Emily Z. Keung, MD, AM, FACS, FSSO
Department of Surgical Oncology, Division of Surgery
About Dr. Emily Z. Keung
Dr. Keung is a surgeon-scientist and assistant professor in the Department of Surgical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center specializing in the care of patients with soft tissue sarcoma. Dr. Keung received her undergraduate degree from Harvard College and her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. She completed her general surgery residency and surgical critical care fellowship at Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School and fellowship in Complex General Surgical Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Keung leads a translational research group focused on advancing our understanding of the molecular pathogenesis and immuno-oncology of several common subtypes of soft tissue sarcomas (liposarcoma, undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma, leiomyosarcoma) and improving treatments and outcomes for patients with these challenging malignancies.
Present Title & Affiliation
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Associate Member, MD Anderson Cancer Center Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2008 | Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA, MD, Medicine |
| 2003 | Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA, AB, Biochemical Sciences |
| 2003 | Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA, AM, Chemistry and Chemical Biology |
Postgraduate Training
| 2017-2018 | Research Fellowship, Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX |
| 2016-2019 | Clinical Fellowship, Complex General Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX |
| 2012-2014 | Research Fellowship, Departments of Surgical Oncology and Genomic Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX |
| 2011-2012 | Clinical Fellowship, Surgical Critical Care, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA |
| 2008-2016 | Residency, General Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA |
Board Certifications
| 2021 | Fellow, American College of Surgeons |
| 2020 | American Board of Surgery, Complex General Surgical Oncology |
| 2018 | American Board of Medical Quality, Certificate in Medical Quality |
| 2017 | American Board of Surgery, General Surgery |
| 2017 | American Board of Surgery, Surgical Critical Care |
Honors & Awards
| 2023 | Society of Asian Academic Surgeons Visiting Professor, Association of Women Surgeons Hong Mo and Hsi Mei Chen Lectureship |
| 2023 | Robert M. Chamberlain Distinguished Mentor Award Nominee, MD Anderson Cancer Center Postdoctoral Association |
| 2022 | Selected for Women in Cancer Immunotherapy Network Leadership Institute Program, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer |
| 2022 | Top 1% Provider: Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CG CAHPS), MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2021 | Young Investigator Travel Award, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer |
| 2021 | Top 1% Provider: Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CG CAHPS), MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2019 | The Charles Balch Clinical Research Award, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2019 | Society of Asian Academic Surgeons Junior Faculty Award, Society of Asian Academic Surgeons |
| 2018 | Society of Asian Academic Surgeons Resident/Fellow Development Award, Society of Asian Academic Surgeons |
| 2018 | Travel Award to the 21st Annual Meeting of the CSCO, Society of Surgical Oncology/Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology |
| 2018 | The Harter Prize for Excellence in Clinical Training Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2018 | Thomas H. and Mayme P. Scott Fellowship in Cancer Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2018 | AACR Scholar-in-Training Award in Memory of William Maness, American Association for Cancer Research |
| 2017 | The Connie and Jim Walter Endowed Fellowship Award in Sarcoma Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2017 | Trainee Research Day Competition Finalist, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2016 | Moore Award (PGY5 Resident Award), Brigham and Women’s Hospital |
| 2015 | Excellence in Teaching Award, Brigham and Women’s Hospital |
| 2015 | BWH Patient Doctor III Humanism in Teaching Award, Brigham and Women’s Hospital |
| 2014 | John A. Mannick Research Day Award, Brigham and Women’s Hospital |
| 2012 | Third Place Resident Prize Essay Competition, 93rd Annual Meeting of the New England Surgical Society, Rockport, Maine |
| 2011 | Rudolph Vollman Award (PGY3 Resident Award), Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Faulkner Hospital |
| 2011 | Citation for Excellence in Teaching, Tufts University School of Medicine |
| 2003 | Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Iota of Massachusetts, Harvard University |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Traweek RS, Martin AN, Rajkot NF, Guadagnolo BA, Bishop AJ, Lazar AJ, Keung EZ, Torres KE, Hunt KK, Feig BW, Roland CL, Scally CP. Re-excision after unplanned excision of soft tissue sarcoma is associated with high morbidity and limited pathologic identification of residual disease. Ann Surg Oncol 30(1):480-489, 2023. PMID: 36085392.
- Amaria RN, Postow M, Burton EM, Tezlaff MT, Ross MI, Torres-Cabala C, Glitza IC, Duan F, Milton DR, Busam K, Simpson L, McQuade JL, Wong MK, Gershenwald JE, Lee JE, Goepfert RP, Keung EZ, Fisher SB, Betof-Warner A, Shoushtari AN, Callahan M, Coit D, Bartlett EK, Bello D, Momtaz P, Nicholas C, Gu A, Zhang X, Korivi BR, Patnana M, Patel SP, Diab A, Lucci A, Prieto VG, Davies MA, Allison JP, Sharma P, Wargo JA, Ariyan C, Tawbi HA. Neoadjuvant relatlimab and nivolumab in resectable melanoma. Nature 611(7934):155-160, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36289334.
- Guadagnolo BA, Bassett RL, Mitra D, Farooqi A, Hempel C, Dorber C, Willis T, Wang WL, Ratan R, Somaiah N, Benjamin RS, Torres KE, Hunt KK, Scally CP, Keung EZ, Satcher RL, Bird JE, Lin PP, Moon BS, Lewis VO, Roland CL, Bishop AJ. Hypofractionated, 3-week, preoperative radiotherapy for patients with soft tissue sarcomas (HYPORT-STS): a single-centre, open-label, single-arm, phase 2 trial. Lancet Oncol 23(12):1547-1557. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36343656.
- Witt RG, Cope B, Erstad DJ, Chiang YJ, Nassif EF, Scally CP, Torres KE, Hunt KK, Feig BW, Roland CL, Keung EZ. Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy and Formal Lymphadenectomy for Soft Tissue Sarcoma: A Single Center Experience of 86 Consecutive Cases. Ann Surg Oncol 29(11):7092-7100, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35501583.
- Keung EZ, Krause KJ, Maxwell J, Morris CD, Crago AM, Houdek MT, Kane J, Lewis V, Callegaro D, Miller B, Lazar AJ, Gladdy R, Raut CP, Fabbri N, Al-Refaie W, Fairweather M, Wong SL, Roland CL. Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy for Extremity and Truncal Soft Tissue Sarcomas: A Systematic Review of the Literature. Ann Surg Oncol. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36307665.
- Erstad DJ, Chiang YJ, Witt RG, Cope B, Nassif EF, Scally CP, Torres KE, Feig BW, Hunt KK, Bishop AJ, Guadagnolo BA, Roland CL, Keung EZ. Clinical impact of external beam radiotherapy for surgically resected primary retroperitoneal liposarcoma. Ann Surg Oncol. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36115928.
- Thirasastr P, Lin H, Amini B, Wang WL, Cloutier JM, Nassif EF, Keung EZ, Roland CL, Feig B, Araujo D, Benjamin RS, Conley AP, Livingston JA, Ludwig J, Patel S, Ratan R, Ravi V, Zarzour MA, Zhou X, Somaiah N. Retrospective evaluation of the role of gemcitabine-docetaxel in well-differentiated and dedifferentiated liposarcoma. Cancer Med. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36151848.
- Noh S, Nessim C, Keung EZ, Roland CL, Strauss D, Sivarajah G, Fiore M, Biasoni D, Cioffi SPB, Mehtsun W, Cananzi FCM, Sicoli F, Quagliuolo V, Chen J, Luo C, Gladdy RA, Swallow C, Johnston W, Ford SJ, Evenden C, Tirotta F, Almond M, Nguyen L, Rutkowski P, Krotewicz M, Pennacchioli E, Cardona K, Gamboa A, Hompes D, Renard M, Kollár A, Ryser CO, Vassos N, Raut CP, Fairweather M, Krakorova DA, Quildrian S, Perhavec A, Nizri E, Farma JM, Greco SH, Vincenzi B, Lopez JAG, Solerdecoll MS, Iwata S, Fukushima S, Kim T, Tolomeo F, Snow H, Howlett-Jansen Y, Tzanis D, Nikulin M, Gronchi A, Sicklick JK, Transatlantic Australasian Retroperitoneal Sarcoma Working Group. Retrospective Analysis of Retroperitoneal-Abdominal-Pelvic Ganglioneuromas: An International Study by the Transatlantic Australasian Retroperitoneal Sarcoma Working Group. Ann Surg. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35866666.
- Nassif EF, Cope B, Traweek R, Witt RG, Erstad DJ, Scally CP, Thirasastr P, Zarzour MA, Ludwig J, Benjamin R, Bishop AJ, Guadagnolo BA, Ingram D, Wani K, Wang WL, Lazar AJ, Torres KE, Hunt KK, Feig BW, Roland CL, Somaiah N, Keung EZ. Real-world use of palbociclib monotherapy in retroperitoneal liposarcomas at a large volume sarcoma center. Int J Cancer 150(12):2012-2024, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35128664.
- Boyce-Fappiano D, Damron EP, Farooqi A, Mitra D, Conley AP, Somaiah N, Araujo D, Livingston JA, Ratan R, Keung EZ, Roland CL, Guadagnolo BA, Bishop AJ. Hypofractionated radiation therapy for unresectable or metastatic sarcoma lesions provides durable tumor control and effective palliation. Advances in Radiation Oncology 7(3):100913, 2022. PMID: 35647398.
- Traweek RS, Cope BM, Roland CL, Keung EZ, Nassif EF, Erstad DJ. Targeting the MDM2-p53 pathway in dedifferentiated liposarcoma. Front Oncol 12:1006959, 2022. PMID: 36439412.
- Kochat V, Raman AT, Landers SM, Tang M, Schulz J, Terranova C, Landry JP, Bhalla AD, Beird HC, Wu CC, Jiang Y, Mao X, Lazcano R, Gite S, Ingram DR, Yi M, Zhang J, Keung EZ, Scally CP, Roland CL, Hunt KK, Feig BW, Futreal PA, Hwu P, Wang WL, Lazar AJ, Slopis JM, Wilson-Robles H, Wiener DJ, McCutcheon IE, Wustefeld-Janssens B, Rai K, Torres KE. Enhancer reprogramming in PRC2-deficient malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors induces a targetable de-differentiated state. Acta Neuropathol 142(3):565-590, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34283254.
- Keung EZ, Rajkot N, Torres KE, Somaiah N, Hunt KK, Feig BW, Scally CP, Ikoma N, Roland CL. Evaluating the impact of surveillance follow-up intervals in patients following resection of primary well-differentiated liposarcoma of the retroperitoneum. Ann Surg Oncol 28(1):570-575, 2021. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32409969.
- Callegaro D, Raut CP, Keung EZ, Kim T, Le Pechoux C, Martin-Broto J, Gronchi A, Swallow C, Gladdy R. Strategies for care of patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumor or soft tissue sarcoma during COVID-19 pandemic: A guide for surgical oncologists. J Surg Oncol 123(1):12-23, 2021. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33022754.
- Maitituoheti M, Keung EZ, Tang M, Yan L, Alam H, Han G, Singh AK, Raman AT, Terranova C, Sarkar S, Orouji E, Amin SB, Sharma S, Williams M, Samant NS, Dhamdhere M, Zheng N, Shah T, Shah A, Axelrad JB, Anvar NE, Lin YH, Jiang S, Chang EQ, Ingram DR, Wang WL, Lazar A, Lee MG, Muller F, Wang L, Ying H, Rai K. Enhancer reprogramming confers dependence on glycolysis and IGF signaling in KMT2D mutant melanoma. Cell Rep 33(3):108293, 2020. PMID: 33086062.
- Keung EZ, Burgess M, Salazar R, Parra ER, Rodrigues-Canales J, Bolejack V, Van Tine BA, Schuetze SM, Attia S, Riedel RF, Hu J, Okuno SH, Priebat DA, Movva S, Davis LE, Reed DR, Reuben A, Roland CL, Reinke D, Lazar AJ, Wang WL, Wargo JA, Tawbi HA. Correlative analyses of the SARC028 trial reveal an association between sarcoma-associated immune infiltrate and response to pembrolizumab. Clin Cancer Res 26(6):1258-1266, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 31900276.
- Helmink BA, Reddy SM, Gao J, Zhang S, Basar R, Thakur R, Yizhak K, Sade-Feldman M, Blando J, Han G, Gopalakrishnan V, Xi Y, Zhao H, Amaria RN, Tawbi HA, Cogdill AP, Liu W, LeBleu VS, Kugeratski FG, Patel S, Davies MA, Hwu P, Lee JE, Gershenwald JE, Lucci A, Arora R, Woodman S, Keung EZ, Gaudreau PO, Reuben A, Spencer CN, Burton EM, Haydu LE, Lazar AJ, Zapassodi R, Hudgens CW, Ledesma DA, Ong S, Bailey M, Warren S, Rao D, Krijgsman O, Rozeman EA, Peeper D, Blank CU, Schumacher TN, Butterfield LH, Zelazowska MA, McBride KM, Kalluri R, Allison J, Petitprez F, Fridman WH, Sautès-Fridman C, Hacohen N, Rezvani K, Sharma P, Tetzlaff MT, Wang L, Wargo JA. B cells and tertiary lymphoid structures promote immunotherapy response. Nature 577(7791):549-555, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 31942075.
- Petitprez F, de Reyniès A, Keung EZ, Chen TW, Sun CM, Calderaro J, Jeng YM, Hsiao LP, Lacroix L, Bougoüin A, Moreira M, Lacroix G, Natario I, Adam J, Lucchesi C, Laizet YH, Toulmonde M, Burgess MA, Bolejack V, Reinke D, Wani KM, Wang WL, Lazar AJ, Roland CL, Wargo JA, Italiano A, Sautès-Fridman C, Tawbi HA, Fridman WH. B cells are associated with survival and immunotherapy response in sarcoma. Nature 577(7791):556-560, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 31942077.
- Tahir SA, Gao J, Miura Y, Blando J, Tidwell RSS, Zhao H, Subudhi SK, Tawbi H, Keung E, Wargo J, Allison JP, Sharma P. Autoimmune antibodies correlate with immune checkpoint therapy-induced toxicities. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 116(44):22246-22251, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31611368.
- Chrisinger JSA, Al-Zaid T, Keung EZ, Leung C, Lin HY, Roland CL, Torres KE, Benjamin RS, Ingram DR, Khan S, Somaiah N, Amini B, Feig BW, Lazar AJ, Wang WL. The degree of sclerosis is associated with prognosis in well-differentiated liposarcoma of the retroperitoneum. J Surg Oncol 120(3):382-388, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31206726.
- Keung EZ, Chiang YJ, Cormier JN, Torres KE, Hunt KK, Feig BW, Roland CL. Treatment at low-volume hospitals is associated with reduced short-term and long-term outcomes for patients with retroperitoneal sarcoma. Cancer 124(23):4495-4503, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30317543.
- Keung EZ, Lazar AJ, Torres KE, Wang WL, Cormier JN, Ashleigh Guadagnolo B, Bishop AJ, Lin H, Hunt KK, Bird J, Lewis VO, Patel SR, Wargo JA, Somaiah N, Roland CL. Phase II study of neoadjuvant checkpoint blockade in patients with surgically resectable undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma and dedifferentiated liposarcoma. BMC Cancer 18(1):913, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30249211.
- Keung EZ, Ikoma N, Benjamin R, Wang WL, Lazar AJ, Feig BW. The clinical behavior of well differentiated liposarcoma can be extremely variable: A retrospective cohort study at a major sarcoma center. J Surg Oncol 117(8):1799-1805, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29723411.
- 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.
- Keung EZ, Tsai JW, Ali AM, Cormier JN, Bishop AJ, Guadagnolo BA, Torres KE, Somaiah N, Hung 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, Akdemir KC, Al Sannaa GA, Garnett J, Lev D, Torres KE, Lazar AJ, Rai K, Chin L. Increased H3K9me3 drives dedifferentiated phenotype via KLF6 repression in liposarcoma. J Clin Invest 125(8):2965-78, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26193637.
- Keung EZ, Hornick JL, Bertagnolli MM, Baldini EH, Raut CP. Predictors of outcomes in patients with primary retroperitoneal dedifferentiated liposarcoma undergoing surgery. J Am Coll Surg 218(2):206-17, 2014. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24315890.
- Iasonos A, Keung EZ, Zivanovic O, Mancari R, Peiretti M, Nucci M, George S, Colombo N, Carinelli S, Hensley ML, Raut CP. External validation of a prognostic nomogram for overall survival in women with uterine leiomyosarcoma. Cancer 119(10):1816-22, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23456762.
- Lazcano R, Barreto CM, Salazar R, Carapeto F, Traweek RS, Leung CH, Gite S, Mehta J, Ingram DR, Wani KM, Vu KT, Parra ER, Lu W, Zhou J, Witt RG, Cope B, Thirasastr P, Lin HY, Scally CP, Conley AP, Ratan R, Livingston JA, Zarzour AM, Ludwig J, Araujo D, Ravi V, Patel S, Benjamin R, Wargo J, Wistuba II, Somaiah N, Roland CL, Keung EZ, Solis L, Wang WL, Lazar AJ, Nassif EF. The immune landscape of undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma. Front Oncol 12:1008484. PMID: 36313661.
- Witt RG, Voss RK, Chiang YJ, Nguyen S, Scally CP, Lin PP, Torres KE, Moon BS, Satcher RL, Hunt KK, Bird JE, Feig BW, Lewis VO, Roland CL, Keung EZ. Practice Pattern Variability in the Management of Regional Lymph Node Metastasis in Extremity and Trunk Soft Tissue Sarcoma: A Survey of the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) and Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS) Membership. Annals of Surgical Oncology. PMID: 36723723.
- Nassif EF, Roland CL, Keung EZ. Reflections on the value of multidisciplinary oncology training by a medical oncologist. European Journal of Surgical Oncology. PMID: 36631346.
Invited Articles
- Gingrich AA, Nassif EF, Roland CL, Keung EZ. The landscape of immunotherapy for retroperitoneal sarcoma. Curr Oncol 30(2):2144-2158, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 36826126.
- Messina V, Cope B, Keung EZ, Fiore M. Management of skin sarcomas. Surg Oncol Clin N Am 31(3):511-525, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35715147.
- Keung EZ, Raut CP, Rutkowski P. The Landmark Series: Systemic Therapy for Resectable Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors. Ann Surg Oncol 27(10):3659-3671, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32734368.
- Keung EZ, Wargo JA. The current landscape of immune checkpoint inhibition for solid malignancies. Surg Oncol Clin N Am 28(3):369-386, 2019. PMID: 31079794.
- Keung EZ, Somaiah N. Overview of liposarcomas and their genomic landscape. Journal of Translational Genetics and Genomics 3(8), 2019.
- Keung EZ, Ukponmwan EU, Cogdill AP, Wargo JA. The rationale and emerging use of neoadjuvant immune checkpoint blockade for solid malignancies. Ann Surg Oncol 25(7):1814-1827, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29500764.
- Keung EZ, Raut CP. Management of gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Surg Clin North Am 97(2):437-452, 2017. PMID: 28325196.
- Keung EZ, Fairweather M, Raut CP. Surgical management of metastatic disease. Surg Clin North Am 96(5):1175-92, 2016. PMID: 27542649.
- Keung EZ, Rai K. Discovering a novel tumor suppressor in liposarcoma using a systematic epigenomic approach. Molecular & Cellular Oncology 3(3), 2016. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 27314083.
- Keung EZ, Fairweather M, Raut CP. The role of surgery in metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Curr Treat Options Oncol 17(2):8, 2016. PMID: 26820287.
- Fairweather M, Keung EZ, Raut CP. Neoadjuvant therapy for soft tissue sarcoma. Oncology 30(1):99-106, 2016.
- Nassif EF, Keung EZ, Thirasastr P, Somaiah N. Myxoid liposarcomas: systemic treatment options. Current Treatment Options in Oncology.
Grant & Contract Support
| Title: | Evaluating immune-based subtyping as predictor of response to neoadjuvant immune checkpoint blockade in patients with resectable soft tissue sarcoma |
| Funding Source: | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Sarcoma SPORE Career Enhancement Program, QuadW Foundation |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Identification and validation of epigenetic targets across the spectrum of liposarcoma variants |
| Funding Source: | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Young Investigator Award |
| Funding Source: | Society of Surgical Oncology |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Evaluating the chromatin accessibility landscape as a driver of clinical behavior in primary treatment naïve liposarcoma |
| Funding Source: | Sarcoma Foundation of America, STL Cure Sarcoma Research Award |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Early-Stage Surgeon-Scientist Program |
| Funding Source: | National Cancer Institute |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Rosenberg Scholar Award |
| Funding Source: | Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |