Tolga Tuncer, M.D.

Professional Background

Tolga Tuncer, M.D., is an Assistant professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Kansas Medical Center. He also holds the same rank in the Division of Medical Oncology in the Department of Internal Medicine. He joined the KU Medical Center faculty in November 2021 after serving on the Department of Hematology-Oncology faculty at the University of Missouri.

A Neuro-oncologist, Medical Oncologist and Internal medicine specialist with a unique background in Radiation oncology, Dr. Tuncer’s clinical interests include primary brain tumors, gliomas, spinal cord tumors, brain metastases and central nervous system lymphoma, head and neck cancers, small cell lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and various thoracic neoplasms.

Along with being an avid researcher, Dr. Tuncer is a skilled teacher. He was recognized with the Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Dr. Tuncer attended University of Ankara, Turkey, where he received his medical degree. Subsequently, he completed multiple residencies in Internal medicine at Upstate Medical University, University of Massachusetts and St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, and in Radiation oncology at Istanbul University,Turkey and Ohio State University Hospital. He also completed four fellowships, including in radiation oncology at Lund University, Sweden, and at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, in Neuro-oncology at the prestigious Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, and in Hematology and Oncology at the University of Arizona, consecutively.

In addition to being triple board certified in internal medicine and medical oncology by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), Dr. Tuncer is board certified in neuro-oncology by the United Council for Neurological Subspecialties (UCNS). He additionally holds a board certification in radiation oncology from Turkey.

Dr. Tuncer holds membership in numerous professional organizations, including the Society for Neuro-Oncology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Society for Radiation Oncology. He also is a UCNS diplomate in Neuro-oncology.

• MD, MEDICINE , University of Ankara, Turkey
• Residency, Radiation Oncology, University of Istanbul, Department of Radiation Oncology, Istanbul, Turkey
• Clinical Fellowship, Radiation Oncology, Lund University, ESTRO-ELEKTA Fellowship, Lund, Sweden
• Clinical Fellowship, Radiation Oncology, The Ohio State University, James Cancer Hospital (OSU), Columbus, Ohio
• Clinical Fellowship, Radiation Oncology, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), Birmingham, Alabama
• Residency, Internal Medicine, Saint Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center/Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, Arizona
• Clinical Fellowship, Neuro-Oncology, Barrow Neurological Institute, Saint Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center/Barrow Neurological Institute, Pheonix, Arizona
• Clinical Fellowship, Hematology and Oncology, University of Arizona, AZCC (Arizona Cancer Center), Tucson, AZ

• Arizona License, Arizona Medical Board
• Kansas License , Kansas State Board of Healing Arts
• Michigan License , Michigan Board of Medicine
• Missouri License, Missouri State Board of Healing Arts

• The Society of Neuro-Oncology (SNO) , Member, 2011 - 2026
• United Council for Neurological Subspecialties , UCNS, Member, 2011 - 2027
• American Society of Clinical Oncology ( ASCO) , ASCO, Member, 2005 - 2027

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Research

Overview

Passionate about research and clinical trials, Dr. Tuncer’s research interests include immunomodulation of microenvironment in primary brain neoplasms, deintensification trials in p 16 positive head and neck neoplasms, genomically guided approach to brain metastasis, high LET therapy and outcomes of adjuvant treatment of early lung cancer, thyroid neoplasms, and neoadjuvant treatment of esophageal cancer.

• A Phase III Trial of Lomustine-Temozolomide Combination Therapy Versus Standard Temozolomide in Patients with Methylated MGMT Promoter Glioblastoma, NRG Oncology Foundation, Inc
• A Phase III Trial of Lomustine-Temozolomide Combination Therapy Versus Standard Temozolomide in Patients with Methylated MGMT Promoter Glioblastoma, NRG Oncology Foundation, Inc
• GammaTile and Stupp in Newly Diagnosed GBM (GESTALT), GT Medical Technologies, Inc.
• Multi-Center Randomized Controlled Phase 2b Clinical Trial To Evaluate The Saftey And Efficacy Of Tvi-Brain-1 Combined with Conformal Radiotherapy And Temozolomide Compared To Standard Therapy As A Treatment For Newly Diagnosed 06- Methyguanine Methyltransferase Negative (MGMT Unmethylated) Grade 4 Astrocytoma (Glioblastoma Multiforme; GBM), TVAX Biomedical
• SIGMA (Safusidenib in IDH1 Mutant Glioma Maintenance) (SIGMA), NUVATION BIO
• Testing the Addition of the Chemotherapy Drug Lomustine (Gleostine) to the Usual Treatment (Temozolomide and Radiation Therapy) for Newly Diagnosed MGMT Methylated Glioblastom, NRG
• Testing the Addition of the Chemotherapy Drug Lomustine (Gleostine) to the Usual Treatment (Temozolomide and Radiation Therapy) for Newly Diagnosed MGMT Methylated Glioblastom, NRG
• SIGMA (Safusidenib in IDH1 Mutant Glioma Maintenance) (SIGMA), NUVATION BIO

• Tuncer Tolga. 2026. Initial analysis of adoptive neoantigen-specific T-cell immunotherapy for MGMT-unmethylated glioblastoma (TVI-AST-008): Signals amid control arm attrition. Journal Of Clinical Oncology (J Clin Oncol 44, 2042(2026)). https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/JCO.2026.44.16_suppl.2042
• Chen Clark. 2026. Outcomes of a feasibility and safety trial of tile-based radiation therapy with cesium-131 followed by external beam radiation therapy with concurrent and adjuvant temozolomide in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma (NCT05342883). Journal Of Clinical Oncology Volume 44, Vol 44 Suppl 16 . https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/JCO.2026.44.16_suppl.2011
• Sloan AndrewEdward, Skikne Barry, Tuncer Tolga, Grogan PatrickThomas, Redjal Navid, Yu JohnS., Aguiar Jean, Wood Gary. 2025. A novel cellular immunotherapy using vaccine generated neoantigen-specific effector T cells.. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 43 (16_suppl), 2537-2537. https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.2025.43.16_suppl.2537
• Tuncer Tolga. 2026. Brachytherapy for Gliomas: A Rekindle. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yao.2026.01.006
• Tuncer Tolga. 2026. Bevacizumab in Cerebral Proliferative Angiopathy. Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery
• Tuncer Tolga. 2026. Chapter 15. Focused Ultrasound-Mediated Microbubble Drug Delivery
• Tuncer Tolga. 2025. Pleomorphic Xanthoastrocytoma. https://www.medlink.com/articles/pleomorphic-xanthoastrocytoma
• Huang Jiayi, Gao Feng, Shimony Joshua, Johanns TannerMichael, Mantica Megan, Gershon TimothyRobin, Ney DouglasEdward, Tuncer Tolga, Mendez JoeSammy, Streicher Howard, Campian JianLi. 2022. The interim result of a phase I/II study of nivolumab with or without ipilimumab in combination with multi-fraction stereotactic radiosurgery for recurrent, high-grade, radiation-relapsed meningioma.. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 40 (16_suppl), 2068-2068. https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.2022.40.16_suppl.2068
• Tuncer Tolga. 2025. Molecular Characterization of a Rare Glioblastoma Case With Atypical Histopathologic Features. Oncology, Oncology, Vol 39, Issue 8, Pages: 340-343, 2025. https://doi.org/10.46883/2025.25921050