Meet Christina Roland, M.D.
Christina L. Roland, M.D., M.S., FACS
Department of Surgical Oncology, Division of Surgery
About Dr. Roland
Dr. Christina Roland is an Associate Professor of Surgery at MD Anderson Cancer Center, specializing in the treatment of sarcomas. She serves in the roles of Section Chief for Sarcoma Surgery, Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Surgical Oncology and Associate Medical Director for the Sarcoma Center. She is also the Executive Director for Surgery for the MD Anderson Cancer Network.
She received her medical degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine and completed her surgical training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Roland completed a fellowship in Complex General Surgical Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center and a T32 Research Fellowship. She also completed advanced training in clinical research and obtained a master’s degree in Clinical Research from the University of Texas Health Science Center McGovern School of Medicine.
Dr. Roland’s research focuses on improving multimodality care for patient with soft tissue sarcoma including novel clinical trial design. She serves as Principal Investigator for multiple clinical trials, including an investigator-initiated phase 2 trial evaluating neoadjuvant checkpoint blockade in sarcoma.
Dr. Roland is an active member of the Association for Academic Surgery, Society of Surgical Oncology, Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology and is the previous Chair of the Cancer Care Standards Development Committee in the American College of Surgeons Cancer Research Program.
In the News
Immunotherapy before surgery leads to promising long-term survival in sarcoma patients
Studies reveal new insights into gut microbiome impact on immunotherapy response in multiple cancers, including glioblastoma
Immunotherapy before surgery associated with improved survival for soft-tissue sarcoma
ASCO: Studies pave the way on immunotherapy clinical trials for rare, aggressive cancers
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Associate Professor, Department of Surgical Oncology, Division of Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Chief, Sarcoma Surgery, Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Vice Chair for Research, Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Associate Medical Director - Sarcoma Center, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2017 | The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA, MS, Clinical Research |
| 2004 | University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA, MD, Doctor of Medicine |
| 2000 | University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA, BS, Biology |
Postgraduate Training
| 2012-2012 | Research Fellowship, NIH/NRSA T-32 Surgical Oncology Research Fellow, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX |
| 2011-2014 | Complex General Surgical Oncology Fellowship, Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX |
| 2007-2009 | Research Fellowship, Department of Surgery, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Hamon Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research, Dallas, TX |
| 2004-2011 | General Surgery Resident, Department of Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX |
Board Certifications
| 2015 | Complex General Surgical Oncology - American Board of Surgery |
| 2012 | General Surgery - American Board of Surgery |
Experience & Service
Academic Appointments
Assistant Professor, Department of Surgical Oncology, Division of Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2014 - 2020
Administrative Appointments/Responsibilities
Clinical Site Director-Baptist MD Anderson, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2020 - Present
Other Appointments/Responsibilities
Cancer Network Faculty Leadership-Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2019 - 2020
Surgical Oncology Administrative Fellow, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2013 - 2014
Institutional Committee Activities
Committee Member, Clinical Research Advisory Committee, 2019 - 2020
Sarcoma Lead, Rare Tumor Initiative, 2019 - Present
Committee Member, Scientific Review Committee (SRC), 2018 - 2022
Committee Member, Decisive Discoveries Focus Area Working Group "Learning from the Patient", 2017 - 2017
Committee Member, Department of Surgical Oncology Executive Committee, 2017 - Present
Member, Department of Surgical Oncology, CGSO Fellowship Program Evaluation Committee, 2011 - Present
Honors & Awards
| 2019 | Top 10% Provider: Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CG CAHPS), Press Ganey |
| 2018 | Top 1% Provider: Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CG CAHPS), Press Ganey |
| 2014 | Promoting Excellence in Patient Care, MD Anderson Cancer Center Department of Surgical Oncology |
| 2013 | The Anne Eastland Spears Fellowship in GI Cancer Research, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2013 | Patricia Hodson Education Endowment, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2012 | Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals Award, Population/Patient-Oriented Research Best Poster Presentation, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Trainee Research Day |
| 2011 | Texas Surgical Society Raleigh Ross Scholar |
| 2010 | Award of Excellence-Short Term Project; Convergence Learning Community Day for Cancer, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center |
| 2009 | Best Poster Presentation, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Surgical Research Forum |
| 2008 | Best Basic Science Presentation, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Surgical Research Forum |
| 2008 | Best Paper, North Texas Chapter of the American College of Surgeons |
| 2007 | Association of Women Surgeons Foundation Genomic Health Research Fellowship |
| 2005 | Resident Academic Achievement Award, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center |
| 2004 | Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Medical Honor Society |
| 1999 | Institute of Biomolecular Science-Wood Undergraduate Research Fellowship in Cell and Molecular Biology, The University of South Florida |
| 1999 | Biology and University Honors Programs; Alpha Epsilon Delta Premedical Honor Society, The University of South Florida |
Professional Memberships
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Ikoma N, Roland CL, Torres KE, Chiang YJ, Wang WL, Somaiah N, Mann GN, Hunt KK, Cormier JN, Feig BW. Concomitant organ resection does not improve outcomes in primary retroperitoneal well-differentiated liposarcoma: A retrospective cohort study at a major sarcoma center. Journal of Surg Onc 117(6):1188-1194, 2018. PMID: 29228466.
- Roland CL, Bernarski BK, Watson K, Torres KE, Cormier JN, Wang WL, Lazar AJ, Somaiah N, Hunt KK, Feig BW. Identification of preoperative factors associated with outcomes following surgical management of intra-abdominal recurrent or metastatic GIST following neoadjuvant tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy. Journal of Surg Onc 117(5):879-885, 2018.
- Ikoma N, Cormier JN, Feig B, Du XL, Yamal JM, Hofstetter W, Das P, Ajani JA, Roland CL, Fournier K, Royal R, Mansfield P, Badgwell BD. Racial disparities in preoperative chemotherapy use in gastric cancer patients in the United States: Analysis of the National Cancer Data Base. Cancer 124(5):998-1007, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29393964.
- Keung EZ, Tsai JW, Ali AM, Cormier JN, Bishop AJ, Guadagnolo BA, Torres KE, Somaiah N, Hunt KK, Wargo JA, Lazar AJ, Wang WL, Roland CL. Analysis of the immune infiltrate in undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma of the extremity and trunk in response to radiotherapy: Rationale for combination neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibition and radiotherapy. Oncoimmunology 7(2):e1385689, 2018. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 29308306.
- Keung EZ, Chiang YJ, Voss RK, Cormier JN, Torres KE, Hunt KK, Feig BW, Roland CL. Defining the incidence and clinical significance of lymph node metastasis in soft tissue sarcoma. Eur J Surg Oncol 44(1):170-177, 2018. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 29208319.
- Goumard C, Marcal LP, Wang WL, Somaiah N, Okuno M, Roland CL, Tzeng CD, Chun YS, Feig BW, Vauthey JN, Conrad C. Long-Term Survival According to Histology and Radiologic Response to Preoperative Chemotherapy in 126 Patients Undergoing Resection of Non-GIST Sarcoma Liver Metastases. Ann Surg Oncol 25(1):107-116. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 29116489.
- Voss RK, Chiang YJ, Torres KE, Guadagnolo BA, Mann GN, Feig BW, Cormier JN, Roland CL. Adherence to National Comprehensive Cancer Network Guidelines is Associated with Improved Survival for Patients with Stage 2A and Stages 2B and 3 Extremity and Superficial Trunk Soft Tissue Sarcoma. Ann Surg Oncol 24(11):3271-3278, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28741122.
- Ikoma N, Torres KE, Lin HY, Ravi V, Roland CL, Mann GN, Hunt KK, Cormier JN, Feig BW. Recurrence patterns of retroperitoneal leiomyosarcoma and impact of salvage surgery. J Surg Oncol 116(3):313-319, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28557016.
- Livingston JA, Bugano D, Barbo A, Lin H, Madewell JE, Wang WL, Lazar AJ, Tseng WW, Roland CL, Feig BW, Pollock R, Conley AP, Benjamin RS, Patel S, Somaiah N. Role of chemotherapy in dedifferentiated liposarcoma of the retroperitoneum: defining the benefit and challenges of the standard. Sci Rep 7(1):11836, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28928422.
- Roszik J, Wang WL, Livingston JA, Roland CL, Ravi V, Yee C, Hwu P, Futreal A, Lazar AJ, Patel SR, Conley AP. Overexpressed PRAME is a potential immunotherapy target in sarcoma subtypes. Clin Sarcoma Res 7(11), 2017. PMID: 28630682.
- Roland CL, Starker LF, Kang Y, Chatterjee D, Estrella J, Rashid A, Katz MH, Aloia TA, Lee JE, Dasari A, Yao JC, Fleming JB. Loss of DPC4/SMAD4 Expression in Primary Gastrointestinal Neuroendocrine Tumors is Associated with Cancer Related Death After Resection. Surgery 161(3):753-759, 2017. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27816207.
- Watson KL, Al Sannaa GA, Kivlin CM, Ingram DR, Landers SM, Roland CL, Cormier JN, Hunt KK, Feig BW, Ashleigh Guadagnolo B, Bishop AJ, Wang WL, Slopis JM, McCutcheon IE, Lazar AJ, Torres KE. Patterns of recurrence and survival in sporadic, neurofibromatosis Type 1-associated, and radiation-associated malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors. J Neurosurg 126(1):1-11, 2017. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27035165.
- Roland CL, May CD, Watson KL, Al Sannaa GA, Dineen SP, Feig R, Landers S, Ingram DR, Wang WL, Guadagnolo BA, Feig B, Hunt KK, Cormier JN, Lazar AJ, Torres KE. Analysis of Clinical and Molecular Factors Impacting Oncologic Outcomes in Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma. Ann Surg Oncol 23(7):2220-8, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 26847678.
- Roland CL, Boland GM, Demicco EG, Lusby K, Ingram D, May CD, Kivlin CM, Watson K, Al Sannaa GA, Wang WL, Ravi V, Pollock RE, Lev D, Cormier JN, Hunt KK, Feig BW, Lazar AJ, Torres KE. Clinical Observations and Molecular Variables of Primary Vascular Leiomyosarcoma. JAMA Surg 151(4):347-54, 2016. PMID: 26629783.
- Roland CL, Katz MH, Tzeng CW, Lin H, Varadhachary GR, Shroff R, Javle M, Fogelman D, Wolff RA, Vauthey JN, Crane CH, Lee JE, Fleming JB. The Addition of Postoperative Chemotherapy is Associated with Improved Survival in Patients with Pancreatic Cancer Treated with Preoperative Therapy. Ann Surg Oncol 22(Suppl 3):S1221-8, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26350371.
- Dineen SP, Roland CL, Feig R, May C, Zhou S, Demicco E, Sannaa GA, Ingram D, Wang WL, Ravi V, Guadagnolo A, Lev D, Pollock RE, Hunt K, Cormier J, Lazar A, Feig B, Torres KE. Radiation-Associated Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma is Associated with Worse Clinical Outcomes than Sporadic Lesions. Ann Surg Oncol 22(12):3913-20, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25743327.
- Brudvik KW, Patel SH, Roland CL, Conrad C, Torres KE, Hunt KK, Cormier JN, Feig BW, Aloia TA, Vauthey JN. Survival After Resection of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor and Sarcoma Liver Metastases in 146 Patients. J Gastrointest Surg 19(8):1476-83, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26001368.
- Roland CL, Ross MI, Hall CS, Laubacher B, Upshaw J, Anderson AE, Lucci A. Detection of circulating melanoma cells in the blood of melanoma patients: a preliminary study. Melanoma Res 25(4):335-41, 2015. PMID: 26011119.
- Roland CL, Yang AD, Katz MH, Chatterjee D, Wang H, Lin H, Vauthey JN, Pisters PW, Varadhachary GR, Wolff RA, Crane CH, Lee JE, Fleming JB. Neoadjuvant Therapy is Associated with a Reduced Lymph Node Ratio in Patients with Potentially Resectable Pancreatic Cancer. Ann Surg Oncol 22(4):1168-75, 2015. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25352267.
- Roland CL, Arumugam T, Deng D, Liu SH, Philip B, Gomez S, Burns WR, Ramachandran V, Wang H, Cruz-Monserrate Z, Logsdon CD. Cell surface lactate receptor GPR81 is crucial for cancer cell survival. Cancer Res 74(18):5301-10, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 24928781.
- Cruz-Monserrate Z, Roland CL, Deng D, Arumugam T, Moshnikova A, Andreev OA, Reshetnyak YK, Logsdon CD. Targeting pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma acidic microenvironment. Sci Rep 4:4410, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 24642931.
- Philip B, Roland CL, Daniluk J, Liu Y, Chatterjee D, Gomez SB, Ji B, Huang H, Wang H, Fleming JB, Logsdon CD, Cruz-Monserrate Z. A high-fat diet activates oncogenic Kras and COX2 to induce development of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma in mice. Gastroenterology 145(6):1449-58, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23958541.
- Roland CL, Schwarz RE, Tong L, Ahn C, Balch GC, Yopp AC, Anthony T, Mansour JC. Is timing to delivery of treatment a reliable measure of quality of care for patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma?. Surgery 154(3):421-8, 2013. PMID: 23972647.
- Roland CL, Katz MH, Gonzalez GM, Pisters PW, Vauthey JN, Wolff RA, Crane CH, Lee JE, Fleming JB. A high positive lymph node ratio is associated with distant recurrence after surgical resection of ampullary carcinoma. J Gastrointest Surg 16(11):2056-63, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22914983.
- Roland CL, Bian A, Mansour JC, Yopp AC, Balch GC, Sharma R, Xie XJ, Schwarz RE. Survival impact of malignant pancreatic neuroendocrine and islet cell neoplasm phenotypes. J Surg Oncol 105(6):595-600, 2012. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 22006521.
- Ou YH, Torres M, Ram R, Formstecher E, Roland CL, Cheng T, Brekken R, Wurz R, Tasker A, Polverino T, Tan SL, White MA. TBK1 directly engages Akt/PKB survival signaling to support oncogenic transformation. Mol Cell 41(4):458-70, 2011. PMID: 21329883.
- Sullivan LA, Carbon JG, Roland CL, Toombs JE, Nyquist-Andersen M, Kavlie A, Schlunegger K, Richardson JA, Brekken RA. r84, a novel therapeutic antibody against mouse and human VEGF with potent anti-tumor activity and limited toxicity induction. PLoS One 5(8):e12031, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20700512.
- Chambliss KL, Wu Q, Oltmann S, Konaniah ES, Umetani M, Korach KS, Thomas GD, Mineo C, Yuhanna IS, Kim SH, Madak-Erdogan Z, Maggi A, Dineen SP, Roland CL, Hui DY, Brekken RA, Katzenellenbogen JA, Katzenellenbogen BS, Shaul PW. Non-nuclear estrogen receptor alpha signaling promotes cardiovascular protection but not uterine or breast cancer growth in mice. J Clin Invest 120(7):2319-30, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20577047.
- Lynn KD, Udugamasooriya DG, Roland CL, Castrillon DH, Kodadek TJ, Brekken RA. GU81, a VEGFR2 antagonist peptoid, enhances the anti-tumor activity of doxorubicin in the murine MMTV-PyMT transgenic model of breast cancer. BMC Cancer 10(397), 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20673348.
- Lynn KD, Roland CL, Brekken RA. VEGF and pleiotrophin modulate the immune profile of breast cancer. Cancers (Basel) 2(2):970-88, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 24281102.
- Dineen SP, Roland CL, Greer R, Carbon JG, Toombs JE, Gupta P, Bardeesy N, Sun H, Williams N, Minna JD, Brekken RA. Smac mimetic increases chemotherapy response and improves survival in mice with pancreatic cancer. Cancer Res 70(7):2852-61, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20332237.
- Roland CL, Dineen SP, Toombs JE, Carbon JG, Smith CW, Brekken RA, Barnett CC. Tumor-derived intercellular adhesion molecule-1 mediates tumor-associated leukocyte infiltration in orthotopic pancreatic xenografts. Exp Biol Med (Maywood) 235(2):263-70, 2010. PMID: 20404043.
- Roland CL, Lynn KD, Toombs JE, Dineen SP, Udugamasooriya DG, Brekken RA. Cytokine levels correlate with immune cell infiltration after anti-VEGF therapy in preclinical mouse models of breast cancer. PLoS One 4(11):e7669, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19888452.
- Roland CL, Dineen SP, Lynn KD, Sullivan LA, Dellinger MT, Sadegh L, Sullivan JP, Shames DS, Brekken RA. Inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor reduces angiogenesis and modulates immune cell infiltration of orthotopic breast cancer xenografts. Mol Cancer Ther 8(7):1761-71, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19567820.
- Dineen SP, Roland CL, Toombs JE, Kelher M, Silliman CC, Brekken RA, Barnett CC. The acellular fraction of stored platelets promotes tumor cell invasion. J Surg Res 153(1):132-7, 2009. e-Pub 2008. PMID: 18541268.
- Roland CL, Harken AH, Sarr MG, Barnett CC. ICAM-1 expression determines malignant potential of cancer. Surgery 141(6):705-7, 2007. PMID: 17560245.
Invited Articles
- Ikoma N, Araujo D, Roland CL. The Hereditary Paraganglioma-Pheochromocytoma Syndrome: No Time to Waste-Reply. JAMA Oncol 3(12):1740, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28837712.
- Roland CL, Wang WL, Lazar AJ, Torres KE. Myxofibrosarcoma. Surg Oncol Clin N Am 25(4):775-88, 2016.
- Roland CL, Hunt KK. Differences in Breast Cancer Stage at Diagnosis and Cancer-Specific Survival by Race and Ethnicity in the United States. Breast Diseases: a BD Quarterly 26(2):125-126, 2015.
Book Chapters
- Roland CL, Ross MI, Lazar AJ. Sarcomas of the Skin. In: Cancer of the Skin, 2018.
- Roland CL, Feig BW, Ed (s) Scoggins C, Raut CP, Mullen JT. History of GIST. In: Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors Bench to Bedside, 2017.
- Roland CL. Adjuvant/neoadjuvant therapy for sarcoma. In: Complex General Surgical Oncology: A Case-Based Review. Future Medicine, 2014.
- Roland CL. Resection vs. transplant for HCC. In: Complex General Surgical Oncology: A Case-Based Review. Future Medicine, 2014.
- Roland CL. Squamous cell vs adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. In: Complex General Surgical Oncology: A Case-Based Review. Future Medicine, 2014.
Grant & Contract Support
| Title: | Activation and induction of retinoic acid response elements by 9-cis retinoic acid |
| Funding Source: | Institute of Biomolecular Science-Wood Undergraduate Research Fellowship in Cell and Molecular Biology |
| Role: | Co-Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Tumor-derived VEGF regulates the recruitment of immune effector cells |
| Funding Source: | Association of Women Surgeons Foundation/Genomic Health Research Fellowship |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | The lymph node ratio predicts survival, recurrence risk and postoperative chemotherapy benefit following preoperative chemoradiation for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma |
| Funding Source: | The Anne Eastland Spears Fellowship in GI Cancer Research |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified September 19, 2024