Setsuko K. Chambers

Setsuko Chambers is a gynecologic oncologist and Professor at Creighton University School of Medicine with a distinguished career spanning academic medicine, clinical trials, and translational biology. She has been a long-standing member and investigator of the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG), contributing to numerous cooperative group trials in endometrial and ovarian cancer. Her basic and translational research has focused on the role of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) signaling in gynecologic cancer progression, particularly in ovarian and endometrial carcinomas. Chambers identified and characterized the tumor-promoting role of M-CSF and its receptor (CSF1R/c-fms) in ovarian cancer, demonstrating that M-CSF signaling promotes tumor cell invasion, survival, and immune evasion through macrophage recruitment and polarization. This work contributed to the growing understanding of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) in the ovarian cancer microenvironment and provided the biological rationale for CSF1R-targeting therapeutic strategies being pursued clinically. Prior to her role at Creighton, Chambers held academic appointments at the University of Arizona Cancer Center, where she also conducted research on psychological distress, quality of life, and behavioral interventions for women with gynecologic cancers. This integrative approach to cancer care — combining molecular biology with patient-centered outcomes — distinguishes her career as a physician-scientist committed to the whole patient.