Pictured: David Pfister

David G. Pfister, MD

Head and Neck Medical Oncologist

Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Head and neck cancers
  • Laryngeal (larynx) cancer
  • Thyroid cancer and conditions

My Specialties

  • Immunotherapy
  • Targeted therapy
  • Chemotherapy
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Dr. Pfister's Office Information
Languages: English
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Get to Know Me

I am a medical oncologist with more than 20 years of experience in treating patients with a broad spectrum of head and neck malignancies including tumors of the mouth, throat, thyroid, salivary glands, and skin. For these years of service, I was honored to receive Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s Willet F. Whitmore Award for Clinical Excellence in 2011.

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As former Chief of the Head and Neck Oncology Service, I worked closely with an esteemed and highly coordinated group of medical oncologists, surgeons, radiation oncologists, nurses, and other healthcare professionals to provide our patients with the very best care possible.

Collaborative, multidisciplinary care is especially important for cancers of the head and neck because, generally speaking, treatment not only involves a potentially deadly disease but also issues related to physical appearance, function, and quality of life. An approach that I pioneered with Memorial Sloan Kettering colleagues — known as combined modality organ preservation therapy — uses a combination of chemotherapy and radiation to avoid certain surgical procedures feared by patients such as removal of the voice box, with the intent of preserving function and cosmetic appearance without compromising survival.

My current research is focused on evaluating new forms of chemotherapy called targeted therapies, which selectively kill cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone. I am also developing customized combined modality therapies based on prognostic risk, and assessing healthcare outcomes.

I have published extensively, previously serving as an associate editor for Clinical Cancer Research and on the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Oncology, and have been principal investigator on multiple studies.

In addition to being a member of the board of directors for the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, I chair the organization’s head and neck cancer practice guidelines panel. I am also on the board of directors for the International Thyroid Oncology Group, and am co-chair of the Head and Neck Cancer Recurrent/Metastatic Disease Task Force at the National Cancer Institute. Here at Memorial Sloan Kettering, I chair the Committee on Metrics of Care Quality and Outcome.

What I Do at MSK

I'm a head and neck medical oncologist, which is a cancer doctor who specializes in head and neck cancers. This includes cancers of the larynx, lips, mouth, nose, salivary glands, and throat.

  • Associate Deputy Physician-in-Chief, Strategic Partnerships
Areas of Expertise

Conditions I Treat

  • Head and neck cancers
  • Laryngeal (larynx) cancer
  • Thyroid cancer and conditions
  • Salivary gland tumors
  • Skin cancer and conditions
  • Lung cancer
  • Genitourinary cancers and conditions

My Specialties

  • Immunotherapy
  • Targeted therapy
  • Chemotherapy
Education & Honors

Education

  • MD, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Residencies

  • Internal Medicine - Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

Fellowships

  • Clinical Epidemiology/Internal Medicine - Yale-New Haven Hospital/Yale University School of Medicine
  • Medical Oncology and Hematology - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
  • Medicine - Weill Cornell Medical College

Board Certifications

  • Internal Medicine
  • Medical Oncology

Awards and Honors

  • Castle Connolly: America’s Top Doctor (2025)
  • Castle Connolly: America’s Top Doctor (2024)
  • Top Doctors New York Metro Area, Castle Connolly (2023)
  • Castle Connolly: America's Top Doctors (2023)
  • Castle Connolly: New York Magazine Top Doctors (2005-2008, 2010-2018)

Insurance Information

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

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Contact and Location

Dr. Pfister sees patients at one location.

Office Phone
Location
New York, NY
David H. Koch Center for Cancer Care at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
530 East 74th Street New York NY 10021
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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.

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Clinical Trials

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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.

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Research and Publications

Publications on PubMed

Visit PubMed for a full listing of Dr. Pfister’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.

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Disclosures

Doctors and faculty members 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.

MSK requires doctors and faculty members 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.

David G. Pfister discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

  • MeiraGTx, LLC
    Professional Services and Activities
  • National Comprehensive Cancer Network
    Fiduciary Role / Position; Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated)
  • Open Medical Institute
    Professional Services and Activities (Uncompensated)

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, 2023 through disclosure submission in spring 2024). 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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