Smita Sihag, MD, MPH, FACS
Thoracic Surgeon
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Meet Thoracic Surgeon Smita Sihag
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About Me
- Assistant Attending Surgeon
I am a board-certified thoracic surgeon who specializes in caring for people with cancers of the chest. These include primary tumors in the esophagus, lung, mediastinum, airway, pleura, and chest wall, as well as those that have metastasized (spread) to those areas from other parts of the body.
I have special expertise in treating esophageal and tracheal diseases, as well as a variety of benign (non-cancerous) conditions related to these areas such as gastroesophageal reflux, high-grade Barrett’s dysplasia, hiatal hernia, achalasia, esophageal diverticula, and tracheal stenosis.
I perform more than 200 operations per year at Memorial Sloan Kettering’s inpatient hospital in Manhattan. Patients have the option to see me in the clinic at the Rockefeller Outpatient Pavilion in Manhattan or at MSK Nassau on Long Island.
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I work closely with my colleagues in medical, interventional, and radiation oncology to provide each individual patient with a personalized treatment plan that is specifically tailored to their needs. Patients, as well as their family members, caregivers, and primary care providers, are included in the decision-making process to ensure that they feel well supported. After meeting with me, I want patients to feel a sense of hope and comfort that they will be extremely well cared for.
I also strive to offer patients access to the latest innovations and treatment options. Whenever possible, I use minimally invasive techniques to perform lung and esophageal surgery, including robotics and video-assisted thoracoscopy (VATs). These allow for the use of very small incisions and have been shown to lead to a smoother and faster recovery.
I became a thoracic surgical oncologist because surgery remains the best tool available to treat and cure cancers of the lung and esophagus. I also derive tremendous joy and fulfillment from performing challenging operations and helping patients have excellent outcomes.
In addition to my clinical work, I lead a research effort in collaboration with the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Center for Molecular Oncology that is focused on discovering new therapeutic strategies to treat people with esophageal cancer. Our goal is to develop more precise tools for diagnosing and staging esophageal cancer, as well as predicting which patients will respond to certain treatments.
I am also involved with clinical trials investigating targeted treatments and immunotherapy for esophageal cancer, which represent promising areas of advancement in the field.
In my free time, I enjoy long-distance running, traveling to new destinations, and exploring good food and wine in New York City.
A thoracic (thor-A-sik) surgeon is a doctor with special training in surgery on the chest, lungs, trachea (windpipe), and thymus.
My Specialties
- Lung Cancer
- Esophageal Cancer
- Thymic Malignancies
- Tracheal Diseases
- Minimally Invasive Esophageal Surgery
- Endoscopic Mucosal Resection
- Complex Airway Surgery
- Robotic Surgery
Education
- MD, Washington University
- MPH, Harvard University
Residencies
- General Surgery – Massachusetts General Hospital-Harvard University
Awards and Honors
- Top Doctors New York Metro Area, Castle Connolly (2023)
- Castle Connolly: America's Top Doctors (2023)
Fellowships
- Thoracic Surgery – Massachusetts General Hospital-Harvard University
Board Certifications
- Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
Insurance Information
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PPO, POS, EPO, HMO
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State Government
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If you have questions about insurance, call us at 646-497-9176.
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Current Patients
Contact and Location
Dr. Sihag sees patients at two locations.
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.
Clinical Trials
- Clinical Trials Co-Investigated by Dr. Sihag
- A Phase III Study Comparing Proton Therapy to Photon Radiation Therapy for Esophageal Cancer
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 trialsResearch and Publications
Visit PubMed for a full listing of Dr. Sihag’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 PubMedPatient Reviews
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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.
Smita Sihag discloses the following relationships and financial interests:
No disclosures meeting criteria for time period
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 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, 2022 through disclosure submission in spring 2023). 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].
