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Zeev Estrov, MD

Present Title & Affiliation

Primary Appointment

Professor of Medicine and Internist, Director of Hematopoiesis Research, Department of Leukemia, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment

Associate Member, The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX

Office Address

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
1400 Holcombe Boulevard
Unit Number: 428
Houston, TX 77030
Room Number: FC4.2048

Education & Training

Degree-Granting Education

1975 Tel-Aviv University School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv, Israel, MD, (Magna Cum Laude), (Doctor of Medicine)

Postgraduate Training

1992-1995 Fellowship in Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
1984-1987 Fellow, Hematology/Oncology and Hematopoiesis Research, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, and The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, Canada
1975-1980 Clinical Residency, Internal Medicine, Kaplan Hospital Rehovot, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
1973-1974 Clinical Internship, Kaplan Hospital, Rehovot, Israel

Board Certifications

8/1998 American Board of Internal Medicine
6/1981 The Israeli Board of Internal Medicine

Experience/Service

Institutional Committee Activities

Member, Conflict Management Committee, 2007-present
Member, Institutional Research Grants Program Study Review Committee for Basic Research Projects, 2005-present
Member, Institutional Review Board (IRB), 2000-present

Selected Publications

Peer-Reviewed Original Research Articles
1. Faderl S, Estrov Z. Hematopoietic recovery following induction therapy of acute leukemias: prognostic implications and a new look at the definition of remission. Leuk Lymphoma 45(1):67-71, 1/2004. PMID: 15061199.
2. Faderl S, Ferrajoli A, Harris D, Van Q, Kantarjian HM, Estrov Z. Atiprimod blocks phosphorylation of JAK-STAT and inhibits proliferation of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells. Leuk Res 31(1):91-5, 2007. PMID: 16828865.
3. Kantarjian H, Oki Y, Garcia-Manero G, Huang X, O'Brien S, Cortes J, Faderl S, Bueso-Ramos C, Ravandi F, Estrov Z, Ferrajoli A, Wierda W, Shan J, Davis J, Giles F, Saba HI, Issa JP. Results of a randomized study of 3 schedules of low-dose decitabine in higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia. Blood 109(1):52-7, 2007. PMID: 16882708.
4. Quintás-Cardama A, Kantarjian H, Garcia-Manero G, O'Brien S, Faderl S, Estrov Z, Giles F, Murgo A, Ladie N, Verstovsek S, Cortes J. Phase I/II study of subcutaneous homoharringtonine in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia who have failed prior therapy. Cancer 109(2):248-55, 2007. PMID: 17154172.
5. Kornblau SM, Banker DE, Stirewalt D, Shen D, Lemker E, Verstovsek S, Estrov Z, Faderl S, Cortes J, Beran M, Jackson CE, Chen W, Estey E, Appelbaum FR. Blockade of adaptive defensive changes in cholesterol uptake and synthesis in AML by the addition of pravastatin to idarubicin + high dose Ara-C: A Phase 1 study. Blood 109(7):2999-06, 2007. PMID: 17158228.
6. Aribi A, Bueso-Ramos C, Estey E, Estrov Z, O'Brien S, Giles F, Faderl S, Thomas D, Kebriaei P, Garcia-Manero G, Pierce S, Cortes J, Kantarjian H, Ravandi F. Biphenotypic acute leukemia: a case series. Br J Haematol 138(2):213-6, 2007. PMID: 17593028.
7. Soriano AO, Yang H, Faderl S, Estrov Z, Giles F, Ravandi F, Cortes J, Wierda WG, Ouzounian S, Quezada A, Pierce S, Estey EH, Issa JP, Kantarjian HM, Garcia-Manero G. Safety and clinical activity of the combination of 5-azacytidine, valproic acid and all-trans retinoic acid in acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome. Blood 110(7):2302-8, 2007. PMID: 17596541.
8. Verstovsek S, Manshouri T, Quintás-Cardama A, Harris D, Cortes J, Giles FJ, Kantarjian H, Priebe W, Estrov Z. WP1066, A novel JAK2 inhibitor, suppresses proliferation and induces apoptosis in erythroid human cells carrying the JAK2 V617F mutation. Clin Cancer Res 14(3):788-96, 2008. PMID: 18245540.
9. Ma W, Kantarjian H, O'Brien S, Jilani I, Zhang X, Estrov Z, Ferrajoli A, Keating M, Giles F, Albitar M. Enzymatic activity of circulating proteasomes correlates with clinical behavior in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Cancer 112(6):1306-12, 2008. PMID: 18224667.
10. Garcia-Manero G, Assouline S, Cortes J, Estrov Z, Kantarjian H, Yang H, Newsome WM, Miller WH, Rousseau C, Kalita A, Liu J, Dubay M, Patterson TA, Li Z, Besterman JM, Reid G, Laille E, Martell RE, Minden MD. Phase I study of the oral isotype specific histone deacetylase inhibitor MGCD0103 in leukemia. Blood 112(4):981-9, 8/2008. e-Pub 5/2008. PMID: 18495956.
11. Tsimberidou AM, Wierda WG, Plunkett W, Kurzrock R, O'Brien S, Wen S, Ferrajoli A, Ravandi-Kashani F, Garcia-Manero G, Estrov Z, Kipps TJ, Brown JR, Fiorentino A, Lerner S, Kantarjian HM, Keating MJ. Phase I-II study of oxaliplatin, fludarabine, cytarabine, and rituximab combination therapy in patients with Richter's syndrome or fludarabine-refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia. J Clin Oncol 26(2):196-203, 1/2008. PMID: 18182662.
12. Zhang W, Konopleva M, Shi YX, McQueen T, Harris D, Ling X, Estrov Z, Quintás-Cardama A, Small D, Cortes J, Andreeff M. Mutant FLT3: a direct target of sorafenib in acute myelogenous leukemia. J Natl Cancer Inst 100(3):184-98, 2/2008. PMID: 18230792.
13. Faderl S, Ravandi F, Huang X, Garcia-Manero G, Ferrajoli A, Estrov Z, Borthakur G, Verstovsek S, Thomas DA, Kwari M, Kantarjian HM. A randomized study of clofarabine versus clofarabine plus low-dose cytarabine as frontline therapy for patients age >= 60 years with acute myeloid leukemia and high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome. Blood 112:1638-1645, 6/2008. PMID: 18565853.
14. Ferrajoli A, Lee BN, Schlette EJ, O'Brien SM, Gao H, Wen S, Wierda WG, Estrov Z, Faderl S, Cohen EN, Li C, Reuben JM, Keating MJ. Lenalidomide induces complete and partial remissions in patients with relapsed and refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Blood 111(11):5291-7, 6/2008. PMID: 18334676.
15. Borthakur G, Alvarado Y, Ravandi-Kashani F, Cortes J, Estrov Z, Faderl S, Ivy P, Bueso-Ramos C, Nebiyou Bekele B, Giles F. Phase 1 study of XL119, a rebeccamycin analog, in patients with refractory hematologic malignancies. Cancer 113(2):360-6, 7/2008. PMID: 18473351.
16. Sun M, Estrov Z, Ji Y, Coombes KR, Harris DH, Kurzrock R. Curcumin (diferuloylmethane) alters the expression profiles of microRNAs in human pancreatic cancer cells. Mol Cancer Ther 7(3):464-73, 3/2008. PMID: 18347134.
17. Manshouri T, Quintás-Cardama A, Nussenzveig RH, Gaikwad A, Estrov Z, Prchal J, Cortes JE, Kantarjian HM, Verstovsek S. The JAK kinase inhibitor CP-690,550 suppresses the growth of human polycythemia vera cells carrying the JAK2V617F mutation. Cancer Sci 99(6):1265-73, 6/2008. PMID: 18482053.
18. Ravandi F, Estey E, Jones D, Faderl S, O'Brien S, Fiorentino J, Pierce S, Blamble D, Estrov Z, Wierda W, Ferrajoli A, Verstovsek S, Garcia-Manero G, Cortes J, Kantarjian H. Effective treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia with all-trans retinoic acid, arsenic trioxide, and gemtuzumab ozogamicin. J Clin Oncol 27(4):504-10, 2/2009. e-Pub 12/2008. PMID: 19075265.
19. Faderl S, Ferrajoli A, Wierda W, Huang X, Verstovsek S, Ravandi F, Estrov Z, Borthakur G, Kwari M, Kantarjian HM. Clofarabine combinations as acute myeloid leukemia salvage therapy. Cancer 113:2090-2091, 2008.
20. Estrov Z, Freedman MH. Juvenile chronic myelogenous leukemia(JCML): In vitro characterization of the disease. First Annual Meeting of the Israel Society of Pediactric Hematology-Oncology, Jerusalem, 2/1988.
21. Bruey JM, Kantarjian H, Estrov Z, Zhang Z, Ma W, Albitar F, Abdool A, Thomas D, Yeh C, O'Brien S, Albitar M. Circulating Ki-67 protein in plasma as a biomarker and prognostic indicator of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Leuk Res 34(2):173-6, 2/2010. e-Pub 8/2009. PMID: 19679351.
22. Ravandi F, Cortes J, Jones D, Faderl S, Garica-Manero G, Konopleva M, O'Brien S, Estrov E, borthakur G, Thomas D. Pierce S, Brandt M, Byrd A, Zhang W, Rajyalakshmi L, Levis M, Andreeff M, Kantarjian H. Phase I/II combination therapy with sorafenib, cytarabine, and idarubicine in younger patients with acute myeloid leukemia. J Clin Oncol 115:2852-63, 2010.
23. Verma D, Kantarjian H, Shan J, O'Brien S, Estrov Z, Garcia-Manero G, Koller C, Borthakur G, Cortes J. Survival outcomes for clonal evolution in chronic myeloid leukemia patients on a second generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy. Cancer 116(11):2673-81, 6/2010. PMID: 20499401.
24. Tong WG, Wierda WG, Lin E, Kuang SQ, Bekele BN, Estrov Z, Wei Y, Yang H, Keating MJ, Garcia-Manero G. Genome-wide DNA methylation profiling of chronic lymphocytic leukemia allows identification of epigenetically repressed molecular pathways with clinical impact. Epigenetics 5(6):499-508, 8/16/2010. e-Pub 8/16/2010. PMID: 20484983.
25. Hazan-Halevy I, Harris D, Liu Z, Liu J, Li P, Chen X, Shanker S, Ferrajoli A, Keating MJ, Estrov Z. STAT3 is constitutively phosphorylated on serine 727 residues, binds DNA, and activates transcription in CLL cells. Blood 115(14):2852-63, 4/2010. e-Pub 2/2010. PMCID: PMC2918366.
26. Bruey JM, Kantarjian H, Ma W, Estrov Z, Yeh C, Donahue A, Sanders H, O'Brien S, Keating M, Albitar M. Circulating Ki-67 index in plasma as a biomarker and prognostic indicator in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Leuk Res 34(10):1320-4, 10/2010. e-Pub 4/1/2010. PMID: 20362333.
27. Li P, Harris D, Liu Z, Liu J, Keating M, Estrov Z. Stat3 activates the receptor tyrosine kinase like orphan receptor-1 gene in chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells. PLoS One 5(7):e11859, 2010. e-Pub 7/2010. PMCID: PMC2912280.
28. Ma W, Kantarjian H, Zhang X, Wang X, Estrov Z, O'Brien S, Albitar M. Ubiquitin-proteasome system profiling in acute leukemias and its clinical relevance. Leuk Res 35(4):526-33, 4/2011. e-Pub 10/15/2010. PMID: 20951430.
29. Jabbour E, Kantarjian H, Ravandi F, Garcia-Manero G, Estrov Z, Verstovsek S, O'Brien S, Faderl S, Thomas DA, Wright JJ, Cortes J. A phase 1-2 study of a farnesyltransferase inhibitor, tipifarnib, combined with idarubicin and cytarabine for patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia and high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome. Cancer 117(6):1236-44, 3/2011. e-Pub 10/2010. PMID: 20960519.
30. Manshouri T, Estrov Z, Quintas-Cardama A, Burger J, Zhang Y, Livun A, Knez L, Harris DT, Creighton CJ, Kantarjian HM, Verstovsek S. BONE MARROW STROMA SECRETED CYTOKINES PROTECT JAK2V617F-MUTATED CELLS FROM THE EFFECTS OF A JAK2 INHIBITOR. Cancer Res. e-Pub 4/2011. PMID: 21512135.
31. Mesa RA, Kantarjian H, Tefferi A, Dueck A, Levy R, Vaddi K, Erickson-Viitanen S, Thomas DA, Cortes J, Borthakur G, Pardanani AD, Estrov Z, Verstovsek S. Evaluating the serial use of the myelofibrosis symptom assessment form for measuring symptomatic improvement: Performance in 87 myelofibrosis patients on a JAK1 and JAK2 inhibitor (INCB018424) clinical trial. Cancer. e-Pub 4/2011. PMID: 21480207.
32. Liu Z, Hazan-Halevy I, Harris DM, Li P, Ferrajoli A, Faderl S, Keating MJ, Estrov Z. STAT-3 Activates NF-{kappa}B in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Cells. Mol Cancer Res 9(4):507-15, 4/2011. e-Pub 3/2011. PMID: 21364020.

Invited Articles
1. Estrov Z. The leukemia stem cell. Cancer Treat Res 145:1-17, 2010. PMID: 20306242.

Book Chapters
1. Estrov Z. The leukemia stem cell. Genetics, Biology and Therapy of Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. In: Cancer Treatment and Research Series. Springer: New York, NY, 1-17, 2010.

Grant & Contract Support

Title: Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Leukemia; Project 5: Development of Sapacitabine Therapy in Leukemias
Funding Source: NIH/NCI
Role: Co-Investigator
Principal Investigator: Jean-Pierre Issa, MD
Duration: 9/1/2008 - 4/30/2013

Last updated: 5/11/2011