Montaser Shaheen, MD

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Associate Professor, Medicine
Biography
Dr. Shaheen obtained his MD from Damascus University. He completed a fellowship in Hematology/ Oncology at Indiana University. He is board certified in both hematology and oncology. Dr. Shaheen Joined the University of Arizona Cancer Center in 2017 as the director of advanced melanoma and renal cell carcinoma (RCC). He is a physician-scientist who is interested in early clinical trials involving immune and targeted therapies with emphasis on melanoma and RCC. His lab conducts research in the areas of carcinogenesis, genome instability and the ubiquitin pathway.
Cancer Focus
My lab is interested in uncovering basic mechanisms of DNA double strand breaks' repair. We focus on the role of the ubiquitin pathway, in particular deubiquitylases, in this process. We aim to uncover the function of the important tumor suppressor BAP1 in carcinogenesis in order to design mechanism-based therapeutics. BAP1 is mutated in RCC, ocular and hereditary melanoma among other cancers. I am also involved in a number of immune and targeted trials to improve the outcome of patients with advanced melanoma and RCC (eg: NEJM. 2015 May 21;372(21):2006-17). We conduct research from bench to bedside and vice versa to improve the outcome of individual patients.
Selected Publications
Carducci, M., M. Shaheen, B. Markman, S. Hurvitz, D. Mahadevan, D. Kotasek, O. B. Goodman, E. Rasmussen, V. Chow, G. Juan, et al., "A phase 1, first-in-human study of AMG 900, an orally administered pan-Aurora kinase inhibitor, in adult patients with advanced solid tumors.", Invest New Drugs, vol. 36, issue 6, pp. 1060-1071, 2018 12. PMID: 29980894
F Hodi, S., J. Chesney, A. C. Pavlick, C. Robert, K. F. Grossmann, D. F. McDermott, G. P. Linette, N. Meyer, J. K. Giguere, S. S. Agarwala, et al., "Combined nivolumab and ipilimumab versus ipilimumab alone in patients with advanced melanoma: 2-year overall survival outcomes in a multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase 2 trial.", Lancet Oncol, vol. 17, issue 11, pp. 1558-1568, 2016 Nov. PMCID: PMC5630525 PMID: 27622997
Postow, M. A., J. Chesney, A. C. Pavlick, C. Robert, K. Grossmann, D. McDermott, G. P. Linette, N. Meyer, J. K. Giguere, S. S. Agarwala, et al., "Nivolumab and ipilimumab versus ipilimumab in untreated melanoma.", N Engl J Med, vol. 372, issue 21, pp. 2006-17, 2015 May 21. PMCID: PMC5744258 PMID: 25891304
Shanmugam, I., M. Abbas, F. Ayoub, S. Mirabal, M. Bsaili, E. K. Caulder, D. M. Weinstock, A. E. Tomkinson, R. Hromas, and M. Shaheen, "Ubiquitin-specific peptidase 20 regulates Rad17 stability, checkpoint kinase 1 phosphorylation and DNA repair by homologous recombination.", J Biol Chem, vol. 289, issue 33, pp. 22739-48, 2014 Aug 15. PMCID: PMC4132780 PMID: 24923443
Abbas, M., I. Shanmugam, M. Bsaili, R. Hromas, and M. Shaheen, "The role of the human psoralen 4 (hPso4) protein complex in replication stress and homologous recombination.", J Biol Chem, vol. 289, issue 20, pp. 14009-19, 2014 May 16. PMCID: PMC4022871 PMID: 24675077