Charles L. Loprinzi, M.D., is a medical oncologist whose primary research interest for more than 25 years has related to symptom control clinical trials — trials devoted to the treatment, prevention or better understanding of untoward symptoms that are related to cancer, cancer treatment or both.

Dr. Loprinzi has led a group that has conducted well over 100 symptom control trials, most of them placebo-controlled trials. This work has addressed the management of mouth sores or inflammation of the esophagus or bowels (gastrointestinal mucosal toxicity); cancer-related loss of appetite, weight or both (anorexia-cachexia); chemotherapy-induced hot flashes, skin toxicity, sexuality symptoms, numbness, tingling, pain or a combination (chemotherapy-induced neuropathy); arm swelling (lymphedema); cognitive dysfunction; bone thinning (osteoporosis); insomnia; and fatigue. His primary clinical interest is breast cancer, and thus many of the trials he has conducted relate to this area.

Arguably, Dr. Loprinzi has been at the heart of defining more treatment approaches for uncontrolled symptoms in patients with cancer than any other individual over the past three decades.