# Valerie W. Rusch

Source: https://onco.cc/people/valerie-rusch/  
OnCo record `valerie-rusch` (Person). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Thoracic surgeon who led the IASLC staging projects that define how lung cancer and mesothelioma are staged.

## Summary

Valerie Rusch chaired the IASLC lymph node map and staging committees whose work underpins the seventh, eighth and ninth editions of the TNM classification for lung cancer and mesothelioma, and led surgical studies in mesothelioma and the surgical arm of the CheckMate 816 and other neoadjuvant trials. She was the first woman president of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery.

## Fields

- Kind: Person
- Last checked: 2026-09-10
- Tags: surgery; thoracic; staging
- Role: Attending Thoracic Surgeon and Miner Family Chair in Intrathoracic Cancers, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
- Specialisms: Thoracic surgery; Lung cancer staging; Mesothelioma surgery; Surgical trials

## Sources

- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Rusch%20VW%5BAuthor%5D%20lung%20cancer%20staging

## Connected records

- cancers: [Mesothelioma](https://onco.cc/cancers/mesothelioma/), [Non-small-cell lung cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/nsclc/)
- institutions: [Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center](https://onco.cc/institutions/mskcc/)
- trials: [CheckMate 816](https://onco.cc/trials/checkmate-816/)
- journals: [Journal of Thoracic Oncology](https://onco.cc/journals/journal-of-thoracic-oncology/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/valerie-rusch.json