Find an MSK Doctor or Cancer Specialist
MSK medical oncologist Loren Michel

Loren Scott Michel, MD

Head and Neck Medical Oncologist

My Role at MSK

Areas of Expertise

My Specialties

  • Head & Neck Medical Oncology
  • Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Skin
  • Targeted Therapy
View all
Dr. Michel's Office Information
Languages: English & Spanish

Request an Appointment

Our Care Advisors can answer many of your questions. They will connect you with the best healthcare provider for your needs.
Back to top
English
Share

About Me

What I Do at MSK
  • Associate Attending Physician
Get To Know Me

I am a medical oncologist who cares for people with head and neck cancers, including squamous cell carcinoma and thyroid cancer.

I see about 400 patients each year at Memorial Sloan Kettering Basking Ridge and Memorial Sloan Kettering Nassau. I have nearly 20 years of experience and am committed to helping my patients fight and beat cancer. There is nothing more meaningful to me in life than this pursuit.

Read more

I specialize in treating squamous cell cancer of the mucosal surfaces, including the lips, mouth, throat, voicebox, and nasopharynx. I am particularly interested in treating patients whose tumors are caused by smoking or viruses, such as HPV and the Epstein-Barr virus.

I also have expertise in caring for people with squamous cell carcinoma of the skin. This is a common type of skin cancer that can be deadly if it recurs or spreads to other parts of the body. Incurable squamous cell carcinoma of the skin is rare, but I have extensive experience in treating patients whose disease can’t be cured with surgery or radiation.

I spend a lot of time thinking about the best treatment approach for each patient. It’s critical to find options that will maximize the chance of a cure and minimize side effects. For my patients who have incurable disease, I especially weigh the potential of therapies that will prolong life or reduce symptoms against any side effects. Quality of life always comes first.

The goal of my research is to develop new treatment approaches for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. We recently published the results of the first trial of palbociclib for treating head and neck cancer. Palbociclib is a pill that targets a specific genetic defect that is found in nearly all HPV-unrelated squamous cell cancers of the head and neck. This drug is likely to provide a significant benefit for the treatment of incurable head and neck squamous cell cancer. My long-term goal is to develop more of these types of therapies that will help improve cure rates.

My Role at MSK

A head and neck medical oncologist is a cancer doctor who specializes in head and neck cancers. This includes cancers of the larynx, lips, mouth, nose, salivary glands, and throat.

Areas of Expertise

My Specialties

  • Head & Neck Medical Oncology
  • Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Skin
  • Targeted Therapy
Education & Honors

Education

  • MD, Case Western Reserve University

Residencies

  • Internal Medicine - Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Awards and Honors

  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Clinical Scholars Award
  • AACR-Sidney Kimmel Foundation for Cancer Research Fellowship in Basic Research
  • Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Clinical Investigator Award

Fellowships

  • Hematology/Oncology - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Board Certifications

  • Medical Oncology

Insurance Information

Understanding your insurance options is an important part of managing your cancer care. We have relationships with many common healthcare providers and plans.

Aetna

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, EPO PPO, POS, Transplant

Aetna Medicare Advantage (MTA retirees only)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

Anthem BCBS and other BCBS licensee plans

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO, HMO

See updates

Anthem BCBS Health Plus

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

See updates

Anthem Blue Cross Medicare Advantage

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO, DSN

See updates

Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal Employee Program

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, PPO

See updates

Blue Cross Blue Shield states outside of NY/NJ

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, EPO PPO, POS

See updates

Carrum Health

In Network Coverage Type
Supplemental

Cigna

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, HMO

Connecticare

In Network Coverage Type
POS, EPO, HMO

Emblem

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO, HMO

Offers a qualified health plan from the Health Insurance Marketplace. Call Emblem to learn more.

Emblem Essential

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Emblem Medicare Advantage (Medicare Choice PPO Network and VIP Prime Network Only)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO

Empire Essential

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Empire Plan / NYSHIP (Blue Cross/UnitedHealthcare split plan)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

See updates

Fidelis

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, EPO

Offers a qualified health plan from the Health Insurance Marketplace. Call Fidelis to learn more.

Fidelis Managed Medicaid & HARP

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Fidelis Medicare Advantage

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

First Health

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

Healthfirst

In Network Coverage Type
EPO, HMO, PPO, POS

Offers a qualified health plan from the Health Insurance Marketplace. Call Healthfirst to learn more.

Healthfirst Managed Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

Healthfirst Medicare Advantage

In Network Coverage Type
HMO, PPO

Healthsmart

In Network Coverage Type
PPO EPO

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey (HMO)

In Network Coverage Type
HMO

See updates

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey (PPO)

In Network Coverage Type
PPO

See updates

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey Omnia Tier I (EPO)

In Network Coverage Type
EPO

See updates

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield New Jersey Omnia Tier II (EPO)

In Network Coverage Type
EPO

See updates

Horizon Medicare Advantage

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO

Husky CT Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Magnacare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO

Straight NJ Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Straight NY Medicaid

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Medicare Part A&B (traditional Medicare)

In Network Coverage Type
Federal Government

Multiplan/Beech Street/PHCS

In Network Coverage Type
Supplemental

MVP

In Network Coverage Type
PPO/OAP

Non-Participating Plans with Out of Network Benefits

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, EPO, HMO

NYC Medicare Advantage Plus for City Employees

In Network Coverage Type
TBD

Oscar

In Network Coverage Type
HMO/EPO

Oxford

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, EPO

World Trade Center Health Program (WTC)

In Network Coverage Type
State Government

Qualcare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, HMO

Tricare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, HMO

UMR

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS

United Healthcare

In Network Coverage Type
PPO, POS, HMO

Don't see your carrier or plan? We can help you understand your coverage.

If you don't have health insurance or are worried that your care may not be fully covered, our financial assistance programs may be able to help.

If you have questions about insurance, call us at 646-497-9176.

Make an Appointment

Women talking

New Patients

Scheduling an appointment is easy. Click or call 646-497-9161— we’re available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Make an Appointment

Current Patients

Request an appointment by logging on to MyMSK or calling your doctor’s office. If you aren’t registered for MyMSK, call 646-227-2593 for your Enrollment ID.

Contact and Location

Dr. Michel sees patients at two locations.

Office Phone
Location
Basking Ridge, NJ
Uniondale, NY
Memorial Sloan Kettering Basking Ridge
136 Mountain View Boulevard Basking Ridge NJ 07920
Get Directions
Memorial Sloan Kettering Nassau
1101 Hempstead Turnpike Uniondale NY 11553
Get Directions

Looking to see a doctor at a different location? See all MSK locations.

Colleagues

Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering work as teams, with specialists from all different areas. This allows us to consider all your needs together, and to give you the best possible care.

See all Head and Neck Oncology Service doctors

Clinical Trials

Smiling doctors in the lab
Find a Clinical Trial for You

Memorial Sloan Kettering's doctors and scientists are constantly developing new treatments for cancer. MSK is typically running hundreds of clinical trials at a given time.

You may be able to participate in a clinical trial even if you are new to MSK. Search our online directory to find trial information and see more about who can participate.

Search clinical trials

Research and Publications

Oral Oncology, Michel, L. et al 2016: Phase I trial of palbociclib, a selective cyclin dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitor, in combination with cetuximab in patients with recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Publications on PubMed

Visit PubMed for a full listing of Dr. Michel’s journal articles. Pubmed is an online index of research papers and other articles from the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

See all on PubMed

Disclosures

Doctors and faculty members often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community.

MSK requires doctors and faculty members to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public.

Loren Scott Michel discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

  • KisoJi Biotechnology Inc.
    Professional Services and Activities

If you’re a patient at MSK and would like more information about your doctor’s external relationships, please talk with your doctor.

The information published here is a complement to other publicly reported data and is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.

This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2023 through disclosure submission in spring 2024). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at [email protected].


View all disclosures

Related topics: