Alejandro Contreras, MD, PhD
Department of Anatomical Pathology, Division of Pathology-Lab Medicine Div
About Dr. Alejandro Contreras
I am a Board-certified Pathologist with a specialization in Breast Pathology. I was an Assistant Professor at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in the Department of Pathology and Immunology and the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center from 07/2010 until 07/2014. In addition to my clinical duties at BCM, I was co-director of the Pathology Core Laboratory and member of the Faculty Committee on Awards and the MD/PhD Faculty Operating Committee. Currently, I am an Associate Professor at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Department of Pathology since 08/2014. My research interests include the simultaneous multispectral imaging of biomarkers in breast cancers.
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Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Professor, Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Professor (Joint appointment), Translational Molecular Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Professor, Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Professor, Translational Molecular Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2006 | Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, US, MD |
| 2004 | Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, US, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Ph.D |
| 1995 | Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, Biochemical Sciences, AB |
Postgraduate Training
| 2009-2010 | Clinical Fellowship, Surgical/Breast Pathology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas |
| 2006-2009 | Residency, Anatomic Pathology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois |
Licenses & Certifications
| 2016 | American Board of Medical Quality |
| 2010 | Anatomic Pathology, American Board of Pathology |
| 2010 | Texas Medical License |
Experience & Service
Faculty Academic Appointments
Associate Professor, Pathology/Laboratory Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, 2018 - 2023
Associate Professor, Translational Molecular Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2014 - 2018
Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Immunology, Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 2010 - 2014
Administrative Appointments/Responsibilities
Executive Director, MDA Cancer Network, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2022 - Present
Divisional Patient Safety and Quality Officer, Pathology/Lab Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2020 - Present
Departmental Patient Safety and Quality Officer, Department of Pathology, Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2015 - 2020
Other Professional Positions
Support the division/department and subspecialty area by providing clinical expertise to Certified Member hospital sites in keeping with national guidelines standards of practice, MD Anderson Physicians Network Program, Houston, 2017 - Present
Clinical Consultant, MD Anderson Cancer Network, Houston, TX, 2016 - Present
Member, Baylor College of Medicine-MD/PhD Faculty Operating Committee, Houston, TX, 2012 - 2014
Member, Baylor College of Medicine-Faculty Committee on Awards, Houston, TX, 2012 - 2014
Member, Baylor College of Medicine-Initiative for Maximizing Student Development, Houston, TX, 2010 - 2014
Co-director, Baylor College of Medicine-Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center Pathology Core Laboratory, Houston, TX, 2010 - 2014
Extramural Institutional Committee Activities
Member, Reach Executive Committee, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2022 - Present
Member, Data and Biospecimen Access Committee, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2020 - Present
Member, Clinical Genomics and Biomarker Council, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2020 - Present
Member, Vizient Analytics Workgroup, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2020 - Present
Member, Physician Advisory Board, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2020 - Present
Member, Professionalism Committee, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2020 - Present
Member, Digital Pathology Workforce, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2020 - Present
Member, HALs Path/Lab Operations Committee, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2020 - Present
Member, Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI) Committee, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2020 - Present
Member, Image-Guided Cancer Therapy (IGCT) Research Program, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2019 - Present
Member, Institutional Patient Safety Committee, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2018 - Present
Member, Program Evaluation Committee-Breast Pathology Fellowship, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2015 - Present
Member, Clinical Competency Committee-Breast Pathology Fellowship, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2015 - Present
Member, Faculty Academic Review Committee, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2015 - Present
Honors & Awards
| 2020 | President's Recognition of Faculty Excellence, Clinical Quality Improvement, MDACC |
| 2015 | Shirley Stein Scientific Endowed Research Award, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2005 | Outstanding Graduate Student Award, Baylor Alumni Association |
| 2005 | Keystone Travel Award |
| 2005 | School of Biomedical Sciences Graduation Commencement Speaker, School of Biomedical Sciences |
| 2003 | Deborah K. Martin Award for Outstanding Graduate Student, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine |
| 2003 | Minority Training Research Forum National Abstract Winner, Minority Training Research Forum |
| 2003 | Scholar-in-Training Award, American Association for Cancer Research |
| 2000 | Anthony R. Means Award for Academic Excellence, Dept. of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine |
Professional Memberships
Selected Presentations & Talks
Local Presentations
- 2018. Pathologic Assessment of Breast Cancer After Neoadjuvant Therapy. Conference. Houston Society of Clinical Pathologists. Houston, TX, US.
- 2017. Multiplex and multispectral analysis of biomarkers in breast cancer and of immune cells in axillary lymph nodes. Conference. Houston Premedical Academy. Houston, TX, US.
- 2016. Use of New Molecular Markers and Techniques in Clinical Management. Conference. Houston Society of Clinical Pathologists. Houston, TX, US.
National Presentations
- 2024. What is Cancer and Are We Going to Cure It: a Pathologist’s Perspective. Conference. West Sacramento Rotary Club. West Sacramento, CA, US.
- 2022. Challenges and Opportunities in Making Pathology Digital. Invited. American Association of Physicists in Medicine. Washington, D.C, US.
- 2017. Characterization of a novel immunohistochemical antibody against HER-2 with neutralizing properties. Invited. USCAP. San Antonio, TX, US.
- 2016. Heterochromatin Protein 1 alpha Modulates the Invasive Potential of Malignant Cells. Invited. AACR. New Orleans, LA, US.
- 2016. Multiplex and Multispectral Analysis of Immune Cells in Tumor Draining Lymph Nodes of the Axilla in Breast Cancer. Invited. USCAP. Seattle, WA, US.
- 2015. Novel B-250 Antibody Identifies Breast Cancers Expressing Progesterone Receptor A Isoform Only. Invited. USCAP. Boston, MA, US.
- 2015. Simultaneous multispectral imaging of tumor markers. Invited. USCAP. Boston, MA, US.
- 2014. Microscopic and immunohistochemical assessment of cellular proliferation and mitotic activity in resection specimens of invasive breast cancer. Invited. USCAP. San Diego, CA, US.
- 2014. Metaplastic Breast Carcinoma Metastatic to the Heart. Invited. CAP. Chicago, IL, US.
- 2013. PIK3CA Mutations and/or Low PTEN Predict Resistance to Combined Anti-HER2 Therapy with Lapatinib and Trastuzumab and without Chemotherapy in TBCRC006, a Neoadjuvant Trial of HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Patients. Invited. SABCS. San Antonio, TX, US.
- 2009. The Polycomb Group Protein EZH2 and Heterochromatin Protein 1 in Benign and Malignant Thyroid Lesions. Invited. USCAP. Boston, MA, US.
- 2009. Expression of cartilage-specific markers in matrix-producing carcinoma of the breast. Invited. USCAP. Boston, MA, US.
- 2008. Phosphorylated c-Met is Preferentially Located in the Nucleus of Hepatoblastomas. Invited. USCAP. Denver, CO, US.
- 2008. Prostatic Carcinoma in Young Patients: A Detailed Pathologic Study in the Era of Laparoscopic Surgery. Invited. USCAP. Denver, CO, US.
- 2007. Histone H1 Phosphorylation as a Marker of Premalignancy. Invited. USCAP. San Diego, CA, US.
International Presentations
- 2023. HER-2 Low Invasive Breast Cancer. Conference. New Zealand Society of Oncology. Napier, NZ.
- 2023. Multispectral imaging of immune markers in solid tumors and utility of multiplexing and AI as a diagnostic test in a clinical lab. Invited. New Zealand Society of Oncology. Napier, NZ.
- 2023. Multispectral imaging of immune markers in solid tumors and utility of multiplexing as a diagnostic test in a clinical laboratory. Invited. University of Otago. Dunedin, NZ.
- 2022. HER-2 Low Invasive Breast Cancer. Invited. National Mastology Conference of Colombia. Cartagena, CO.
- 2022. Non-carcinomatous breast lesions. Invited. National Mastology Congress of Colombia. Cartagena, CO.
- 2022. Pathologic assessment of breast cancer after neoadjuvant therapy. Invited. National Mastology Congress of Colombia. Cartagena, CO.
- 2022. HER-2 Low Invasive Breast Cancer. Invited. 19th National Congress Mastology Conference. Cancun, MX.
- 2022. Genomic Testing for Invasive Breast Carcinoma. Invited. Congreso Colombiano de Patologia, Asociacion Colombiana de Patologia. Cartagena, CO.
- 2022. Management of High-Risk Breast Lesions. Invited. Congreso Colombiano de Patologia, Asociacion Colombiana de Patologia. Cartagena, CO.
- 2022. Predictive markers of response to neoadjuvant therapy. Invited. A.C. Camargo Cancer Center, BR.
- 2022. From the operating room to the microscope: guidelines and parameters that determine therapeutic strategies. Invited. A.C. Camargo Cancer Center, BR.
- 2021. Radiology-Pathology Correlation in Benign Breast Lesions. Invited. Asociacion Colombiana de Radiologia, CO.
- 2019. Breast Pathology Long Course (4 lectures). Invited. XXXII Brazilian Congress of Pathology. Fortaleza, BR.
- 2018. One Large Tertiary-Referral Cancer Center’s Experience with the Accuracy of Combined Intraoperative Radiologic and Gross Margin Assessment in Breast Cancer Surgery. Invited. USCAP. Vancouver, CA.
- 2017. Una nueva inmunohistoquímica combinada para receptores, HER y KI67. Invited. Sociedad Argentina de Mastologia. Buenos Aires, AR.
- 2017. El rol emergente de la inmunoterapia, en el tratamiento del cáncer de mama. Invited. Sociedad Argentina de Mastologia. Buenos Aires, AR.
- 2017. Cancer de mama triple negative: sus blancos tipos y blancos terapeuticos. Invited. Sociedad Latinoamericana de Patologia. Cartagena, CO.
- 2017. Lesiones papilares de la mama. Invited. Asociacion Mexicana de Patologos A.C. Mexico City, MX.
- 2017. Cancer de mama triple negative: sus blancos tipos y blancos terapeuticos. Invited. Asociacion Mexicana de Patologos A.C. Mexico City, MX.
- 2017. Image analysis in diagnostic surgical pathology and translational research. Invited. Universidad de La Frontera. Temuco, CL.
- 2017. New insights on HER-2 positive breast cancer: diagnostic and therapeutic implications. Invited. Universidad de La Frontera. Temuco, CL.
- 2017. Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC): subtypes and therapeutic targets. Invited. Universidad de La Frontera. Temuco, CL.
- 2016. Pathologic assessment of breast cancer after neoadjuvant therapy. Invited. New Zealand Society for Oncology. Palmerston North, NZ.
- 2016. Lesions Fibroepiteliales del Seno. Invited. Patologia Quirurgica II Curso Internacional de Actualizacion. Antigua, GT.
- 2016. Lesiones Papilares del Seno. Invited. Patologia Quirurgica II Curso Internacional de Actualizacion. Antigua, GT.
- 2015. Multiplex and multispectral analysis of biomarkers in breast cancer and of immune cells in axillary lymph nodes. Invited. New Zealand Society of Oncology. Christchurch, NZ.
Formal Peers
- 2019. Pathologic Assessment of Breast Cancer After Neoadjuvant Therapy. Invited. San Antonio, TX, US.
- 2018. Papillary Lesions in Breast Pathology. Invited. San Diego, CA, US.
- 2018. Resident Unknown Slide Seminar. Invited. Galveston, TX, US.
- 2018. Resident Unknown Slide Seminar. Invited, US.
- 2018. DCIS, Invasive Carcinoma, and Variants. Invited. Houston, TX, US.
- 2018. Pathologic assessment of breast cancer after neoadjuvant therapy. Invited. San Diego, CA, US.
- 2017. Papillary Lesions in Breast. Invited. San Antonio, TX, US.
- 2017. Resident Unknown Slide Seminar. Invited. San Antonio, TX, US.
- 2017. Resident Unknown Slide Seminar. Invited. Valhalla, NY, US.
- 2017. Multiplex and multispectral analysis of biomarkers in breast cancer and of immune cells in axillary lymph nodes. Invited. Valhalla, NY, US.
- 2016. Multiplex and multispectral analysis of biomarkers in breast cancer and of immune cells in axillary lymph nodes. Invited. Wellington, NZ.
- 2016. The future of pathology: Will "omics" replace the microscope. Invited. Santo Domingo, DO.
- 2016. Biomarker analysis in breast cancer. Invited. Santo Domingo, DO.
- 2016. Resident Unknown Slide Seminar. Invited. Pittsburg, PA, US.
- 2016. Pathologic assessment of breast cancer after neoadjuvant therapy. Invited. Pittsburg, PA, US.
- 2016. Fibroepithelial lesions of the breast. Invited. Pittsburg, PA, US.
- 2016. Multiplex and multispectral analysis of biomarkers in breast cancer and of immune cells in axillary lymph nodes. Invited. Houston, TX, US.
- 2015. Papillary Lesions in Breast. Invited, TX, US.
- 2015. Multiplex and multispectral analysis of biomarkers in breast cancer and of immune cells in axillary lymph nodes. Invited. Palmerston North, NZ.
- 2015. Simultaneous Multispectral Imaging of Biomarkers in Breast Cancer: Biological, Diagnostic, and Prognostic Implications. Invited. Melbourne, AU.
- 2015. Simultaneous Multispectral Imaging of Biomarkers in Breast Cancer: Biological, Diagnostic, and Prognostic Implications. Invited. Brisbane, AU.
- 2015. Simultaneous Multispectral Imaging of Biomarkers in Breast Cancer: Biological, Diagnostic, and Prognostic Implications. Invited. Sydney, AU.
- 2015. Cellular Fibroepithelial Lesions in Breast. Invited, TX, US.
- 2015. Actionable Lesions in Breast Pathology. Invited, TX, US.
- 2015. Resident Unknown Slide Seminar. Invited, TX, US.
- 2015. Breast Cancer: Viewpoint from a Pathologist. Invited, TX, US.
- 2015. Tumor Banking for Translational Research. Invited. Medellin, CO.
- 2015. Pathology of Fibroepithelial Lesions. Invited. Medellin, CO.
- 2015. Simultaneous Multispectral Imaging of Biomarkers in Breast Cancer: Biological, Diagnostic, and Prognostic Implications. Invited. Chicago, IL, US.
- 2015. Resident Unknown Slide Seminar. Invited. Chicago, IL, US.
- 2014. Simultaneous Multispectral Imaging of Biomarkers in Breast Cancer: Biological, Diagnostic, and Prognostic Implications. Invited. Beijing, CN.
Grant & Contract Support
| Date: | 2023 - 2027 |
| Title: | Moving PARP Inhibitors Beyond BRCAness as Immune Modulating Agents for TNBC Prevention |
| Funding Source: | Department of Defense (DOD) |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| ID: | BC220706 |
| Date: | 2022 - 2024 |
| Title: | Continuation of IFA Support |
| Funding Source: | Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc |
| Role: | Co-I |
| ID: | 20X089F6 |
| Date: | 2022 - 2024 |
| Title: | NCLN NGS & IHC Implementation |
| Funding Source: | Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc |
| Role: | Co-I |
| ID: | 20X089F7 |
| Date: | 2022 - 2026 |
| Title: | Enhanced Biomechanical Modeling of the Breast for Womens Health |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NIBIB |
| Role: | Co-I |
| ID: | 5R01EB032533-02 |
| Date: | 2022 - 2025 |
| Title: | Role of DKK3 in Triple Negative Breast Cancer Tumor Progression and Resistance to Therapy |
| Funding Source: | Department of Defense (DOD) |
| Role: | Consult |
| ID: | FP00013452 / W81XWH2210097 |
| Date: | 2022 - 2026 |
| Title: | Building Research Infrastructure and Data Generation Engine to enable Automated AI on Standardized Ontology and Big Data Repositories (BRIDGE2AI-SOAR) |
| Funding Source: | NIH (OD-OSC) |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| ID: | 1OT2OD032705-01/FP14551 |
| Date: | 2022 - 2022 |
| Title: | S20-089F1 MDNet - Site Management |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| ID: | 20X089 |
| Date: | 2021 - 2029 |
| Title: | A Phase 2 Study of DS-8201a (NSC#807708, IND#153036) in Adolescents, or Young Adults with Recurrent HER2+ Osteosarcoma |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| ID: | NCT04616560 |
| Date: | 2021 - 2022 |
| Title: | Contrast enhanced spectral mammography (CESM) and CESM-guided biopsies for early breast cancer detection at MDACC: a pilot phase |
| Funding Source: | GE Healthcare |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| Date: | 2019 - 2022 |
| Title: | Preclinical PREVENT Cancer Program: Preclinical Efficacy and Intermediate Endpoint Biomarkers |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| ID: | 00008429 |
| Date: | 2019 - 2022 |
| Title: | Human Breast Cell Atlas Seed Network |
| Funding Source: | Chan Zuckerberg Initiative |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| ID: | CZF2019-002432 |
| Date: | 2018 - 2022 |
| Title: | National Clinical Laboratory Network (NCLN) for Precision Oncology – Pharmacodynamic Assays (PD), Immunofluorescence Platform |
| Funding Source: | Leidos Biomedical Research Inc |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | 00006706 |
| Date: | 2018 - 2021 |
| Title: | Preclinical PREVENT Cancer Program: Targeting the RXR Pathway for the Prevention of Triple Negative Breast Cancer |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| ID: | 00007098 |
| Date: | 2018 - 2022 |
| Title: | National Clinical Laboratory Network (NCLN) for Precision Oncology Clinical Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) Assays |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| ID: | 00006680 |
| Date: | 2016 - 2019 |
| Title: | Multiplex and multispectral analysis of biomarkers in breast cancer and of immune cells in tumor draining lymph nodes |
| Funding Source: | M.D. Anderson Cancer Center |
| Role: | Principal Investigator-MDACC |
| Date: | 2015 - 2020 |
| Title: | Dual imaging of HER2 by immunofluorescence and mRNA in situ hybridization in invasive breast carcinomas |
| Funding Source: | M.D. Anderson Cancer Center |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2015 - 2020 |
| Title: | The Role of Progesterone Receptor in Early Stage Breast Cancer |
| Funding Source: | Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| Date: | 2014 - 2020 |
| Title: | Clinical Research |
| Funding Source: | Shirley Stein Scientific Endowed Research Award |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2010 - 2013 |
| Title: | Using genomics and proteomics to develop effective therapies for ER-negative breast cancer |
| Funding Source: | Komen for the Cure |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| ID: | KG081694 |
| Date: | 2010 - 2012 |
| Title: | SPORE - Translational research in breast cancer: Pathology core |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| ID: | CA58183 |
| Date: | 2000 - 2004 |
| Title: | Continuing umbrella research experiences |
| Funding Source: | NCI |
| Role: | Collaborator |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Ye, Q, Law, T, Klippel, D, Albarracin, C, Chen, H, Contreras, A, Ding, Q, Huo, L, Khazai, L, Middleton, LP, Resetkova, E, Sahin, AA, Sun, H, Sweeney, K, Symmans, WF, Wu, Y, Yoon, EC, Krishnamurthy, S. Prospective and Retrospective Analysis of Whole-Slide Images of Sentinel and Targeted Lymph Node Frozen Sections in Breast Cancer. Modern Pathology 38(4), 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 39788205.
- Shaitelman SF, Le-Petross H, Raso MG, Swanson DM, Schalck AP, Contreras A, Yang F, Muruganandham M, Zhao GZ, Sawakuchi GO, Kim LH, Batra H, Smith BD, Stauder MC, Woodward WA, Reddy JP, Litton JK, Thompson A, Bedrosian I, Mitten EA. PRECISE: Preoperative Radiotherapy to Elicit Critical Immune Stimulating Effects - A Phase II Clinical Trial. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 121(1):90-96, 2025. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 39147206.
- Thomas PS, Patel AB, Lee JJ, Liu DD, Hernandez M, Muzzio M, Contreras A, Sepeda V, Mays C, Weber D, Vornik LA, Khan SA, Dimond E, Heckman-Stoddard BM, Perloff M, Brown PH. Phase I Dose Escalation Study of Topical Bexarotene in Women at High Risk for Breast Cancer. Cancer Prev Res (Phila) 16(1):47-55, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 36228112.
- Klassen-Fischer, MK, Nelson, AM, Neafie, RC, Neafie, FA, Auerbach, A, Baker, TP, Burke, AP, Datta, AA, Franks, TJ, Horkayne-Szakaly, I, Lack, EE, Lewin-Smith, MR, Contreras, A, Mattu, RH, Rush, WL, Shick, PC, Zhang, Y, Rentas, FJ, Moncur, J. The Reemergence of Measles. American journal of clinical pathology 159(1):81-88, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 36315019.
- Mazumdar A, Tahaney WM, Hill JL, Zhang Y, Ramachandran S, Kawedia J, Qian J, Contreras A, Savage MI, Vornik LA, Sei S, Mohammed A, Brown PH. Targeting the mTOR Pathway for the Prevention of ER-negative Breast Cancer. Cancer Prev Res (Phila) 15(12):791-802, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35981902.
- Kumar T, Hobbs E, Yang F, Chang JT, Contreras A, Cuentas ERP, Garber H, Lee S, Lu Y, Scoggins ME, Adrada BE, Whitman GJ, Arun BK, Mittendorf EA, Litton JK. Tumor immune microenvironment changes by multiplex immunofluorescence staining in a pilot study of neoadjuvant talazoparib for early-stage breast cancer patients with a hereditary BRCA mutation. Clin Cancer Res 28(17):3669-3676, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35736816.
- Goodbrake C, Li DS, Aghakhani H, Contreras A, Reece GP, Markey MK, Sacks MS. On the Three-Dimensional Mechanical Behavior of Human Breast Tissue. Ann Biomed Eng 50(5):601-613, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35316441.
- Liu X, Ge Z, Yang F, Contreras A, Lee S, White JB, Lu Y, Labrie M, Arun BK, Moulder SL, Mills GB, Piwnica-Worms H, Litton JK, Chang JT. Identification of biomarkers of response to preoperative talazoparib monotherapy in treatment naïve gBRCA+ breast cancers. NPJ Breast Cancer 8(1):64, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35538088.
- Sen A, Fowlkes NW, Kingsley CV, Kulp AM, Huynh T, Willis BJ, Brewer Savannah KJ, Bordes MCA, Hwang KP, McCulloch MM, Stafford RJ, Contreras A, Reece G, Brock KK. Histological validation of anatomical imaging for breast modeling using a novel cryo-microtome. Med Phys. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34559413.
- Veeraraghavan J, De Angelis C, Mao R, Wang T, Herrera S, Pavlick AC, Contreras A, Nuciforo P, Mayer IA, Forero A, Nanda R, Goetz MP, Chang JC, Wolff AC, Krop IE, Fuqua SAW, Prat A, Hilsenbeck SG, Weigelt B, Reis-Filho JS, Gutierrez C, Osborne CK, Rimawi MF, Schiff R. A combinatorial biomarker predicts pathologic complete response to neoadjuvant lapatinib and trastuzumab without chemotherapy in patients with HER2+ breast cancer. Ann Oncol. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30903140.
- Rimawi MF, De Angelis C, Contreras A, Pareja F, Geyer FC, Burke KA, Herrera S, Wang T, Mayer IA, Forero A, Nanda R, Goetz MP, Chang JC, Krop IE, Wolff AC, Pavlick AC, Fuqua SAW, Gutierrez C, Hilsenbeck SG, Li MM, Weigelt B, Reis-Filho JS, Kent Osborne C, Schiff R. Low PTEN levels and PIK3CA mutations predict resistance to neoadjuvant lapatinib and trastuzumab without chemotherapy in patients with HER2 over-expressing breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat 167(3):731-740, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29110152.
- Middleton LP, Phipps R, Routbort M, Prieto V, Medeiros LJ, Riben M, Contreras A, Kelley J, Patel K, Bingham J, Wagar EA. Fifteen-Year Journey to High Reliability in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Am J Med Qual:1062860618759198. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29512395.
- Gilcrease MZ, Dogan BE, Black DM, Contreras A, Dryden MJ, Jimenez SM. Transection of Radioactive Seeds in Breast Specimens. Am J Surg Pathol 40(10):1375-9, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27627744.
- Giuliano M, Hu H, Wang YC, Fu X, Nardone A, Herrera S, Mao S, Contreras A, Gutierrez C, Wang T, Hilsenbeck SG, De Angelis C, Wang NJ, Heiser LM, Gray JW, Lopez-Tarruella S, Pavlick AC, Trivedi MV, Chamness GC, Chang JC, Osborne CK, Rimawi MF, Schiff R. Upregulation of ER signaling as an adaptive mechanism of cell survival in HER2-positive breast tumors treated with anti-HER2 therapy. Clin Cancer Res 21(17):3995-4003, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26015514.
- Burstein MD, Tsimelzon A, Poage GM, Covington KR, Contreras A, Fuqua SA, Savage MI, Osborne CK, Hilsenbeck SG, Chang JC, Mills GB, Lau CC, Brown PH. Comprehensive Genomic Analysis Identifies Novel Subtypes and Targets of Triple-negative Breast Cancer. Clin Cancer Res 21(7):1688-98, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25208879.
- Giuliano M, Herrera S, Christiny P, Shaw C, Creighton CJ, Mitchell T, Bhat R, Zhang X, Mao S, Dobrolecki LE, Al-rawi A, Chen F, Veneziani BM, Zhang XH, Hilsenbeck SG, Contreras A, Gutierrez C, Jeselsohn RM, Rimawi MF, Osborne CK, Lewis MT, Schiff R, Trivedi MV. Circulating and disseminated tumor cells from breast cancer patient-derived xenograft-bearing mice as a novel model to study metastasis. Breast Cancer Res 17(1):3, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25572662.
- Niravath P, Eble T, Contreras A, Li M, Franco LM, Rimawi M. Breast adenocarcinoma recurring as small cell carcinoma in a patient with a germline BRCA2 mutation: clonal evolution unchecked. Exp Hematol Oncol 4(1):1, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25671134.
- Suo J, Medina D, Herrera S, Zheng ZY, Jin L, Chamness GC, Contreras A, Gutierrez C, Hilsenbeck S, Umar A, Foekens JA, Hanash S, Schiff R, Zhang XH, Chang EC. Int6 reduction activates stromal fibroblasts to enhance transforming activity in breast epithelial cells. Cell Biosci 5:10, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25774287.
- Fu X, Creighton CJ, Biswal NC, Kumar V, Shea M, Herrera S, Contreras A, Gutierrez C, Wang T, Nanda S, Giuliano M, Morrison G, Nardone A, Karlin KL, Westbrook TF, Heiser LM, Anur P, Spellman P, Guichard SM, Smith PD, Davies BR, Klinowska T, Lee AV, Mills GB, Rimawi MF, Hilsenbeck SG, Gray JW, Joshi A, Osborne C, Schiff R. Overcoming endocrine resistance due to reduced PTEN levels in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer by co-targeting mammalian target of rapamycin, protein kinase B, or mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase. Breast Cancer Res 16(5):430. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25212826.
- Tretiakova MS, Bond SD, Wheeler D, Contreras A, Kocherginsky M, Kroll TG, Hale TK. Heterochromatin protein 1 expression is reduced in human thyroid malignancy. Lab Invest 94(7):788-95, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 24840329.
- Hatcher RJ, Dong J, Liu S, Bian G, Contreras A, Wang T, Hilsenbeck SG, Li Y, Zhang P. Pttg1/securin is required for the branching morphogenesis of the mammary gland and suppresses mammary tumorigenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111(3):1008-13, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 24395789.
- Veeraraghavan J, Tan Y, Cao XX, Kim JA, Wang X, Chamness GC, Maiti SN, Cooper LJ, Edwards DP, Contreras A, Hilsenbeck SG, Chang EC, Schiff R, Wang XS. Recurrent ESR1-CCDC170 rearrangements in an aggressive subset of oestrogen receptor-positive breast cancers. Nat Commun 5:4577, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25099679.
- Mohammed S, Statz A, Lacross JS, Lassinger BK, Contreras A, Gutierrez C, Bonefas E, Liscum KR, Silberfein EJ. Granulomatous mastitis: a 10 year experience from a large inner city county hospital. J Surg Res 184(1):299-303, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23890401.
- Zhang X, Claerhout S, Prat A, Dobrolecki LE, Petrovic I, Lai Q, Landis MD, Wiechmann L, Schiff R, Giuliano M, Wong H, Fuqua SW, Contreras A, Gutierrez C, Huang J, Mao S, Pavlick AC, Froehlich AM, Wu MF, Tsimelzon A, Hilsenbeck SG, Chen ES, Zuloaga P, Shaw CA, Rimawi MF, Perou CM, Mills GB, Chang JC, Lewis MT. A renewable tissue resource of phenotypically stable, biologically and ethnically diverse, patient-derived human breast cancer xenograft models. Cancer Res 73(15):4885-97, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23737486.
- Gould DJ, Salmans JA, Lassinger BK, Contreras A, Gutierrez C, Bonefas E, Liscum KR, Silberfein EJ. Factors associated with phyllodes tumor of the breast after core needle biopsy identifies fibroepithelial neoplasm. J Surg Res 178(1):299-303, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22524977.
- Bardhan R, Chen W, Bartels M, Perez-Torres C, Botero MF, McAninch RW, Contreras A, Schiff R, Pautler RG, Halas NJ, Joshi A. Tracking of multimodal therapeutic nanocomplexes targeting breast cancer in vivo. Nano Lett 10(12):4920-8, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 21090693.
- Atkinson RL, Zhang M, Diagaradjane P, Peddibhotla S, Contreras A, Hilsenbeck SG, Woodward WA, Krishnan S, Chang JC, Rosen JM. Thermal enhancement with optically activated gold nanoshells sensitizes breast cancer stem cells to radiation therapy. Sci Transl Med 2(55):55ra79, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20980696.
- Cella N, Contreras A, Latha K, Rosen JM, Zhang M. Maspin is physically associated with [beta]1 integrin regulating cell adhesion in mammary epithelial cells. FASEB J 20(9):1510-2, 2006. e-Pub 2006. PMID: 16720730.
- Hale TK, Contreras A, Morrison AJ, Herrera RE. Phosphorylation of the linker histone H1 by CDK regulates its binding to HP1alpha. Mol Cell 22(5):693-9, 2006. e-Pub 2006. PMID: 16762841.
- Ginger MR, Shore AN, Contreras A, Rijnkels M, Miller J, Gonzalez-Rimbau MF, Rosen JM. A noncoding RNA is a potential marker of cell fate during mammary gland development. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 103(15):5781-6, 2006. e-Pub 2006. PMID: 16574773.
- Grimm SL, Contreras A, Barcellos-Hoff MH, Rosen JM. Cell cycle defects contribute to a block in hormone-induced mammary gland proliferation in CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBPbeta)-null mice. J Biol Chem 280(43):36301-9, 2005. e-Pub 2005. PMID: 16120603.
- Contreras A, Hale TK, Stenoien DL, Rosen JM, Mancini MA, Herrera RE. The dynamic mobility of histone H1 is regulated by cyclin/CDK phosphorylation. Mol Cell Biol 23(23):8626-36, 2003. e-Pub 2003. PMID: 14612406.
- Medina D, Kittrell FS, Shepard A, Contreras A, Rosen JM, Lydon J. Hormone dependence in premalignant mammary progression. Cancer Res 63(5):1067-72, 2003. e-Pub 2003. PMID: 12615724.
- Welm BE, Freeman KW, Chen M, Contreras A, Spencer DM, Rosen JM. Inducible dimerization of FGFR1: development of a mouse model to analyze progressive transformation of the mammary gland. J Cell Biol 157(4):703-14, 2002. e-Pub 2002. PMID: 12011115.
- Chakravarty G, Roy D, Gonzales M, Gay J, Contreras A, Rosen JM. P190-B, a Rho-GTPase-activating protein, is differentially expressed in terminal end buds and breast cancer. Cell Growth Differ 11(7):343-54, 2000. e-Pub 2000. PMID: 10939588.
Review Articles
- Murphey, MD, Minn, MJ, Contreras, A, Koeller, KK, Shih, R, Inwards, CY, Yamaguchi, T. Imaging of spinal chordoma and benign notochordal cell tumor (BNCT) with radiologic pathologic correlation. Skeletal radiology 52(3):349-363, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 36063190.
- Soundararajan R, Fradette JJ, Konen JM, Moulder S, Zhang X, Gibbons DL, Varadarajan N, Wistuba II, Tripathy D, Bernatchez C, Byers LA, Chang JT, Contreras A, Lim B, Parra ER, Roarty EB, Wang J, Yang F, Barton M, Rosen JM, Mani SA. Targeting the Interplay between Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal-Transition and the Immune System for Effective Immunotherapy. Cancers (Basel) 11(5), 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31137625.
- Contreras A, Sattar H. Lobular neoplasia of the breast: an update. Arch Pathol Lab Med 133(7):1116-20, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19642738.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified July 22, 2026