Michael S Nakazawa, MD, PhD
Department of Sarcoma Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Sarcoma Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Assistant Professor, Sarcoma Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2017 | University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, MD |
| 2015 | University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, Ph.D. in Medicine |
| 2008 | Columbia University, New York, New York, US, BS in Engineering and Applied Science |
Postgraduate Training
| 2020-2023 | Clinical Fellowship, Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas |
| 2017-2020 | Clinical Residency, Internal Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, California |
Licenses & Certifications
| 2023 | Medical Oncology Board Certification |
| 2021 | Texas Medical License |
| 2020 | Internal Medicine Board Certification |
Experience & Service
Administrative Appointments/Responsibilities
Associate Medical Director, Sarcoma, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, 2026 - Present
Honors & Awards
| 2025 - Present | Early-Career Clinical and Translational Research Group Program Award, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2024 - 2026 | K12 Calabresi Scholar Program Award, NCI |
| 2020 | Commendation for Excellence in Medical Student teaching, UCLA |
| 2016 | Rose Meadow Levinson Memorial Prize – Cancer research award, University of Pennsylvania |
| 2004 - 2008 | Columbia University Dean’s List, Columbia University |
Professional Memberships
Selected Presentations & Talks
Local Presentations
- 2023. Rational Drug Development through Improved Molecular Understanding of Soft Tissue Sarcomas. Invited. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Division of Cancer Medicine Grand Rounds. Houston, Texas, US.
Regional Presentations
- 2023. Rational Drug Development through Improved Molecular Understanding of Soft-Tissue Sarcomas. Invited. Division of Cancer Medicine Grand Rounds. Portland, Oregon, US.
International Presentations
- 2023. CONDOR Microenvironment and immunotherapy of sarcomas. Conference. CONDOR Microenvironment and immunotherapy of sarcomas. Bordeaux, FR.
Grant & Contract Support
| Date: | 2026 - 2029 |
| Title: | Defining and Targeting Matrix-mediated Resistance to Immune Checkpoint Therapy in Soft-tissue Sarcomas |
| Funding Source: | CANCER PREVENTION RESEARCH INST OF TX |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | RP270357 |
| Date: | 2026 - Present |
| Title: | Pilot study of Ivonescimab in advanced/metastatic cutaneous angiosarcoma |
| Funding Source: | Summit Therapeutics |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2025 - Present |
| Title: | Early-Career Clinical and Translational Research Group Award |
| Funding Source: | MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2025 - Present |
| Title: | “A Phase 2 Trial of Zanzalintinib Combined with Pembrolizumab in Select Soft Tissue Sarcoma Subtypes” |
| Funding Source: | Exelixis |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2024 - 2026 |
| Title: | A Phase 2 Biomarker Selected Study of Camonsertib in Advanced/Metastatic DDR-Deficient Uterine Leiomyosarcoma |
| Funding Source: | NIH K12 Calabresi Scholar Program |
| Role: | PI |
| ID: | FP00024423 |
| Date: | 2022 - 2024 |
| Title: | Detecting and Intervening on Rare Pre-Existing Resistant Subclones to BRAF/MEK Inhibitors in Non-Uveal Melanoma |
| Funding Source: | Conquer Cancer Young Investigator Award |
| Role: | PI |
| Date: | 2014 - 2015 |
| Title: | Epigenetic re-expression of HIF-2alpha suppresses soft tissue sarcoma growth |
| Funding Source: | Abramson Cancer Center Sarcoma Pilot Grant |
| Role: | PI |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Y N VG, de Groot E, Loftin K, Knighton B, Ledesma D, Hudgens C, Shamsutdinova D, Ali M, Ju Z, Xiao M, Kannan T, Fontenot G, Nakazawa MS, Thomas M, Wani K, Stephan C, Aung PP, Kwong LN, Roszik J, Akbani R, Kossenkov A, Rebecca VW, Sullivan RJ, Herlyn M, Davies MA. Personalized targeting of BCL2 family proteins overcomes acquired resistance to BRAF-MEK inhibitors in preclinical melanoma. Nat Commun, 2026. e-Pub 2026. PMID: 42362544.
- Baldi, GG, Giani, C, Ljevar, S, Denu, RA, Napolitano, A, Han, I, Brunello, A, Bhadri, V, Sebio, A, Andelkovic, V, Campos, F, Scanferla, R, Abreu, MH, Desar, IM, Ogura, K, Wong, DD, Bae, S, Bakshi, S, Lefler, DS, Marquina, G, Mazzocca, A, Nakazawa, MS, Thway, K, Kim, HS, Chiusole, B, Connolly, E, Terés, R, Antonescu, C, Bellan, E, Bovée, JV, Davis, JL, P. Dei Tos, A, Di Blasi, E, Lazar, A, Sbaraglia, M, Schaefer, IM, Taverna, SM, Gronchi, A, Miceli, R, Chen, TW, Stacchiotti, S. Pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma, outcomes of patients with advanced disease treated with systemic agents. European Journal of Cancer 238, 2026. e-Pub 2026. PMID: 41819027.
- Giani C, Baldi GG, Ljevar S, Denu RA, Andelkovic V, Han I, Brunello A, Napolitano A, Bhadri VA, Scanferla R, Garcia AS, Abreu MH, Campos F, Ogura K, Wong DD, Bae S, Marquina G, Mazzocca A, Yang V, Nakazawa MS, Kim HS, Chiusole B, Thway K, Antonescu C, Bellan E, Bovee JVMG, Davis JL, Dei Tos AP, Di Blasi E, Lazar AJ, Sbaraglia M, Schaefer IM, Taverna S, Chen TW, Miceli R, Gronchi A, Stacchiotti S. International multicenter retrospective study on pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma (P-RMS), a PUSH platform study: outcome of primary localized disease. ESMO Open 11(2):106044, 2026. e-Pub 2026. PMID: 41564817.
- Traweek, R, Zoghbi, M, Segura Lazcano, R, Cope, B, Bishop, AJ, Farooqi, AS, Mitra, D, Yoder, A, Guadagnolo, BA, Ingram, D, Wani, K, Shamsutdinova, D, Lazar, A, Wang, W, Scally, CP, Keung, EZ, Torres, KE, Hunt, KK, Ratan, R, Livingston, JA, Nakazawa, MS, Araujo, DM, Patel, S, Ravi, V, Conley, AP, Zarzour, MA, Somaiah, N, Roland, CL, Nassif, EF. Hyalinization-based pathologic response and immune infiltration following neoadjuvant radiotherapy with or without immune-checkpoint blockade in localized undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma. ESMO Open 10(7), 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 40561658.
- Ginn MP, Denu RA, Ingram DR, Wani KM, Lazar AJ, Harrison DJ, Nakazawa MS, Conley AP, Patel S, Livingston JA. TFCP2 Fusion-Positive Rhabdomyosarcomas: A Report of 10 Cases and a Review of the Literature. Cancers (Basel) 17(9), 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 40361368.
- Torres MB, Leung CH, Zoghbi M, Lazcano R, Ingram D, Wani K, Keung EZ, Zarzour MA, Scally CP, Hunt KK, Conley A, Bishop AJ, Guadagnolo BA, Farooqi A, Mitra D, Yoder AK, Nakazawa MS, Araujo D, Livingston A, Ratan R, Patel S, Ravi V, Lazar AJ, Roland CL, Somaiah N, Nassif Haddad EF. Dedifferentiated liposarcomas treated with immune checkpoint blockade: the MD Anderson experience. Front Immunol 16:1567736, 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 40370451.
- Nasr LF, Zoghbi M, Lazcano R, Nakazawa M, Bishop AJ, Farooqi A, Mitra D, Guadagnolo BA, Benjamin R, Patel S, Ravi V, Araujo DM, Livingston A, Zarzour MA, Conley AP, Ratan R, Somaiah N, Lazar AJ, Roland C, Keung EZ, Nassif Haddad EF. High-Grade Pleomorphic Sarcomas Treated with Immune Checkpoint Blockade: The MD Anderson Cancer Center Experience. Cancers (Basel) 16(9), 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38730715.
- Denu RA, Joseph CP, Urquiola ES, Byrd PS, Yang RK, Ratan R, Zarzour MA, Conley AP, Araujo DM, Ravi V, Nassif Haddad EF, Nakazawa MS, Patel S, Wang W, Lazar AJ, Somaiah N. Utility of Clinical Next Generation Sequencing Tests in KIT/PDGFRA/SDH Wild-Type Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors. Cancers (Basel), 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38730662.
- Nakazawa MS, Silverman IM, Rimkunas V, Veloso A, Glodzik D, Johnson A, Ohsumi TK, Patel SR, Conley AP, Roland CL, Soliman PT, Beird HC, Wu CC, Ingram DR, Lazcano R, Song D, Wani KM, Lazar AJ, Yap TA, Wang WL, Livingston JA. Loss of the DNA Repair Gene RNase H2 Identifies a Unique Subset of DDR-Deficient Leiomyosarcomas. Mol Cancer Ther, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38561019.
- Thirasastr, P, Sutton, TL, Joseph, CP, Lin, Y, Amini, B, Mayo, SC, Araujo, DM, Benjamin, RS, Conley, AP, Livingston, JA, Ludwig, JA, Patel, S, Ratan, R, Ravi, V, Zarzour, MA, Nassif Haddad, EF, Nakazawa, MS, Zhou, X, Heinrich, MC, Somaiah, N. Outcomes of Late-Line Systemic Treatment in GIST. Cancers 16(5), 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38473266.
- Nakazawa, MS, Livingston, JA, Zarzour, MA, Bishop, AJ, Ratan, R, Ludwig, JA, Araujo, DM, Somaiah, N, Ravi, V, Nassif, EF, Roland, CL, Lazar, A, Guadagnolo, BA, Harrison, DJ, Benjamin, RS, Patel, S, Conley, AP. Clinical characteristics and outcomes of adult alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma patients on first-line systemic therapies. Rare Tumors 16, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 39105190.
- Beird H*, Wu C*, Nakazawa MS, Ingram D, Daniele J, Little L, Daw NB, Wani K, Lazcano R, Song X, Gumbs C, Zhang J, Rubin B, Conley AP, Flanaga A, Lazar AJ, FA*. Complete loss of TP53 and RB1 is associated with complex genome and low immune infiltrate in pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma. HGG Adv 4(4), 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37593416.
- Gade TPF, Tucker E, Nakazawa MS, Hunt SJ, Wong W, Krock B, Weber CN, Nadolski GJ, Clark TWI, Soulen MC, Furth EE, Winkler JD, Amaravadi RK, Simon MC. Ischemia Induces Quiescence and Autophagy Dependence in Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Radiology 283(3):702-710, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28253108.
- Nakazawa MS, Eisinger-Mathason TS, Sadri N, Ochocki JD, Gade TP, Amin RK, Simon MC. Epigenetic re-expression of HIF-2α suppresses soft tissue sarcoma growth. Nat Commun 7:10539, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 26837714.
- Eisinger-Mathason TS, Mucaj V, Biju KM, Nakazawa MS, Gohil M, Cash TP, Yoon SS, Skuli N, Park KM, Gerecht S, Simon MC. Deregulation of the Hippo pathway in soft-tissue sarcoma promotes FOXM1 expression and tumorigenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 112(26):E3402-11, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26080399.
- Krock BL, Eisinger-Mathason TS, Giannoukos DN, Shay JE, Gohil M, Lee DS, Nakazawa MS, Sesen J, Skuli N, Simon MC. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator is an essential regulator of murine hematopoietic stem cell viability. Blood 125(21):3263-72, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25855602.
- Mucaj V, Lee SS, Skuli N, Giannoukos DN, Qiu B, Eisinger-Mathason TS, Nakazawa MS, Shay JE, Gopal PP, Venneti S, Lal P, Minn AJ, Simon MC, Mathew LK. MicroRNA-124 expression counteracts pro-survival stress responses in glioblastoma. Oncogene 34(17):2204-14, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 24954504.
- Rader J, Russell MR, Hart LS, Nakazawa MS, Belcastro LT, Martinez D, Li Y, Carpenter EL, Attiyeh EF, Diskin SJ, Kim S, Parasuraman S, Caponigro G, Schnepp RW, Wood AC, Pawel B, Cole KA, Maris JM. Dual CDK4/CDK6 inhibition induces cell-cycle arrest and senescence in neuroblastoma. Clin Cancer Res 19(22):6173-82, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24045179.
- Eisinger-Mathason TS, Zhang M, Qiu Q, Skuli N, Nakazawa MS, Karakasheva T, Mucaj V, Shay JE, Stangenberg L, Sadri N, Puré E, Yoon SS, Kirsch DG, Simon MC. Hypoxia-dependent modification of collagen networks promotes sarcoma metastasis. Cancer Discov 3(10):1190-205, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23906982.
- Wong WJ, Qiu B, Nakazawa MS, Qing G, Simon MC. MYC degradation under low O2 tension promotes survival by evading hypoxia-induced cell death. Mol Cell Biol 33(17):3494-504, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23816886.
- Kim YJ, Lee HJ, Kim TM, Eisinger-Mathason TS, Zhang AY, Schmidt B, Karl DL, Nakazawa MS, Park PJ, Simon MC, Yoon SS. Overcoming evasive resistance from vascular endothelial growth factor a inhibition in sarcomas by genetic or pharmacologic targeting of hypoxia-inducible factor 1α. Int J Cancer 132(1):29-41, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 22684860.
Review Articles
- Denu, RA, Dann, AM, Keung, EZ, Nakazawa, MS, Nassif Haddad, EF. The Future of Targeted Therapy for Leiomyosarcoma. Cancers 16(5), 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38473300.
- Nakazawa MS, Keith B, Simon MC. Oxygen availability and metabolic adaptations. Nat Rev Cancer 16(10):663-73, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27658636.
Abstracts
- Nakazawa MS, Cheng L, Ahmed M, Lazcano R, Wani K, Veiseh O, Kwong LN. Detecting and intervening on rare pre-existing resistant subclones to BRAF/MEK inhibitors in metastatic melanoma. AACR, 2023. e-Pub 2023.
- Nakazawa MS, Silverman IM, Rimkunas V, Johnson A, Veloso A, Glodzik D, Zimmermann M, Yap T, Wang W, Livingston JA. Loss of the DNA Repair Gene RNase H2 Identifies a Unique Subset of DDR-Deficient Leiomyosarcomas. ASCO, 2023. e-Pub 2023.
- Nakazawa MS, Grogan T, Nichols N, Reiter R, Rettig M. Randomized, Open Label, Neoadjuvent Phase 2 Study Comparing the Effects of AR Inhibition with and without SRC or MEK Inhibition on the Development of EMT in Prostate Cancer. UCLA DOM Research Day, 2018. e-Pub 2018.
- Nakazawa MS, Eisinger-Mathason TS, Sadri N, Ochocki JD, Gade TP, Amin RK, Simon MC. Epigenetic re-expression of HIF-2α suppresses soft tissue sarcoma growth. Keystone Hypoxia Meeting, 2015. e-Pub 2015.
- Nakazawa MS. The role of epigenetic therapy in the treatment of sarcoma. University of Pennsylvania Combined Degree Program Annual Retreat, 2015. e-Pub 2015.
- Nakazawa MS, Eisinger-Mathason TS, Sadri N, Ochocki JD, Gade TP, Amin RK, Simon MC. Epigenetic re-expression of HIF-2α suppresses soft tissue sarcoma growth. Keystone Hypoxia Meeting, 2015. e-Pub 2015.
- Nakazawa MS, Silverman IM, Rimkunas V, Veloso A, Glodzik D, Patel S, Roland CL, Soliman PT, Beird H, Wu C, Ingram D, Lazcano R, Wani K, Lazar AJ, Yap TA, Wang W, Livingston JA. Loss of the DNA repair gene RNase H2 and a unique subset of DDR-deficient leiomyosarcomas. ASCO.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified September 02, 2026