 617-643-1915
Mass General Cancer Center in Waltham
52 Second Ave.
Suite 1110
Waltham, MA 02451
Phone: 781-487-6100
Medical Education
- M.D., Ph.D., New York University
- Residency, Massachusetts General Hospital
- Fellowship, Brigham and Women's Hospital
- Fellowship, Dana Farber Cancer Institute
American Board Certifications
- Medical Oncology, American Board of Internal Medicine
Accepted Insurance Plans
- Aetna
- Beech Street
- Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare
- Cigna
- Commonwealth Care Alliance
- Coventry
- Fallon Health
- Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
- Humana
- Maine Community Health Options
- Mass General Brigham Health Plan
- MassHealth
- Medicaid ME
- Medicaid NH
- Medicaid NY
- Medicaid RI
- Medicaid VT
- Medicare
- Medicare ACO
- Multiplan
- Railroad Medicare
- Senior Whole Health
- TriCare
- Tufts Health Plan
- United Health Care
- Wellpoint
- WellSense
- WellSense NH
Note: This provider may accept more insurance plans than shown; please call the practice to find out if your plan is accepted.
Research
Dr. Choy is dedicated to research, teaching, and caring for patients with sarcomas, chordomas, and desmoid tumors. His research endeavors include basic laboratory research, translational studies, and clinical trials all aimed at improving care for cancer patients.
In the laboratory, Choy collaborates with Dr. Zhenfeng Duan and Dr. Francis Hornicek to study the genetics and biology of chemotherapy resistance. In collaboration with investigators at MIT and DFCI, Choy has collected 100 osteosarcoma tumor samples and genotyped them for over one thousand mutations occurring in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. He has currently validated 15 mutations and these findings were presented at the international Connective Tissue Oncology Society (CTOS) meeting in November 2009. Choy also holds joint collaborative sessions with investigators at MIT, sponsored by the Koch Institute, to explore further translational projects to benefit sarcoma patients.
Choy has led the growth of an active clinical research program in sarcomas, expanding the number of clinical trials to 12 trials currently, increasing participation in DF/HCC phase I programs, and increasing the overall enrollment rate onto studies. This success in growing our sarcoma program has led to five abstracts that were presented at this year's annual ASCO meeting. Choy's work has been recognized by a career development award from Harvard Catalyst.
Publications
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Select Publications:
- Choy, E.*, Yelensky, R.*, Bonakdar, S., et al. (2008) "Genetic Analysis of Human Traits In-Vitro: Drug Response and Gene Expression in Lymphoblastoid Cell Lines." PLOS Genetics, 4(11):e1000287. *equally contributing first-authors
- Duan, Z.*, Choy, E.*, Harmon, D., Yang, C., Ryu, K., Schwab, J., Mankin, H., and Hornicek, F. (2009) "Insulin-like growth factor-I receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor cyclolignan picropodophyllin inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in multidrug resistant osteosarcoma cell lines." Mol. Cancer Ther. 8(8):2122-30. Epub 2009 Jul 28. *equally contributing first-authors
- Choy, E., Digumarthy, S., and Koplin, S. (2009) "A 23 year old man with cough, hoarseness, and fever." Case Records of the Massachusetts General Hospital, New Engl J Med. 361(21):2080-7.
- Choy, E. and Philips, M.R. (2000) "Expression and activity of a prenylcysteine-directed carboxyl methyltransferase." Methods in Enzymology 325, 101-114.
- Dai, Q., Choy, E., Chiu, V., Romano, J., Slivka, S.R., Steitz, S.A., Michaelis, S., and Philips, M.R. (1998) "Mammalian Prenylcysteine Prenyltransferase is in the Endoplasmic Reticulum." Journal of Biological Chemistry 273(24), 15030-15034.
- Choy, E., Chiu, V.K., Silletti, J., Feoktistov, M., Morimoto, T., Michaelson, D., Ivanov, I.E., and Philips, M.R. (1999) "Endomembrane Trafficking of Ras: the CAAX Motif Targets Proteins to the ER and Golgi." Cell 98, 69-80.
Dr. Choy is both personable and excellent in his knowledge. It's a pleasure to work with him.
Dr. Choy is very compassionate, concerned and caring. He answered all my questions. Spent the necessary time with me. Reviewed my labs and ordered required follow up CT scans. Had a positive attitude! He gave me Hope!
Dr. Choy discussed potentially frightening details of the "next steps' for my medical condition, and the specialists who will be involved, in so calm, clear, and caring a manner, that I remain confident that Mass General will see me through.
Dr. Choy was very informed and thorough in his discussion of my condition.
Dr. Choy is unparalleled as a responsive, very clear, and empathic physician. He's also brilliant. There's no doubt in my mind about that, at what he does and his dedication is inspiring as a healthcare provider myself. So I can't think of anything else to say, but thanks for giving me this opportunity to get the best of the best at MGH. Thank ... Read More
Yes, Edwin Choy is super. I like working with him. He's right up front and he answers all the questions that I have to ask him. And he works real good with the cancer care provider here at [redacted] They're working good as a team on my situation. And I like him very much. He's super. Thank you.
Dr. Choy asks me pertinent questions. He listens to my answers. I ask about future protocol and he very succinctly explains everything to me.
Expertise, experience and caring
Dr Choy has been great to deal with. He always listens to everything I have to say. Very happy with my dealings with Dr Choy
Dr. Choy is wonderful. He is kind, responsive, clear, supportive, honest, and deeply relational. He provides clear, helpful guidance. He always follows up quickly on my care plan, including referrals. I trust him completely with my care and I am so grateful to him for his oversight and management of my treatment.