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Francisco J. Esteva, MD, PhD

Present Title & Affiliation

Primary Appointment

Professor, Department of Breast Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment

Professor, Department of Molecular and Cellular Oncology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Education & Training

Degree-Granting Education

2001 University of Zaragoza Faculty of Medicine, Zaragoza, Spain, PhD, Cum Laude, Oncology
1988 University of Zaragoza Faculty of Medicine, Zaragoza, Spain, MD, Medicine and Surgery

Board Certifications

1997 American Board of Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology

Selected Publications

Peer-Reviewed Original Research Articles
1. Andre F, Nahta R, Conforti R, Boulet T, Aziz M, Yuan LX, Meslin F, Spielmann M, Tomasic G, Pusztai L, Hortobagyi GN, Michiels S, Delaloge S, Esteva FJ. Expression patterns and predictive value of phosphorylated AKT in early-stage breast cancer. Ann Oncol 19(2):315-20, 2008. PMID: 17804473.
2. Brewster AM, Hortobagyi GN, Broglio KR, Kau SW, Santa-Maria CA, Arun B, Buzdar AU, Booser DJ, Valero V, Bondy M, Esteva FJ. Residual risk of breast cancer recurrence 5 years after adjuvant therapy. J Natl Cancer Inst 100(16):1179-83, 2008.
3. Esteva FJ, Wang J, Lin F, Mejia JA, Yan K, Altundag K, Valero V, Buzdar AU, Hortobagyi GN, Symmans WF, Pusztai L. CD40 signaling predicts response to preoperative trastuzumab and concomitant paclitaxel followed by 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide in HER-2-overexpressing breast cancer. (Abstracted in The BCN (BreastCancer.Net) News, January 15, 2008). Breast Cancer Res 9(8):R87, 2007. PMID: 18086299.
4. Nahta R, Yuan LX, Du Y, Esteva FJ. Lapatinib induces apoptosis in trastuzumab-resistant breast cancer cells: Effects on insulin-like growth factor I signaling. Mol Cancer Ther 6:667-74, 2007. PMID: 17308062.
5. Nahta R, Yuan LX, Fiterman DJ, Zhang L, Symmans WF, Ueno NT, Esteva FJ. B cell translocation gene 1 contributes to antisense Bcl-2-mediated apoptosis in breast cancer cells. Mol Cancer Ther 5:1593-601, 2006. PMID: 16818519.
6. Guarneri V, Lenihan DJ, Valero V, Durand JB, Broglio K, Hess KR, Michaud LB, Gonzalez-Angulo AM, Hortobagyi GN, Esteva FJ. Long-term cardiac tolerability of trastuzumab in metastatic breast cancer: The M. D. Anderson Cancer Center experience. J Clin Oncol 24:4107-15, 2006. PMID: 16908934.
7. Esteva FJ, Cheli CD, Fritsche H, Fornier M, Slamon D, Thiel RP, Luftner D, Ghani F. Clinical utility of serum HER2/neu in monitoring and prediction of progression-free survival in metastatic breast cancer patients treated with trastuzumab-based therapies. Breast Cancer Res 7(4):436-43, 2005.
8. Nahta R, Yuan LX, Zhang B, Kobayashi R, Esteva FJ. Insulin-like growth factor-I receptor/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 heterodimerization contributes to trastuzumab resistance of breast cancer cells. Cancer Res 65(23):11118-28, 2005. PMID: 16322262.
9. Esteva FJ, Sahin AA, Cristofanilli M, Coombes K, Lee SJ, Baker J, Cronin M, Walker M, Watson D, Shak S, Hortobagyi GN. Prognostic role of a multigene reverse transcriptase-PCR assay in patients with node-negative breast cancer not receiving adjuvant systemic therapy. (Abstracted in Breast Diseases: A Year Book Quarterly 17(1):31-32, 2006). Clin Cancer Res 11(9):3315-9, 2005. PMID: 15867229.
10. Esteva FJ, Sahin AA, Smith TL, Yang Y, Pusztai L, Nahta R, Buchholz TA, Buzdar AU, Hortobagyi GN, Bacus SS. Prognostic significance of phosphorylated P38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and HER-2 expression in lymph node-positive breast carcinoma. Cancer 100(3):499-506, 2004. PMID: 14745865.
11. Nahta R, Hung MC, Esteva FJ. The HER-2-targeting antibodies trastuzumab and pertuzumab synergistically inhibit the survival of breast cancer cells. Cancer Res 64(7):2343-6, 2004. PMID: 15059883.
12. Esteva FJ, Rivera E, Cristofanilli M, Valero V, Royce M, Duggal A, Colucci P, DeJager R, Hortobagyi GN. A Phase II study of intravenous exatecan mesylate (DX-8951f) administered daily for 5 days every 3 weeks to patients with metastatic breast carcinoma. Cancer 98(5):900-7, 2003. PMID: 12942555.
13. Esteva FJ, Sahin AA, Rassidakis GZ, Yuan LX, Smith TL, Yang Y, Gilcrease MZ, Cristofanilli M, Nahta R, Pusztai L, Claret FX. Jun activation domain binding protein 1 expression is associated with low p27(Kip1)levels in node-negative breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res 9(15):5652-9, 2003. PMID: 14654548.
14. Esteva FJ, Glaspy J, Baidas S, Laufman L, Hutchins L, Dickler M, Tripathy D, Cohen R, DeMichele A, Yocum RC, Osborne CK, Hayes DF, Hortobagyi GN, Winer E, Demetri GD. Multicenter phase II study of oral bexarotene for patients with metastatic breast cancer. J Clin Oncol 21(6):999-1006, 2003. PMID: 12637463.
15. Esteva FJ, Valero V, Booser D, Guerra LT, Murray JL, Pusztai L, Cristofanilli M, Arun B, Esmaeli B, Fritsche HA, Sneige N, Smith TL, Hortobagyi GN. Phase II study of weekly docetaxel and trastuzumab for patients with HER-2-overexpressing metastatic breast cancer. J Clin Oncol 20(7):1800-8, 2002. PMID: 11919237.

Invited Articles
1. Dean-Colomb W, Esteva FJ. Emerging agents in the treatment of anthracycline- and taxane-refractory metastatic breast cancer. Semin Oncol 35(2):31-38, 2008. PMID: 18410797.
2. Esteva FJ, Hortobagyi GN. Gaining ground on breast cancer. Sci Am 298(6):58-65, 2008.
3. Nahta R, Esteva FJ. Trastuzumab: triumphs and tribulations. Oncogene 26(25):3637-3643, 2007. PMID: 17530017.
4. Nahta R, Esteva FJ. HER2 therapy: Molecular mechanisms of trastuzumab resistance. Breast Cancer Res 6(8):215-220, 2006. PMID: 17096862.
5. Nahta R, Yu D, Hung MC, Hortobagyi GN, Esteva FJ. Mechanisms of Disease: understanding resistance to HER2-targeted therapy in human breast cancer. Nat Clin Pract Oncol 3(5):269-80, 2006. PMID: 16683005.

Editorials
1. Esteva FJ. Can circulating HER-2 extracellular domain predict response to trastuzumab in HER-2-negative breast cancer? Oncologist 13(4):370-372, 2008.
2. Esteva FJ, Hortobagyi GN. Can early response assessment guide neoadjuvant chemotherapy in early-stage breast cancer? J Natl Cancer Inst 100(9):521-3, 2008.

Last updated: 9/11/2009