Emily Z. Keung, MD, AM, FACS, FSSO
Department of Surgical Oncology, Division of Surgery
About Dr. Emily Z. Keung
Dr. Keung is Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Department of Surgical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her clinical practice focuses on the care of patients with soft tissue sarcomas and cutaneous malignancies. 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 and fellowship in Complex General Surgical Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her primary research focus has been to investigate the role of immunotherapy for the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma and melanoma and to study the role of the epigenome in soft tissue sarcoma.
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Surgical Oncology, Division of Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 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
| 2020 | 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 |
Experience & Service
Administrative Appointments/Responsibilities
Administrative Fellow, Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2018 - 2019
Education Fellow, Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2017 - 2018
Institutional Committee Activities
Member, OR Subcommittee, 2021 - Present
Member, Academic Leadership Team, 2020 - Present
Senator, Faculty Senate Committee, 2020 - 2023
Member, Division of Surgery Basic and Translational Science Research Committee, 2019 - 2020
Consultantships
Faculty Consultant, MD Anderson Physicians Network, Houston, Texas, 2019 - Present
Honors & Awards
| 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 |
Professional Memberships
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- 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.
- Mitra D, Ologun G, Keung EZ, Goepfert RP, Amaria RN, Ross MI, Gershenwald JE, Lucci A, Fisher SB, Davies MA, Lee JE, Bishop AJ, Farooqi AS, Wargo J, Guadagnolo BA. Nodal recurrence is a primary driver of early relapse for patients with sentinel lymph node positive melanoma in the modern therapeutic era. Ann Surg Oncol 28(7):3480-3489, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33856603.
- Landry JP, Schertz KL, Chiang YJ, Bhalla AD, Yi M, Keung EZ, Scally CP, Feig BW, Hunt KK, Roland CL, Guadagnolo A, Bishop AJ, Lazar AJ, Slopis JM, McCutcheon IE, Torres KE. Comparison of cancer prevalence in patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 at an academic cancer center vs in the general population from 1985 to 2020. JAMA Netw Open 4(3):e210945, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33734413.
- 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.
- Nassif EF, Maloney N, Conley AP, Keung EZ. Disseminated coccidioidomycosis following COVID-19 mimicking metastatic thoracic relapse of well-differentiated liposarcoma: a case report. Front Med (Lausanne) 8:715939, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34589500.
- 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, Gershenwald JE. Clinicopathological features, staging, and current approaches to treatment in high-risk resectable melanoma. Journal of the National Cancer Institute 112(9):875-885, 2020. PMID: 32061122.
- Tzeng CW, Tran Cao HS, Roland CL, Teshome M, Bednarski BK, Ikoma N, Graham PH, Keung EZ, Scally CP, Katz MHG, Gershenwald JE, Lee JE, Vauthey JN. Surgical decision-making and prioritization for cancer patients at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic: a multidisciplinary approach. Surg Oncol 34:182-185, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32891326.
- Keung EZ, Asare EA, Chiang YJ, Prakash LR, Rajkot N, Torres KE, Hunt KK, Feig BW, Cormier JN, Roland CL, Katz MHG, Lee JE, Tzeng CD. Postoperative pancreatic fistula after distal pancreatectomy for non-pancreas retroperitoneal tumor resection. Am J Surg 220(1):140-146, 2020. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31843190.
- 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, Gershenwald JE. The eighth edition American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) melanoma staging system: implications for melanoma treatment and care. Expert Rev Anticancer Ther 18(8):775-784, 2018. PMID: 29923435.
- 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.
- Fiziev P, Akdemir KC, Miller JP, Keung EZ, Samant NS, Sharma S, Natale CA, Terranova CJ, Maitituoheti M, Amin SB, Martinez-Ledesma E, Dhamdhere M, Axelrad JB, Shah A, Cheng CS, Mahadeshwar H, Seth S, Barton MC, Protopopov A, Tsai KY, Davies MA, Garcia BA, Amit I, Chin L, Ernst J, Rai K. Systematic epigenomic analysis reveals chromatin states associated with melanoma progression. Cell Rep 19(4):875-889, 2017. PMID: 28445736.
- Rai K, Akdemir KC, Kwong LN, Fiziev P, Wu CJ, Keung EZ, Sharma S, Samant NS, Williams M, Axelrad JB, Shah A, Yang D, Grimm EA, Barton MC, Milton DR, Heffernan TP, Horner JW, Ekmekcioglu S, Lazar AJ, Ernst J, Chin L. Dual roles of RNF2 in melanoma progression. Cancer Discov 5(12):1314-27, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26450788.
- 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.
- Keung EZ, Liu X, Nuzhad A, Adams C, Ashley SW, Askari R. Immunocompromised status in patients with necrotizing soft-tissue infection. JAMA Surg 148(5):419-26, 2013. PMID: 23677405.
- 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.
- Keung EZ, Liu X, Nuzhad A, Rabinowits G, and Patel V. In-hospital and long-term outcomes after percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy placement in patients with malignancy. J Am Coll Surg 215(6):777-786, 2012. PMID: 22999329.
- Schorge JO, Muto MG, Lee SJ, Huang LW, Welch WR, Bell DA, Keung EZ, Berkowitz RS, and Mok SC.. BRCA1-related papillary serous carcinoma of the peritoneum has a unique molecular pathogenesis. Cancer Research 60:1361-1364, 2000. PMID: 10728699.
Invited Articles
- 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, Balch CM, Gershenwald JE, Halpern AC. The revised AJCC 8th edition melanoma staging system. The Melanoma Letter 36(1), 2018.
- 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.
Editorials
- Keung EZ, Roland CL. Window-of-opportunity trials: The road forward in soft tissue sarcoma and beyond. Ann Surg Oncol 26(5):1188-1189, 2019. PMID: 30680475.
- Keung EZ, Roland CL. Accurate and reproducible diagnosis of canine soft tissue sarcoma using mass spectrometry: A step in the right direction. Cancer Cell 34(5):697-699, 2018. PMID: 30423292.
- Keung EZ, Tawbi HA. Engineered T cells in synovial sarcoma: persistence pays off!. Cancer Discov 8(8):914-917, 2018. PMID: 30076141.
- Keung EZ, Ashley SW. The appendix: A culprit for BRCA1-associated intraperitoneal cancer?. JAMA 148(3):291, 2013.
Book Chapters
- Keung EZ, Naylor MF. Practical management of melanoma. In: Skin Cancer Management - A Practical Approach. 2nd. Springer: New York, 2021.
- Keung EZ, Gershenwald JE, Kirkwood JM, Scolyer RA, Sondak V, Thompson JF, Balch CM. Melanoma prognosis and staging. In: Cutaneous Melanoma. 6th. Cutaneous Melanoma: New York, 2020.
- Keung EZ, Kirkwood JM, Sondak V, Wargo JA, Amaria RN. Neoadjuvant therapy. In: Cutaneous Melanoma. 6th. Springer: New York, 2020.
- Keung EZ, Grubbs EG. Defining the study cohort: inclusion and exclusion criteria. In: Success in Academic Surgery: Clinical Trials. Springer, 2020.
- Mahvi DA, Keung EZ, Raut CP. Multimodality therapy for metastatic gastrointestinal stomal tumor. In: Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors. Springer: New York, 2016.
- Cope B, Witt R, Keung EZ. Merkel cell carcinoma. In: The MD Anderson Surgical Oncology Manual. 7th. Wolters Kluwer.
- Safa H, Mattei J, Bishop AJ, Keung EZ, Yadugiri S, Davies MA, Gitza Oliva IC. Melanoma. In: The MD Anderson Manual of Medical Oncology. 4th. McGraw-Hill.
- Keung EZ, Pollack RE, Hunt KK, Torres KE. Forequarter amputation. In: Master Techniques in Surgery: Breast Surgery. 2nd. Wolters Kluwer: Netherlands.
- Keung EZ, Gershenwald JE. Clinicopathological features, staging, and current approaches to treatment in high-risk resectable melanoma. In: Cancer of the Skin. 3rd. Elsevier: Amsterdam.
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 |