Maria Alejandra Zarzour, M.D.
Department of Sarcoma Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Associate Professor, Department of Sarcoma Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Research Interests
I serve as a Master Clinician within my department and my focus is on patient care and expertise in treating patients with sarcoma. I am not the lead on any active research projects within my division. I do not have any ongoing research projects at this time. I am a collaborator on all open protocols within my department. When my schedule allows, I do look forward to investing time in a project that will impact the care of sarcomas. I have training in Clinical Safety and Effectiveness and hope to one day incorporate this into a meaningful project for patient care.
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2006 | University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA, MD, Internal Medicine |
| 2000 | Rice University, Houston, TX, USA, BS, Biology |
Postgraduate Training
| 2010-2013 | Clinical Fellowship, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX |
| 2009-2010 | Chief Resident, Internal Medicine, University of Texas Medical School, Houston, TX |
| 2006-2009 | Clinical Residency, Internal Medicine, University of Texas Medical School, Houston, TX |
Board Certifications
| 2013 | Medical Oncology |
| 2010 | Internal Medicine |
Experience & Service
Academic Appointments
Assistant Professor, Department of Sarcoma Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2013 - 2020
Clinical Specialist, Department of General Internal Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2010 - 2013
Instructor, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2009 - 2010
Honors & Awards
| 2010 | Herbert L. Fred Award |
| 2007 | Outstanding Intern of the Year Award, Department of Internal Medicine, UT Medical School at Houston |
Professional Memberships
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Carmagnani Pestana R, Moyers JT, Roszik J, Sen S, Hong DS, Naing A, Herzog CE, Fu S, Piha-Paul SA, Rodon J, Yap TA, Karp DD, Tsimberidou AM, Pant S, Zarzour MA, Ratan R, Ravi V, Benjamin RS, Lazar AJ, Wang WL, Daw N, Gill JB, Harrison DJ, Lewis VO, Roland CL, Patel SR, Livingston JA, Somaiah N, Ludwig JA, Conley AP, Hamerschlak N, Gorlick R, Meric-Bernstam F, Subbiah V. Impact of Biomarker-Matched Therapies on Outcomes in Patients with Sarcoma Enrolled in Early-Phase Clinical Trials (SAMBA 101). Clin Cancer Res 29(9):OF1-OF11. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37058010.
- 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 12(4):4282-4293, 2023. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36151848.
- Moyers JT, Pestana RC, Roszik J, Hong DS, Naing A, Fu S, Piha-Paul S, Yap TA, Karp D, Rodon J, Livingston A, Zarzour MA, Ravi V, Patel S, Benjamin RS, Ludwig J, Herzog C, Ratan R, Somaiah N, Conley A, Gorlick R, Meric-Bernstam F, Subbiah V. Examining Stripes on a Herd of Zebras: Impact of Genomic Matching for Ultrarare Sarcomas in Phase 1 Clinical Trials (SAMBA 102). Clin Cancer Res 29(2):401-409, 2023. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36288393.
- Somaiah N, Conley AP, Parra ER, Lin H, Amini B, Solis Soto L, Salazar R, Barreto C, Chen H, Gite S, Haymaker C, Nassif EF, Bernatchez C, Mitra A, Livingston JA, Ravi V, Araujo DM, Benjamin R, Patel S, Zarzour MA, Sabir S, Lazar AJ, Wang WL, Daw NC, Zhou X, Roland CL, Cooper ZA, Rodriguez-Canales J, Futreal A, Soria JC, Wistuba II, Hwu P. Durvalumab plus tremelimumab in advanced or metastatic soft tissue and bone sarcomas: a single-centre phase 2 trial. Lancet Oncol 23(9):1156-1166, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35934010.
- 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.
- 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, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 36313661.
- Parkes A, Wang WL, Patel S, Leung CH, Lin H, Conley AP, Somaiah N, Araujo DM, Zarzour M, Livingston JA, Ludwig J, Roland CL, Ravi V, Benjamin RS, Ratan R. Outcomes of systemic therapy in metastatic phyllodes tumor of the breast. Breast Cancer Res Treat 186(3):871-882, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33575859.
- Bishop AJ, Landry JP, Roland CL, Ratan R, Feig BW, Moon BS, Zarzour MA, Wang WL, Lazar AJ, Lewis VO, Torres KE, Guadagnolo BA. Certain risk factors for patients with desmoid tumors warrant reconsideration of local therapy strategies. Cancer 126(14):3265-3273, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32343846.
- Groisberg R, Roszik J, Conley AP, Lazar AJ, Portal DE, Hong DS, Naing A, Herzog CE, Somaiah N, Zarzour MA, Patel S, Brown RE, Subbiah V. Genomics, morphoproteomics, and treatment patterns of alveolar soft part sarcoma patients and response to multiple experimental therapies. Mol Cancer Ther 19(5):1165-1172, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32127467.
- Parkes A, Urquiola E, Bhosale P, Lin H, Watson K, Wang WL, Feig B, Torres K, Roland CL, Conley AP, Zarzour M, Livingston JA, Ratan R, Ludwig J, Araujo DM, Ravi V, Benjamin RS, Patel S, Somaiah N. PET/CT Imaging as a Diagnostic Tool in Distinguishing Well-Differentiated versus Dedifferentiated Liposarcoma. Sarcoma 2020:8363986, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32565716.
- Bishop AJ, Zarzour MA, Ratan R, Torres KE, Feig BW, Wang WL, Lazar AJ, Moon BS, Roland CL, Guadagnolo BA. Long-term outcomes for patients with desmoid fibromatosis treated with radiation therapy: a 10-year update and re-evaluation of the role of radiation therapy for younger patients. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 103(5):1167-1174, 2019. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30552963.
- Wagner MJ, Gopalakrishnan V, Ravi V, Livingston JA, Conley AP, Araujo D, Somaiah N, Zarzour MA, Ratan R, Wang WL, Patel SR, Lazar A, Ludwig JA, Benjamin RS. Vincristine, Ifosfamide, and Doxorubicin for Initial Treatment of Ewing Sarcoma in Adults. Oncologist 22(10):1271-1277, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28710342.
- Schvartsman G, Wagner MJ, Amini B, Zobniw CM, Trinh VA, Barbo AG, Lin HY, Wang WL, Conley AP, Ravi V, Araujo DM, Zarzour MA, Benjamin RS, Patel S, Somaiah N. Treatment patterns, efficacy and toxicity of regorafenib in gastrointestinal stromal tumour patients. Sci Rep 7(1):9519, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28842575.
- Subbiah V, Holmes O, Gowen K, Spritz D, Amini B, Wang WL, Schrock AB, Meric-Bernstam F, Zinner R, Piha-Paul S, Zarzour M, Elvin JA, Erlich RL, Stockman DL, Vergilio JA, Suh JH, Stephens PJ, Miller V, Ross JS, Ali SM. Activity of c-Met/ALK Inhibitor Crizotinib and Multi-Kinase VEGF Inhibitor Pazopanib in Metastatic Gastrointestinal Neuroectodermal Tumor Harboring EWSR1-CREB1 Fusion. Oncology 91(6):348-353, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27764830.
Abstracts
- Elise F. Nassif, Hannah Beird, Akash Mitra, Bin Liu, Kevin McBride, Wei-Lien Wang, Davis Ingram, Khalida Wani, Emily Z. Keung, Rare Tumor Initiative Team, Patient Mosaic Team, Alex Zarzour, Anthony Conley, Dejka Araujo, J. Andrew Livingston, Ravin Ratan, Shreyaskumar Patel, Vinod Ravi, Robert Benjamin, Alexander J. Lazar, Christina L. Roland, P. Andrew Futreal, Neeta Somaiah. Histology Specific Intratumoral B-Cell Biology in Alveolar Soft-Part Sarcomas (ASPS) in Response to Durvalumab-Tremelimumab (D-T). CTOS Annual Meeting, 2023.
- J Andrew Livingston, Jeffrey Cloutier, Anthony P. Conley, Richard Gorlick, Robert S. Benjamin, Kristi Posey, Elise Nassif, M. Alejandra Zarzour, Dejka Araujo, Ravin Ratan, Vinod Ravi, Neeta Somaiah, Heather Lin, Cheuk Hong Leung, Alexander J. Lazar, Valerea O. Lewis, Patrick Lin, Behrang Amini, Raul F. Valenzuela, Shreyaskumar Patel, Wei-Lien Wang. Chemotherapy and Prognostic Significance of Extent of Dedifferentiation in Dedifferentiated Parosteal Osteosarcoma. CTOS Annual Meeting, 2023.
- Madeline B. Torres, Cheuk Hong Leung, Emily Keung, Chun Feng, Hannah Beird, Alex Zarzour, Chris Scally, Kelly Hunt, Anthony Conley, Andrew Bishop, B. Ashleigh Guadagnolo, Ahsan Farooqi, Devarati Mitra, Dejka Araujo, Andrew Livingston, Ravin Ratan, Shreyaskumar Patel, Vinod Ravi, Alex Lazar, Christina L Roland, Neeta Somaiah, Elise F. Nassif. Dedifferentiated Liposarcomas Treated With Immune Checkpoint Blockade: The MD Anderson Experience. CTOS Annual Meeting, 2023.
- Alicia Gingrich, Hannah Beird, Randy Chu, Ray Traweek, Brandon Cope, Emily Z. Keung, Chris P. Scally, Kelly K. Hunt, Keila E. Torres, Christina L. Roland, Sabitha PrabhakaranRare Tumor Initiative Team, Patient Mosaic Team, P. Andrewy Futreal, Andrew Bishop, B. Ashleigh Guadagnolo, Devarati Mitra, Ahsan Farooqi, Dejka Araujo, Alex M. Alejandra Zarzour, J. Andrewy Livingston, Anthony Conley, Shreyaskumar Patel, Vinod Ravi, Neetah Somaiah, Alexander J. Lazar, Ravin Ratan, Elise F Nassif. Leiomyosarcoma intratumoral macrophage infiltrates are associated with distinct clinical and genomic presentations. CTOS Annual Meeting, 2023.
- Ryan A. Denu, MD, PhD, Cissimol P. Joseph, Elizabeth S. Urquiola, Precious S. Byrd, Ravin Ratan, MD, MEd, Maria Alejandra Zarzour, MD, Anthony P. Conley, MD, Dejka Araujo, MD, Vinod Ravi, MD, MS, MBA, Shreyaskumar Patel, MD, Wei-Lien Wang, MD, Alexander J. Lazar, MD, PhD, Neeta Somaiah, MD. Clinico-Genomic Analysis of KIT/PDGFRA/SDH Wild-Type Gatrointestinal Stromal Tumors Identifies Potential Driver Mutations. CTOS Annual Meeting, 2023.
- Van Tine B, Abbate C, Shepard R, Wasyl E, Waymack JP, Priebe W, Zarzour A, Chawla S, Weiss S, Liebner D. A Phase 1B/2 Study of Liposomal Annamycin (ANN) in Subjects With Previously Treated Soft-Tissue Sarcomas (STS) With Pulmonary Metastases. CTOS Annual Meeting, 2023.
- Ryan A. Denu, Richard K. Yang, Alexander J. Lazar, Shalin Shreyaskumar Patel, Valerae Lewis, Jason Roszik, J. Andrew Livingston, Wei-Lien Wang, Kenna R. Shaw, Ravin Ratan, Maria Zarzour, Justin Byrd, Shaan M. Raza, Kadir C. Akdemir, Jordi Rodon Ahnert, Vivek Subbiah, Shreyaskumar Patel, Anthony Conley. Clinico-Genomic Profiling of Convetional and Dedifferentiated Chondrosarcomas Reveals TP53 Mutation to be Associated With Worse Outcomes. CTOS Annual Meeting, 2023.
- Prapassorn Thirasastr, Heather Y. Lin, Elise F Nassif, Wei-Lien Wang, Dejka M. Araujo, Robert S. Benjamin, Anthony Paul Conley, J Andrew Andrew Livingston, Joseph Aloysius Ludwig, Shreyaskumar Patel, Ravin Ratan, Vinod Ravi, Maria Alejandra Zarzour, Xiao Zhou, Neeta Somaiah. Clinical implications of recurring mutations in myxoid liposarcoma (MLS). ASCO Annual Meeting, 2023.
- Prapassorn Thirasastr, Cissimol Joseph, Dejka M. Araujo, Robert S. Benjamin, Anthony Paul Conley, J Andrew Andrew Livingston, Joseph Aloysius Ludwig, Shreyaskumar Patel, Ravin Ratan, Vinod Ravi, Maria Alejandra Zarzour, Xiao Zhou, Neeta Somaiah. Outcomes in late-line systemic treatment in GISTs: Does sequence matter?. ASCO Annual Meeting, 2022.
- Michael Nakazawa, J Andrew Andrew Livingston, Andrew Justin Bishop, Maria Alejandra Zarzour, Neeta Somaiah, Ravin Ratan, Jonathan Benjamin Gill, Elizabeth Urquiola, Kristi Posey, Beverly Ashleigh Guadagnolo, Richard Greg Gorlick, Robert S. Benjamin, Shreyaskumar Patel, Anthony Paul Conley. Clinical characteristics and outcomes of adult alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS) patients on front-line therapies: An MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) case series. ASCO Annual Meeting, 2022.
- Neeta Somaiah, J Andrew Andrew Livingston, Vinod Ravi, Heather Y. Lin, Behrang Amini, Luisa Maren Solis, Anthony Paul Conley, Maria Alejandra Zarzour, Joseph Aloysius Ludwig, Ravin Ratan, Wei-Lien Wang, Dejka M. Araujo, Shreyaskumar Patel, Christina Lynn Roland, Alexander J. Lazar, Richard Greg Gorlick, Edwin R. Parra, Cara L. Haymaker. A phase II multi-arm study to test the efficacy of oleclumab and durvalumab in specific sarcoma subtypes. ASCO Annual Meeting, 2022.
- Aparna Subramaniam, Jing Zheng, Sudha Yalamanchili, Anthony Paul Conley, Ravin Ratan, Neeta Somaiah, J Andrew Livingston, Maria Alejandra Zarzour, Dejka M. Araujo, Robert S. Benjamin, Shreyaskumar Patel, Vinod Ravi. Modulation of YAP/ TAZ by statins to improve survival in epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE). ASCO Annual Meeting, 2020.
- Neeta Somaiah, Anthony Paul Conley, Heather Y. Lin, Behrang Amini, Sharjeel H Sabir, Dejka M. Araujo, Robert S. Benjamin, J Andrew Livingston, Shreyaskumar Patel, Ravin Ratan, Vinod Ravi, Maria Alejandra Zarzour, Wei-Lien Wang, Taylor Tate, Christina Lynn Roland, Najat C. Daw, Andrew Futreal, Alexander J. Lazar, Ignacio Ivan Wistuba, Patrick Hwu. A phase II multi-arm study of durvalumab and tremelimumab for advanced or metastatic sarcomas. ASCO Annual Meeting, 2020.
- Amanda Marie Parkes, Shreyaskumar Patel, Cheuk Hong Leung, Heather Y. Lin, Anthony Paul Conley, Neeta Somaiah, Dejka M. Araujo, Maria Alejandra Zarzour, J Andrew Livingston, Joseph A. Ludwig, Vinod Ravi, Robert S. Benjamin, Ravin Ratan. Systemic therapy regimen outcomes in metastatic phyllodes tumors of the breast. ASCO Annual Meeting, 2018.
- Michael Nathenson, Anthony Paul Conley, Ravin Ratan, Maria Alejandra Zarzour, Neeta Somaiah, Dejka M. Araujo, Shreyaskumar Patel, Robert S. Benjamin, Vinod Ravi. Efficacy of front-line chemotherapy for recurrent/metastatic adenosarcoma of the uterus. ASCO Annual Meeting, 2016.
- Anthony Paul Conley, Winston W. Huh, Jason Roszik, Douglas James Harrison, Andrea Anita Hayes-Jordan, Kathleen A Kehr, Ravin Ratan, Neeta Somaiah, Vinod Ravi, Dejka M. Araujo, Maria Alejandra Zarzour, Joseph A. Ludwig, Wei-Lien Wang, Robert S. Benjamin, Shreyaskumar Patel. Clinical characteristics of adult alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS) patients (Pts) on front-line therapies: An MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) series. ASCO Annual Meeting, 2016.
- Vinod Ravi, Naveen Ramesh, Madhavi Patnana, Anthony Paul Conley, Neeta Somaiah, Maria Alejandra Zarzour, Davis Ingram, Latasha Little, Alexei Protopopov, Alexander J. F. Lazar, Dejka M. Araujo, Keila E Torres, Shreyaskumar Patel, Jianhua Zhang, Siraj M. Ali, Vincent A. Miller, Philip J. Stephens, Robert S. Benjamin, Patrick Hwu, Andrew Futreal. Whole-exome and targeted sequencing of angiosarcomas: Target identification and treatment implications. ASCO Annual Meeting, 2014.
- Sarah Mougalian, Jennifer Wang, Maria Zarzour, Doris Quinn, Alyssa Rieber. Feasibility and savings of a suspicion of cancer clinic at a large county hospital. ASCO Annual Meeting, 2012.
- H. R. Carlson, S. Karanth, M. A. Zarzour, R. Lenzi, M. N. Raber, G. R. Varadhachary. Patients with carcinoma of unknown primary with isolated carcinomatosis on presentation: Clinicopathologic features and survival data. ASCO Annual Meeting, 2011.