
Aung Naing, MD, FACP
Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics, Division of Cancer Medicine
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Professor, Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics, 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
Research Interests
Biomarkers for immunotherapy
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
1997 | Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, TUR, MD, Doctor of Medicine |
Postgraduate Training
2005-2006 | Clinical Fellowship, Bone Marrow Transplant, City of Hope Cancer Center, Duarte, CA |
2002-2005 | Clinical Fellowship, Hematology, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute (University of South Florida, College of Medicine), Tampa, FL |
2002-2005 | Clinical Fellowship, Medical Oncology, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute (University of South Florida, College of Medicine), Tampa, FL |
1999-2002 | Clinical Residency, Internal Medicine, State University of New York, Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY |
Board Certifications
2007 | The American Board of Internal Medicine in Medical Oncology |
2006 | The American Board of Internal Medicine in Hematology |
2002 | The American Board of Internal Medicine in Internal Medicine |
Experience & Service
Academic Appointments
Associate Professor, Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2013 - 2020
Assistant Professor, Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2006 - 2013
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Naing A, Gainor JF, Gelderblom H, Forde PM, Butler MO, Lin CC, Sharma S, Ochoa de Olza M, Varga A, Taylor M, Schellens JHM, Wu H, Sun H, Silva AP, Faris J, Mataraza J, Cameron S, Bauer TM. A first-in-human phase 1 dose escalation study of spartalizumab (PDR001), an anti-PD-1 antibody, in patients with advanced solid tumors. J Immunother Cancer 8(1), 2020. PMID: 32179633.
- Creasy CA, Forget MA, Singh G, Tapia C, Xu M, Stephen B, Sabir S, Meric-Bernstam F, Haymaker C, Bernatchez C, Naing A. Exposure to anti-PD-1 causes functional differences in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in rare solid tumors. Eur J Immunol 49(12):2245-2251, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31532833.
- Habra MA, Stephen B, Campbell M, Hess K, Tapia C, Xu M, Rodon Ahnert J, Jimenez C, Lee JE, Perrier ND, Boraddus RR, Pant S, Subbiah V, Hong DS, Zarifa A, Fu S, Karp DD, Meric-Bernstam F, Naing A. Phase II clinical trial of Pembrolizumab efficacy and safety in advanced adrenocortical carcinoma. J Immunother Cancer 7(1):253, 2019.
- Naing A, Infante J, Goel S, Burris H, Black C, Marshall S, Achour I, Barbee S, May R, Morehouse C, Pollizzi K, Song X, Steele K, Elgeioushi N, Walcott, Karakunnel J, LoRusso P, Weise A, Eder J, Curti B, Oberst M. Anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody MEDI0680 in a phase I study of patients with advanced solid malignancies. J Immunother Cancer 7(1):225, 2019.
- Fujii T, Naing A, Rolfo C, Hajjar J. Biomarkers of response to immune checkpoint blockade in cancer treatment. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol(130):108-120, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30196907.
- Yalcin S, Hurmuz P, McQuinn L, Naing A. Prevalence of Complementary Medicine Use in Patients with Cancer: A Turkish Comprehensive Cancer Center Experience. J Glob Oncol 4:1-6, 2018. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 30241173.
- Colen RR, Fujii T, Bilen MA, Kotrotsou A, Abrol S, Hess KR, Hajjar J, Suarez-Almazor ME, Alshawa A, Hong DS, Giniebra-Camejo D, Stephen B, Subbiah V, Sheshadri A, Mendoza T, Fu S, Sharma P, Meric-Bernstam F, Naing A. Radiomics to predict immunotherapy-induced pneumonitis: proof of concept. Invest New Drugs 36(4):601-607, 2018. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 29075985.
- Fujii T, Colen RR, Bilen MA, Hess KR, Hajjar J, Suarez-Almazor ME, Alshawa A, Hong DS, Tsimberidou A, Janku F, Gong J, Stephen B, Subbiah V, Piha-Paul SA, Fu S, Sharma P, Mendoza T, Patel A, Thirumurthi S, Sheshadri A, Meric-Bernstam F, Naing A. Incidence of immune-related adverse events and its association with treatment outcomes: the MD Anderson Cancer Center experience. Invest New Drugs 36(4):638-646, 2018. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 29159766.
- Subbiah V, Murthy R, Hong DS, Prins RM, Hosin C, Hendricks K, Kolli D, Noffsinger L, Brown R, McGuire M, Fu S, Piha-Paul S, Naing A, Conley AP, Benjamin RS, Kaur I, Bosch ML. Cytokines Produced by Dendritic Cells Administered Intratumorally Correlate with Clinical Outcome in Patients with Diverse Cancers. Clin Cancer Res 24(16):3845-3856, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30018119.
- Brahmer JR, Lacchetti C, Schneider BJ, Atkins MB, Brassil KJ, Caterino JM, Chau I, Ernstoff MS, Gardner JM, Ginex P, Hallmeyer S, Holter Chakrabarty J, Leighl NB, Mammen JS, McDermott DF, Naing A, Nastoupil LJ, Phillips T, Porter LD, Puzanov I, Reichner CA, Santomasso BD, Seigel C, Spira A, Suarez-Almazor ME, Wang Y, Weber JS, Wolchok JD, Thompson JA, National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Management of Immune-Related Adverse Events in Patients Treated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy: American Society of Clinical Oncology Clinical Practice Guideline. J Clin Oncol 36(17):JCO2017776385, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29442540.
- Maymani H, Hess K, Groisber R, Hong DS, Naing A, Piha-Paul S, Janku F, Fu S, Tsimberidou AM, Pant S, Karp D, Liu S, Sun M, Heymach J, Simon G, Meric-Bernstam F, Subbiah V. Predicting outcomes in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer enrolled in early phase immunotherapy trials. Lung Cancer 120:137-141, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29748008.
- Naing A, Infante JR, Papadopoulos KP, Chan IH, Shen C, Ratti Np, Rojo B, Autio KA, Wong DJ, Patel MR, Ott PA, Palchook GS, Pant S, Hung A, Pekarek KL, Wu V, Adamow M, McCauley S, Mumm JB, Wong P, Van Vlasselaer P, Levegue J, Tannir NM, Oft M. PEGylated IL-10 (Pegildecakin) Induces Systemic Immune Activation, CD8+ T Cell Invigoration and Polyclonal T Cell Expansion in Cancer Patients. Cancer Cell 34(5):775-791, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30423397.
- Hinchcliff E, Hong D, Le H, Chisholm G, Iyer R, Naing A, Hwu P, Jazaeri A. Characteristics and outcomes of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer undergoing early phase immune checkpoint inhibitor clinical trials. Gynecol Oncol 151(3):407-413, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30366646.
- Arango NP, Yuca E, Zhao M, Evans KW, Scott S, Kim C, Gonzalez-Angulo AM, Janku F, Ueno NT, Tripathy D, Akcakanat A, Naing A, Meric-Bernstam F. Selinexor (KPT-330) demonstrates anti-tumor efficacy in preclinical models of triple-negative breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res 19(1):93, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28810913.
- Mahadevan D, Mita M, Richards D, McClay E, Heist RS, Kumar A, Sundararajan S, Naing A. Phase I single dose, two-period and two-sequence cross-over trial to evaluate the relative bioavailability of two oral pimasertib formulations in advanced cancer patients. Cancer Chemother Parmacol 79(4):681-688, 2017.
- Tang C, Welsh JW, de Groot P, Massarelli E, Chang JY, Hess KR, Basu S, Curran MA, Cabanillas ME, Subbiah V, Fu S, Tsimberidou AM, Karp D, Gomez DR, Diab A, Komaki R, Heymach JV, Sharma P, Naing A, Hong DS. Ipilimumab with stereotactic ablative radiation therapy: Phase I results and immunologic correlates from peripheral T-cells. Clin Cancer Res 23(6):1388-1396, 2017. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27649551.
- Bupathi M, Hajjar J, Bean S, Fu S, Hong D, Karp D, Stephen B, Hess K, Meric-Bernstam F, Naing A. Incidence of infusion reactions to anti-neoplastic agents in early phase clinical trials: The MD Anderson Cancer Center experience. Invest New Drugs 35(1):59-67, 2017. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27687047.
- Mita M, Fu S, Piha-Paul SA, Janku F, Mita A, Natale R, Guo W, Zhao C, Kurzrock R, Naing A. Phase I trial of MEK 1/2 inhibitor pimasertib combined with mTOR inhibitor temsirolimus in patients with advanced solid tumors. Invest New Drugs. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28194539.
- Reilley MJ, Bailey A, Subbiah V, Janku F, Naing A, Falchook G, Karp D, Piha-Paul S, Tsimberidou A, Fu S, Lim J, Bean S, Bass A, Montez S, Vence L, Sharma P, Allison J, Meric-Bernstam F, Hong DS. Phase I clinical trial of combination imatinib and ipilimumab in patients with advanced malignancies. J Immunother Cancer 5:35, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28428884.
- Naing A, Papadopoulos KP, Autio KA, Ott PA, Patel MR, Wong DJ, Falchook GS, Pant S, Whiteside M, Rasco DR, Mumm JB, Chan IH, Bendell JC, Bauer TM, Colen RR, Hong DS, Van Vlasselaer P, Tannir NM, Oft M, Infante JR. Safety, Antitumor Activity, and Immune Activation of Pegylated Recombinant Human Interleukin-10 (AM0010) in Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors. J Clin Oncol. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27528724.
- Bilen MA, Patel A, Hess KR, Munoz J, Busaidy NL, Wheler JJ, Janku F, Falchook GS, Hong DS, Meric-Bernstam F, Habra MA, Naing A. Association between new-onset hypothyroidism and clinical response in patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy in phase I clinical trials. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27286994.
- Khawaja MR, Nick AM, Madhusudanannair V, Fu S, Hong D, McQuinn LM, Ng CS, Piha-Paul SA, Janku F, Subbiah V, Tsimberidou A, Karp D, Meric-Bernstam F, Lu KH, Naing A. Phase I dose escalation study of temsirolimus in combination with metformin in patients with advanced/refractory cancers. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27014780.
- Bupathi M, Kaseb A, Meric-Bernstam F, Naing A. Hepatocellular carcinoma: Where there is unmet need. Mol Oncol 9(8):1501-9, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26160430.
- Busaidy NL, LoRusso P, Lawhorn K, Hess KR, Habra MA, Fu S, Hong DS, Chen HX, Doyle LA, Kurzrock R, Naing A. The Prevalence and Impact of Hyperglycemia and Hyperlipidemia in Patients With Advanced Cancer Receiving Combination Treatment With the Mammalian Target of Rapamycin Inhibitor Temsirolimus and Insulin Growth Factor-Receptor Antibody Cixutumumab. Oncologist. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26054632.
- Bilen MA, Fu S, Falchook GS, Ng CS, Wheler JJ, Abdelrahim M, Erguvan-Dogan B, Hong DS, Tsimberidou AM, Kurzrock R, Naing A. Phase I trial of valproic acid and lenalidomide in patients with advanced cancer. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25666183.
- Naing A, Dalal S, Abdelrahim M, Wheler J, Hess K, Fu S, Hong DS, Janku F, Falchook GS, Ilustre A, Ouyang F, Kurzrock R. Olanzapine for cachexia in patients with advanced cancer: an exploratory study of effects on weight and metabolic cytokines. Support Care Cancer. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25680763.
- Moon YW, Hajjar J, Hwu P, Naing A. Targeting the indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase pathway in cancer. J Immunother Cancer 3:51, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26674411.
- Tang C, Wang X, Soh H, Seyedin S, Cortez MA, Krishnan S, Massarelli E, Hong D, Naing A, Diab A, Gomez D, Ye H, Heymach J, Komaki R, Allison JP, Sharma P, Welsh JW. Combining Radiation and Immunotherapy: A New Systemic Therapy for Solid Tumors?. Cancer Immunol Res 2(9):831-838, 2014. PMID: 25187273.
- Said R, Ye Y, Hong DS, Janku F, Fu S, Naing A, Wheler JJ, Kurzrock R, Thomas C, Palmer GA, Hess KR, Aldape K, Tsimberidou AM. Characteristics and survival of patients with advanced cancer and p53 mutations. Oncotarget 5(11):3871-9, 2014. PMID: 25003695.
- Liu X, Lorusso P, Mita M, Piha-Paul S, Hong DS, Fu S, McQuinn L, Asatiani E, Doyle LA, Chen HX, Hess KR, Kurzrock R, Naing A. Incidence of Mucositis in Patients Treated with Temsirolimus-based Regimens and Correlation to Treatment Response. Oncologist 19(4):426-8, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 24668327.
- Bilen MA, Durand JB, McQuinn L, Hess KR, Fu S, Falchook GS, Hong DS, Wheler JJ, Said R, Ewer MS, Kurzrock R, Naing A. Evaluation of a novel blood pressure scoring method and its association with clinical response in cancer patients treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy. Invest New Drugs. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 24764123.
- Naing A, Fu S, Zinner RG, Wheler JJ, Hong DS, Arakawa K, Falchook GS, Kurzrock R. Phase I dose-escalating study of TAS-106 in combination with carboplatin in patients with solid tumors. Invest New Drugs 32(1):154-9, 2014. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23609829.
- Naing A, Cohen R, Dy GK, Hong DS, Dyster L, Hangauer DG, Kwan R, Fetterly G, Kurzrock R, Adjei AA. A phase I trial of KX2-391, a novel non-ATP competitive substrate-pocket- directed SRC inhibitor, in patients with advanced malignancies. Invest New Drugs 31(4):967-73, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23361621.
- Naing A, Lorusso P, Fu S, Hong D, Chen HX, Doyle LA, Phan AT, Habra MA, Kurzrock R. Insulin growth factor receptor (IGF-1R) antibody cixutumumab combined with the mTOR inhibitor temsirolimus in patients with metastatic adrenocortical carcinoma. Br J Cancer 108(4):826-30, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23412108.
- Naing A, Kurzrock R. Dodging a dogma: is treating beyond progression beneficial?. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23443308.
- Naing A, Agarwal R, Falchook G, Hong DS, Janku F, Wheler J, Fu S, Kurzrock R. Retreatment after secondary resistance or mixed response: a pilot study. Oncology 85(6):350-5, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24335388.
- Abdelrahim M, Matsuda A, Naing A. TAS-106: Preclinical, Clinical and Beyond. Oncology 85(6):356-63, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24335431.
- Naing A, Veasey-Rodrigues H, Hong DS, Fu S, Falchook GS, Wheler JJ, Tsimberidou AM, Wen S, Fessahaye SN, Golden EC, Aaron J, Ewer MS, Kurzrock R. Electrocardiograms (ECGs) in phase I anti-cancer drug development: the MD Anderson Cancer Center experience with 8518 ECGs. Ann Oncol 23(11):2960-3, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22745218.
- Naing A, Aghajanian C, Raymond E, Olmos D, Schwartz G, Oelmann E, Grinsted L, Burke W, Taylor R, Kaye S, Kurzrock R, Banerji U. Safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of AZD8055 in advanced solid tumours and lymphoma. Br J Cancer 107(7):1093-9, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22935583.
- Naing A, LoRusso P, Fu S, Hong DS, Anderson P, Benjamin RS, Ludwig J, Chen HX, Doyle LA, Kurzrock R. Insulin growth factor-receptor (IGF-1R) antibody cixutumumab combined with the mTOR inhibitor temsirolimus in patients with refractory Ewing's Sarcoma family tumors. Clin Cancer Res 18(9):2625-31, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22465830.
- Naing A, Kurzrock R, Adams LM, Kleha JF, Laubscher KH, Bonate PL, Weller S, Fitzgerald C, Xu Y, LoRusso PM. A comparison of the pharmacokinetics of the anticancer MET inhibitor foretinib free base tablet formulation to bisphosphate salt capsule formulation in patients with solid tumors. Invest New Drugs 30(1):327-34, 2012. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20842406.
- Naing A, Stephen SK, Frenkel M, Chandhasin C, Hong DS, Lei X, Falchook G, Wheler JJ, Fu S, Kurzrock R. Prevalence of complementary medicine use in a phase 1 clinical trials program: The MD Anderson Cancer Center Experience. Cancer 117(22):5142-50, 2011. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 21538342.
- Naing A, Kurzrock R, Burger A, Gupta S, Lei X, Busaidy N, Hong D, Chen HX, Doyle LA, Heilbrun LK, Rohren E, Ng C, Chandhasin C, LoRusso P. Phase I trial of cixutumumab combined with temsirolimus in patients with advanced cancer. Clin Cancer Res 17(18):6052-60, 2011. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 21750201.
- Naing A, Reuben JM, Camacho LH, Gao H, Lee BN, Cohen EN, Verschraegen C, Stephen S, Aaron J, Hong D, Wheler J, Kurzrock R. Phase I Dose Escalation Study of Sodium Stibogluconate (SSG), a Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Inhibitor, Combined with Interferon Alpha for Patients with Solid Tumors. j Cancer 10(2):81-89, 2011.
- Subbiah V, Naing A, Brown RE, Chen H, Doyle L, LoRusso P, Benjamin R, Anderson P, Kurzrock R. Targeted morphoproteomic profiling of Ewing's Sarcoma treated with insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) inhibitors: response/resistance signatures. PLoS One 6(4):e18424, 2011. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 21494688.
- Ludwig JA, Lamhamedi-Cherradi SE, Lee HY, Naing A, Benjamin R. Dual targeting of the insulin-like growth factor and collateral pathways in cancer: combating drug resistance. Cancers (Basel) 3(3):3029-54, 2011. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 24212944.
- Nakamura R, Rodriguez R, Palmer J, Stein A, Naing A, Tsai N, Chang K, Slovak ML, Bhatia R, Spielberger R, Kogut N, Pullarkat V, Kirschbaum M, Forman SJ, O'Donnell MR. Reduced-intensity conditioning for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with fludarabine and melphalan is associated with durable disease control in myelodysplastic syndrome. Bone Marrow Transplant 40(9):843-850, 2007. e-Pub 2007. PMID: 17724447.
- Naing A, Sokol L, List AF. Developmental therapeutics for myelodysplastic syndromes. J Natl Compr Canc Netw 4(1):78-82, 2006. PMID: 16403406.
- Naing A, Luong D, Extermann M. Methotrexate-induced status epilepticus. Am J Hematol 80(1):35-37, 2005. PMID: 16138356.
- Naing A, Messina JL, Vrionis FR, Daud AI. Uncommon manifestations of common malignancies: Case 3. Malignant melanoma arising from a spinal nerve root. J Clin Oncol 22(15):3194-3195, 2004. PMID: 15284274.
Grant & Contract Support
Title: | Mentored clinical scientist and translational research training grant |
Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
Role: | Principal Investigator |
Title: | Southwest Early Clinical Trials Consortium |
Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
Role: | Co-Investigator |
Title: | Temsirolimus with Metformin in Endometrial Patients |
Funding Source: | UT MD Anderson Cancer Center Bridge Funding |
Role: | Principal Investigator |