The curriculum for the Liver Cancer Fellowship at The Mount Sinai Hospital encompasses two themes: clinical training and research.

Clinical Training

Our fellows participate in the interdisciplinary care of patients with liver cancer (both hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma) in a range of clinical settings, working alongside expert faculty in hepatobiliary surgery and transplantation, hepatology, oncology, pathology, interventional radiology, and body imaging.

Our fellows also attend and present at weekly interdisciplinary liver tumor board conferences, as well as transplant candidate selection committee meetings.

Fellows additionally observe radiologic and surgical interventions for liver cancer, including microwave ablation, transarterial chemoembolization, radioembolization, liver resections and transplantation, to gain first-hand knowledge about each modality. While not aimed at providing in-depth training in the technical performance of interventions, this aspect of the curriculum is flexible in consideration of candidates’ background and career goals.

Finally, our fellows attend the monthly liver disease-focused group meeting, where clinical trials active in the institution and novel proposals are discussed.

Research

In addition to their clinical training, our fellows pursue an independent research project formulated in conjunction with a faculty mentor in the Liver Cancer Program. Suitable projects may be clinical, laboratory-based, or translational in nature, and require Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval.

For each fellow, a mentoring plan will be established in which the faculty mentor, Liver Cancer Research Director, and program researchers commit to regular interactions with the fellows to teach, advise, and guide them in their research and career development.

Fellows also attend and present at weekly Liver Cancer lab meetings and liver disease works-in-progress research meetings. They are expected to present at the monthly Liver Cancer Program research meeting, and to attend the Annual Mount Sinai Liver Cancer meeting. 

Finally, our fellows are expected to submit their research findings to the appropriate national or international meetings such as the International Liver Cancer Association, the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease, American Society of Clinical Oncology, etc., and publish their research in peer-reviewed journals.

The following goals and objectives apply to every Liver Cancer Fellowship trainee.

• To become familiar with the various treatment options for liver tumors, particularly hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma.
• To be comfortable assessing patients with liver cancer, including diagnosis, staging, and identification of the optimal treatment strategy for patients.
• To recognize and learn to manage the most relevant complications seen in patients undergoing treatment for liver cancer.
• To understand the indications for, and contraindications to, the various treatments.
• To learn how to conduct clinical and translational research in liver cancer.
• To understand the principles of molecular pathogenesis, drivers, and molecular classification of liver tumors.
• To be familiar with evidence-based medicine and trial design in hepatocellular carcinoma and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.
• To understand the most important unmet needs in research in liver cancer.

Our fellows can expect the following clinical schedule:

• Hepatobiliary surgery and transplantation: three to four months
• Hepatology: one to two months
• Oncology: one to two months
• Interventional radiology and body imaging: two months
• Pathology: one month
• Liver cancer laboratory: two months
• Palliative care: one month
• Optional rotation: one month (epidemiology, immunology)
• Proposed research schedule study design and IRB approval (first to second month)
  • Mentoring and follow-up (every month)
  • Final presentation of results (final month)
  • Presentation of results at Icahn Mount Sinai’s annual Liver Cancer meeting, as well as international meetings

We expect every Liver Cancer Fellowship trainee to attend conferences, some of which are mandatory, while others are recommended.

Mandatory Conferences

• Annual Meeting of the Icahn Mount Sinai Liver Cancer Program
• Liver Cancer Disease-focused Group (monthly)
• Liver Cancer Research meeting (monthly)
• Liver Tumor Board (weekly)

Recommended attendance

• HCC research meeting (weekly)
• Transplant candidate selection (weekly)
• Liver Disease conference (two/week)
• International Liver Cancer Association (ILCA)
• American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD)
• American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)