Adam Bass

Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Esophageal cancers
  • Stomach (gastric) cancer

My Specialties

  • Targeted therapy
  • Immunotherapy
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Our Care Advisors can answer many of your questions. They will connect you with the best healthcare provider for your needs.

Get to Know Me

I’m a medical oncologist and physician scientist who cares for people with gastrointestinal cancers such as esophageal cancer and stomach (gastric) cancer.

I see patients at the Rockefeller Outpatient Pavilion at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK).

I also lead research on gastrointestinal cancer biology and creating new cancer therapies. We are in an era with great potential to connect scientific discoveries and new technologies to develop new treatments for our patients. While this is far from easy, I am confident that we are on the path to meaningful impact.

Caring for those with cancer is not just a privilege, it also motivates me as a scientist to focus my work on my patients’ most important needs. Managing a cancer diagnosis is both a scientific and personal challenge. As a scientist, I work to understand the biology of these diseases and how we can use this knowledge to develop better treatments.

At the same time, I know how cancer can affect each person and their family. As a physician, I aim to provide the best and most compassionate care for patients during a difficult time in their lives. My combined role as a scientist and physician helps me to do what is best for each person.

Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my wife, two teenage sons, and our somewhat eccentric rescue dog. We love to travel and explore places and food from not just around the world but also the neighborhoods of New York City and towns in the Hudson valley. I am currently managing a borderline unhealthy obsession with the New York Times puzzles.

What I Do at MSK

I'm a gastrointestinal (GAS-troh-in-TES-tih-nul) medical oncologist, which is a cancer doctor who specializes in gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. This includes anal, colorectal, esophageal, gastric (stomach), liver, and pancreatic cancers. We also treat GI stromal tumors and neuroendocrine tumors.

  • Attending Physician
  • Physician-Scientist
Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Esophageal cancers
  • Stomach (gastric) cancer

My Specialties

  • Targeted therapy
  • Immunotherapy
This list shows some key areas of focus, but it may not cover all expertise. When making an appointment, you will be matched with the best healthcare provider for your needs.
Education & Honors

Education

  • MD, Duke University

Residencies

  • Internal Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital

Fellowships

  • Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Board Certifications

  • Medical Oncology

Awards and Honors

  • Inducted into American Association of Physicians (2022)
  • Team Science Award, American Association for Cancer Research (2020)
  • Discovery Award, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (2017)
  • Inducted into American Society for Clinical Investigation (2017)
  • Eugene D. O'Kelly Award, American Cancer Society (2016)

Insurance Information

Understanding your insurance options is an important part of managing your cancer care. We have relationships with many common healthcare providers and plans.

Learn more about the insurance plans that participate with MSK.

If you don't have health insurance or are worried that your care may not be fully covered, our financial assistance programs may be able to help.

Health plans can change at any time. Call the number on the back of your insurance card to see what your plan covers. Make sure it covers the MSK location where you’ll get care.

If you have questions about insurance, call us at 646-497-9176.

Make an Appointment

Current Patients
Request an appointment by calling your Care Team or messaging them in MSK MyChart.

Contact and Location

Office Phone
Location
New York, NY
160 East 53rd Street New York NY 10022

Looking to see a doctor at a different location? See all MSK locations.

Colleagues

Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering work as teams, with specialists from all different areas. This allows us to consider all your needs together, and to give you the best possible care.

See all Gastrointestinal Oncology Service doctors

Clinical Trials

Smiling doctors in the lab
Find a Clinical Trial for You

Memorial Sloan Kettering's doctors and scientists are constantly developing new treatments for cancer. MSK is typically running hundreds of clinical trials at a given time.

You may be able to participate in a clinical trial even if you are new to MSK. Search our online directory to find trial information and see more about who can participate.

Search clinical trials

Research and Publications

Zhang H, Schaefer A, Wang Y, Hodge RG, Blake DR, Diehl JN, Papageorge AG, Stachler MD, Liao J, Zhou J, Wu Z, Akarca FG, de Klerk LK, Derks S, Pierobon M, Hoadley KA, Wang TC, Church G, Wong KK, Petricoin EF, Cox AD, Lowy DR, Der CJ, Bass AJ*. Gain-of-Function RHOA Mutations Promote Focal Adhesion Kinase Activation and Dependency in Diffuse Gastric Cancer. Cancer discovery. 2020;10(2):288-305. Epub 2019/11/28. CD-19-0811. PubMed PMID: 31771969; PMCID: PMC7007383.

Chan EM, Shibue T, McFarland JM, Gaeta B, Ghandi M, Dumont N, Gonzalez A, McPartlan JS, Li T, Zhang Y, Bin Liu J, Lazaro JB, Gu P, Piett CG, Apffel A, Ali SO, Deasy R, Keskula P, Ng RWS, Roberts EA, Reznichenko E, Leung L, Alimova M, Schenone M, Islam M, Maruvka YE, Liu Y, Roper J, Raghavan S, Giannakis M, Tseng YY, Nagel ZD, D’Andrea A, Root DE, Boehm JS, Getz G, Chang S, Golub TR, Tsherniak A, Vazquez F, Bass AJ*. WRN helicase is a synthetic lethal target in microsatellite unstable cancers. Nature. 2019;568(7753):551-6. Nature. Epub 2019/04/12. PubMed PMID: 30971823; PMCID: PMC6580861.

Liu, Y, Sethi, NS, Hinoue T, Schneider BG, Cherniack, AD, Sanchez-Vega F, Seoanoe JA, Farshidfar F, Bowlby R, Islam M, Kim J, Chatila W, Akbani R, Kanchi RS, Rabkin CS, Willis JE, Wang KK, McCall SJ, Mishra L, Ojesina AI, Bullman S, Pedamallu CS, Lazar AJ, Sakai R, The Cancer Genome Atlas Netowrk, Thorsson V, Bass AJ*, Laird PW. Comparative Molecular Analysis of Gastrointestinal AdenocarcinomasCancer Cell, 2018 Apr 9;33(4):721-735

Pectasides, E., Stachler, M. D., Derks, S., Liu, Y., Maron, S., Islam, M., Alpert, L., Kwak, H., Kindler, H., Polite, B., Sharma, M. R., Allen, K., O’Day, E., Lomnicki, S., Maranto, M., Kanteti, R., Fitzpatrick, C., Weber, C., Setia, N., Xiao, S. Y., Hart, J., Nagy, R., Kim, K. M., Choi, M. G., Min, B. H., Nason, K. S., O’Keefe, L., Watanabe, M., Baba, H., Lanman, R., Agoston, A. T., Oh, D. J., Dunford, A., Thorner, A. R., Ducar, M. D., Wollison, B. M., Coleman, H. A., Ji, Y., Posner, M. C., Roggin, K. K., Turaga, K., Chang, P., Hogarth, K., Siddiqui, U., Gelrud, A., Ha, G., Freeman, S. S., Rhoades, J., Reed, S., Gydush, G., Rotem, D., Davison, J., Imamura, Y., Adalsteinsson, V., Lee, J., Bass, A. J.* and Catenacci, D. V. Genomic Heterogeneity as a Barrier to Precision Medicine in Gastroesophageal Adenocarcinoma. Cancer Discovery. 2017. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-17-0395. PubMed PMID: 28978556

TCGA Consortium.* Comprehensive Molecular Characterization of Gastric AdenocarcinomaNature, 2014 Sep 11;513(7517):202-9 (*Sole Corresponding Author)

Publications on PubMed

Visit PubMed for a full listing of Dr. Bass’s journal articles. Pubmed is an online index of research papers and other articles from the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

See all on PubMed

Disclosures

Members of the MSK Community often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community. These activities outside of MSK further our mission, provide productive collaborations, and promote the practical application of scientific discoveries.

MSK requires doctors, faculty members, and leaders to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public. Not all disclosed interests and relationships present conflicts of interest. MSK reviews all disclosed interests and relationships to assess whether a conflict of interest exists and whether formal COI management is needed.

Adam Bass discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

  • Curie.Bio
    Professional Services and Activities
  • Dana Farber
    Intellectual Property Rights
  • Earli Inc.
    Equity; Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated)
  • Helix Nanotechnologies, Inc.
    Equity
  • Novartis
    Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated)
  • Signet Therapeutics
    Equity; Professional Services and Activities
  • Stipple Bio
    Professional Services and Activities

If you’re a patient at MSK and would like more information about your doctor’s external relationships, please talk with your doctor.

The information published here is a complement to other publicly reported data and is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.


This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2025 through disclosure submission in spring 2026). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at [email protected].


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