Renato G. Martins

Renato G. Martins, MD

Renato G. Martins, MD, MPH

Top Doctor
The Top Doctor award is a peer-nominated award for providers who give exceptional care.
Medical Director, Thoracic, Head and Neck Oncology
Seattle Cancer Care Alliance
Professor
University of Washington School of Medicine
Medical Director, Outpatient General Oncology and Hematology-Oncology
UW Medicine
Professor, Clinical Research Division
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Clinical expertise
Lung cancer, head and neck cancers, thoracic oncology
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“

I’m 100% committed to providing tomorrow’s treatments, today. I don’t treat cancer; I treat patients and their families — the same way I like to be treated.

”
— Dr. Martins

Why did you choose to treat diseases like lung cancers?

I’ve always known lung diseases impact patients and their families in profound ways, because my own father had cancer. Also, both he and my grandfather were pulmonologists specializing in treating respiratory diseases. In my challenging yet focused work with lung, head and neck cancers (from Rio de Janeiro to Seattle), I’ve dedicated myself to compassionate care and to advancing treatments that reduce the devastating impact of these diseases. When I completed my early training, I knew every two-year survivor of lung cancer by name — because there were so few. Today, because of SCCA’s advanced research and treatments, I’m seeing five-year survival for patients with advanced cancer. Things have changed dramatically.

Renato G. Martins, MD

Specialties and clinical expertise
The branch of medicine a provider practices and their areas of focus

Medical Oncology

Head and neck cancer

Though SCCA offers the best cancer treatment available, I feel we can do even better. Through clinical research, we can advance treatments even further to improve our patients’ quality of life and help create more survivors of head and neck cancers. That's why my research is focused on immunotherapy, targeted therapies and designing clinical trials for head and thoracic cancers. I’ve contributed to over 80 publications and authored clinical trials that led to new therapies being used up to 73 months before FDA approval.

Lung cancer

Today is a completely different medical landscape than just five years ago. The difference in a huge part is due to SCCA being at the forefront of developing cellular immunotherapies and the new therapies available. Our treatments administer cancer-fighting immune cells in combination with drugs that stimulate the immune system. For some lung cancer patients, a checkpoint inhibitor is now the preferred first-line therapy — before chemotherapy — to prevent cancer from blocking your body’s immune response.

Diseases treated

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What is your approach to treatment?

Caring for you as my patient includes listening deeply. I’m here to attend to your unique needs as well as your family's. At SCCA, you’ll receive the very best possible care, because our highly specialized teams focus on developing new advances in immunotherapy to offer patients new hope. You literally have access to tomorrow’s treatments, today. My goal is to increase the number of cancer patients that we’re able to cure. When a cancer is not curable, we diligently focus all our accumulated knowledge and experience on getting your disease under control so you can return to doing things you enjoy and living a productive life with a chronic health problem that is manageable.

Testimonials

“Dr. Martins is a leader in his field and as such, brings that knowledge to your treatment plan. He cares about the entire person, not just your cancer impacts and treatment. Dr. Martins shows compassion and communicates in lay terms to keep you abreast and informed.”
— Sunshine Pegues | Dr. Martins’ patient
Read My Story
Randall Broad
“He gave me the feeling that I would be in the best hands of anyone I had ever met.”
— Randall Broad | Dr. Martins’ patient
Read My Story
“Dr. Martins is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable medical oncologists in the country. He is smart and knows all of the options for patients with lung or head and neck cancer, but more importantly he is sensitive to patient needs and personalizing treatment for individual patients. He is the person I would want to be my doctor if I had cancer.”
— Douglas Wood, MD, FACS, FRCSEd
“Dr. Martins is one of the best practitioners I have ever met. He cares deeply and compassionately about the people he treats; he makes each patient feel like they are the most important person in the world. ”
— Leslie Anderson, PA-C

Education, experience and certifications

Medical Degree
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
Residency
Gundersen Clinic, Internal Medicine
Fellowship
Massachusetts General, Harvard Medical School, Hematology-Oncology
Board Certification
Medical Oncology, 1998, 2019, American Board of Internal Medicine
Other
MPH, Harvard University; Internship, Carney Hospital

Languages

English, Portuguese, Spanish

Your care team

At SCCA, you receive care from a team of providers with extensive experience in your disease. Your team includes doctors, a team coordinator, a registered nurse, an advanced practice provider and others, based on your needs. You also have access to experts like nutritionists, social workers, acupuncturists, psychiatrists and more who specialize in supporting people with cancer or blood disorders.
Jennifer E. Jacky
Jennifer E. Jacky, MSN, ARNP, AOCNP
Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner
Advanced Practice Provider
Registered nurse (RN)
Your nurse manages your care alongside your physician and assists with care procedures and treatments.
Team coordinator (TC)
Your team coordinator works closely with you and your physician and serves as your scheduler.

Clinical trials

We make promising new treatments available to you through studies called clinical trials led by SCCA doctors. Many of these trials at SCCA have led to FDA-approved treatments and have improved standards of care globally. Together, you and your doctor can decide if a study is right for you.
A Study of RO7198457 (Personalized Cancer Vaccine [PCV]) as a Single Agent and in Combination With Atezolizumab in Participants With Locally Advanced or Metastatic Tumors
Study No: NCT03289962
Phase: Phase I
View Trial
Ramucirumab and Pembrolizumab Versus Standard of Care in Treating Patients With Stage IV or Recurrent Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (A Lung-MAP Non-Match Treatment Trial)
Study No: NCT03971474
Phase: Phase II
View Trial
Phase 1 Study of the Highly-selective RET Inhibitor BLU-667 in Patients With Thyroid Cancer, Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, and Other Advanced Solid Tumors
Study No: NCT03037385
Phase: Phase I
View Trial
A Phase 1, Study Evaluating the Safety, Tolerability, PK, and Efficacy of AMG 510 in Subjects With Solid Tumors With a Specific KRAS Mutation.
Study No: NCT03600883
Phase: Phase I
View Trial
See more clinical trials

Press and news

SCCA providers are often asked to give their medical advice for press and news publications. Read articles by or about this SCCA provider.
With New Data, Drug Combos, Lung Cancer Experts Scramble to Keep Pace
By XConomy - Published April 11, 2018
7-Year Lung Cancer Survivor Interviews His Doctor, Should I Be Hopeful?
By Patient Power - Published June 8, 2015

Publications

Many of our SCCA physicians conduct ongoing research to improve standards of patient care. Their work is evaluated by other physicians and selected for publication to the United States National Library of Medicine, the largest medical library in the world. See scientific papers this SCCA provider has written.
NCCN Guidelines Insights: Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Version 1.2020.
See more publications

Awards

Seattle magazine's 2020 Top Doctors award
Dr. Martins has been recognized as a Top Doctor in this peer-nominated award multiple years in a row.
Seattle Met's 2019 Top Doctors award
Dr. Martins has been recognized as a Top Doctor in this peer-nominated award multiple years in a row.
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