Dr. Carey provides advanced medical and surgical head and neck cancer care and reconstructive services to patients at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center. He specializes in head and neck oncologic surgery, transoral robotic surgery (TORS), and microvascular reconstructive surgery.
Dr. Carey is a surgeon-scientist engaged in research aimed at improving the diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancer. He runs a cancer neuroscience lab that investigates how head and neck cancer cells interact with the local tumor environment. His lab is specifically focused on G-protein coupled receptors including taste receptors and how the involved signaling pathways can regulate important cellular processes in head and neck cancer. The goal is to leverage taste receptors as biomarkers or therapeutic targets for treating malignancies. His group is actively translating their basic science findings from bench to bedside through clinical trials on therapies developed in the lab.
Dr. Carey is the sponsor-investigator for “A Phase I Randomized Controlled Trial of Intratumoral Lidocaine Injection Before Transoral Robotic Surgery (TORS) and Neck Dissection for HPV-Associated Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.” NCT06747390. More information is available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06747390
Additional information about the Carey lab is available at: https://www.med.upenn.edu/carey-lab/
Selected Publications
Kaki PC, Patel AM, Huang L, Turner G, Haleem A, Brant JA, Brody RM, Carey RM: Treatment of Biopsy-Proven Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Situ. Laryngoscope Investigative Otolaryngology October 2025.
Turner G, Sywanycz SM, Buchler BL, Wardlow RD, Lee RJ, Carey RM: Quercetin as a Bitter Taste Receptor Agonist with Anticancer Effects in Head and Neck Cancer Cells. Nutrients October 2025.
Kaki PC, Lam D, Sangal NR, Carey RM, Rajasekaran K, Chalian A, Brody RM, Weinstein GS, Cannady SB: Comparing Functional Outcomes Following TORS with Free Flap Reconstruction Using a Radial Forearm vs Anterolateral Thigh Flap. Head Neck September 2025.
Huang L, Patel AM, Chao T Carey RM: Robotic Resection of Parapharyngeal Follicular Dendritic Cell Sarcoma with Castleman Disease. Laryngoscope September 2025.
Hoerter JE, Eide JG, Salmon M, Carey RM, Prasad A, Brant JA, Palmer JN, Adappa ND, Kshirsagar RS: Nodal Metastasis in Surgically Treated Sinonasal Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Discover Oncology July 2025.
Sangal NR, Tapescu I, Kaki PC, Brody RM, Carey RM: Outcomes of Immunotherapy Utilization in Distantly Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma. JAMA Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery June 2025.
Kaki PC, Haleem A, Kaki PC, Lee JJ, Maxwell R, Brant JA, Brody RM, Carey RM: Adjuvant radiotherapy in pT3–4N0M0 major salivary gland cancer without other adverse features. American Journal of Otolaryngology April 2025.
Kaki PC, Patel AM, Choudhry HS, Brant JA, Brody RM, Carey RM: Elective neck dissection in cT1-4 N0M0 head and neck spindle cell carcinoma. Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery April 2025.
Kaki PC, Patel AM, Choudhry HS, Brant JA, Brody RM, Carey RM: Elective neck dissection in cT1-4 N0M0 head and neck spindle cell carcinoma. Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery April 2025.
Kaki PC, Sangal NR, Lam D, Carey RM, Rajasekaran K, Chalian A, Brody RM, Weinstein GS, Cannady SB: Functional Outcomes of Free Flap Reconstruction After TORS in Early-Stage HPV-Positive Oropharyngeal Cancer. Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery March 2025.
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Last updated: 10/29/2025
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