Julie Lang, MD
Staff
Location: Cleveland Clinic Main Campus
Research
The Lang laboratory is a breast cancer translational research laboratory (we study very clinically relevant features of breast cancer biology and treatment). We are interested in studying liquid biopsies - minimally-invasive blood draws used to provide information about tumor burden, screening/detecting tumor in patients not known to have cancer, and using liquid biopsies to rationally decide on therapeutics for cancer patients. We can sequence tumor DNA or cells circulating in the blood of cancer patients and study the whole genome (DNA or RNA) to better understand tumor biology. We are also interested in inflammatory breast cancer - one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer. We have developed a mouse model to study promising new cancer therapies by taking a piece of an aggressive cancer and surgically implanting it in mice as avatars of human cancer biology. Dr. Lang is Chief of Breast Surgery and Co-Leader of the Cleveland Clinic Breast Cancer Program. She leads clinical trials and laboratory research aimed at improving outcomes for breast cancer patients. She is a physician-scientist who has a busy clinical practice and leads innovative cancer research studies focused on breast cancer.
Biography
Dr. Julie Lang graduated from medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1999. She did a general surgery residency and a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco (7 years of postgraduate training). She then completed a breast surgical oncology fellowship at the UT-MD Anderson Cancer Center.
She served as an Assistant Professor of Surgery and Director of Breast Surgical Oncology at the University of Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson, Arizona from 2007-2012. She then moved to Los Angeles to serve as Associate Professor of Surgery and Director of the Breast Cancer Research Program at the University of Southern California Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center from 2012-2020. She joined the Cleveland Clinic in 2021.
Dr. Lang is a physician-scientist with numerous publications, book chapters and invited presentations. She is known as a patient-centered, problem-solving, innovative, compassionate surgeon. She specializes in breast surgical oncology - surgery for breast cancer or other disorders of the breast. She is skilled with nipple sparing mastectomy, skin sparing mastectomy, lumpectomy, oncoplastic surgery, complex breast cancer surgery, and collaboration with Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. She enjoys working with the multidisciplinary care team to achieve the best outcomes for each patient.
Dr. Lang is originally from Cleveland, Ohio and has returned to practice in her hometown as the Chief of Breast Surgery and Co-Leader of the Breast Cancer Program.
Education & Professional Highlights
Education & Fellowships
Fellowship - MD Anderson Cancer Center
Breast Surgical Oncology
Houston, TX USA
2007
Residency - UCSF Department of Surgery
General Surgery
San Francisco, CA USA
2006
Residency - UCSF Department of Surgery
General Surgery
San Francisco, CA USA
2004
Internship - UCSF Department of Surgery
General Surgery
San Francisco, CA USA
2000
Medical Education - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine
Chapel Hill, NC USA
1999
Undergraduate - University of North Carolina
Biology with Honors in English Literature
Chapel Hill, NC USA
1995
Additional Training
- BS Biology, BA English Literature with Honors
- University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Certifications
- General Surgery
Awards & Honors
- Los Angeles Magazine Top Doctor, Breast Surgery 2020
- Donald L. Morton Award, Journal of Surgical Oncology 2015
- Southern California Clinical Translational Research Institute KL2 Institutional Scholar 2013-2014
- Pasadena Magazine Top Doctor, Breast Oncology 2013
- Fellow of the American College of Surgeons
- Louis J. Kettel Faculty Mentor Award (Clinical Sciences)
- American Society of Clinical Oncology Foundation Merit Award
- Chief Resident Research Award, University of California, San Francisco
Research
The Lang laboratory is a breast cancer translational research laboratory. We are interested in studying liquid biopsies (ctDNA and circulating tumor cells) to provide information about tumor burden, screening/detecting tumor in patients not known to have cancer, and using liquid biopsies to rationally decide on therapeutics for advanced cancer patients. We are interested in next generation sequencing of ctDNA and circulating tumor cells to answer clinically relevant research questions. Our group had published studies on gene expression profiling of circulating tumor cells in both early and metastatic breast cancer. We are particularly interested in gene expression since not all DNA mutations are expressed. We have expertise with a number of ctDNA and circulating tumor cell technologies. Our team is also interested in exploring single cell sequencing of circulating tumor cells and anti-tumor vaccine strategies.
We have developed a patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model of inflammatory breast cancer, a rare aggressive form of breast cancer. We will establish additional PDX models and use them to study investigational therapeutics.
Dr. Lang is Chief of Breast Surgery and Co-Leader of the Cleveland Clinic Breast Cancer Program. She leads a number of clinical trials as well as leading laboratory research. She plans to design and lead prospective trials looking at lymphovascular bypass and prehabilitation prior to breast reconstruction in patients at high risk for surgical complications.