India Chapter

Dr. Sameer Rastogi

Dr. Sameer Rastogi is a faculty member in the Department of Medical Oncology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, leading tertiary care centre in North India. Currently, he is running a dedicated sarcoma/desmoids/Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) medical oncology clinic in AIIMS New Delhi. His other interests are endocrine cancers and melanoma. He did his Medical Oncology fellowship at Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai and has various publications to his credit including reputed journals. He has received various international awards like Young investigator award from SIOP (International Society of Pediatric Oncology) and Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA) Asia Pacific award. A group of people who had received treatment from him have formed a sarcoma support group called Sachin Sarcoma Society which is currently one of the leading support groups for sarcoma/GIST/desmoid patients in India.

During tenure, Dr. Rastogi saw many patients with sarcoma having strong family history suggestive of Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS). He got those families tested and few families came positive for LFS. At this time, he got in touch with LFS Association to share the common vision to help LFS families across the globe. He wants to develop a strong Indian chapter/support group/educational program for patients with LFS in India and is determined to carry LFS research forward in India. If you are a doctor seeing LFS or a family with LFS patients, please feel free to contact him at samdoc_mamc@yahoo.com.

The LFS Association Awareness brochure is now available in Hindi to download and print:  LFSA Hindi PDF

Alternately, you can view the information in Hindi here utilizing the Google translate feature.

NEW: June 2023 publication by Dr. Rastogi in Rare Tumors: A qualitative study to assess the psychological experiences and coping strategies of families affected with Li-Fraumeni syndrome in the Indian Population.

Dr. Payal Khincha

Based in the United States, Dr. Payal Khincha serves as co-chair for LFSA – India.

Dr. Khincha first worked at the Clinical Genetics Branch (CGB) as a special volunteer and clinical collaborator in July 2012 as part of the research component of a clinical fellowship in pediatric hematology-oncology at the Children’s National Medical Center (CNMC), Washington, D.C. In 2014, she formally joined CGB as a clinical fellow. In 2017, she became a staff clinician, and in 2018, the principal investigator on the NCI’s longitudinal family study on Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS). In 2020, Dr. Khincha was appointed physician-scientist early investigator in CGB. Dr. Khincha’s studies have led to multiple publications strongly supporting the need for LFS patients to receive comprehensive cancer screening. In addition, she and Dr. Christina Annunziata in the Center for Cancer Research were recognized with a CCR-DCEG Flex Award for a clinical trial, currently under development, of metformin as a chemopreventive agent in patients at extremely high risk of cancer due to an inherited mutation in TP53.

Dr. Khincha received her primary medical degree (MBBS) in 2005 from Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences, Bangalore, India, and completed her residency training in pediatrics in 2010 at Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York, and CNMC, Washington D.C. She is board certified in pediatrics and pediatric hematology-oncology.

Dr. Khincha’s research aims to identify correlations of cancer with specific TP53 mutation types in individuals with LFS, assess the effectiveness of cancer surveillance on individuals and families with LFS, and determine if changes in mitochondrial function caused by use of metformin is associated with cancer incidence in the LFS population.

The NCI’s longitudinal study on the clinical, genetic, and epidemiologic study of LFS opened in 2011 under the leadership of Dr. Sharon Savage (LFSA Medical Advisory Board member), in order to further characterize the clinical and molecular consequences of this disorder and develop a cancer screening program for TP53 mutation carriers. The team also assisted in the creation of an international LFS research consortium. During her NCI tenure, Dr. Khincha has been involved with the LFS Study in clinical evaluations and genetics of LFS families, quickly building her expertise in this area, taking on leadership roles in the study, and collaborating with experts in the consortium. Her LFS research focusses on developing an effective cancer surveillance protocol for these families, genotype-phenotype analyses, understanding the genetics and biological basis for cancer development in LFS, and evaluating the effects of cancer treatment on subsequent cancer risks.

Dr. Khincha can be contacted at:  payal.khincha@nih.gov