Moran Amit, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Division of Surgery
About Dr. Moran Amit
Dr. Amit is dedicated to key areas of cancer research that will develop therapeutic approaches to improve patients’ survival, treatment responses, and quality of life. During his residency training, Dr. Amit became interested in the biology of cancer. After completing his residency, he undertook further training in Head and Neck Surgical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he completed a clinical fellowship as a head and neck surgical oncologist and a postdoctoral fellowship with a focus on the neurobiology of cancer.
Dr. Amit was recruited to the Department of Head and Neck Surgical Oncology at MD Anderson in April 2019 and has an active research laboratory focusing on cancer-related neurogenesis and axonogenesis and on the role of neuro-immunology in cancer. One exciting finding of Dr. Amit’s lab involved describing a mechanism by which head and neck tumors can reprogram adrenergic signaling in neurons and the effect of targeting the peripheral nervous system on cancer initiation and progression. This will serve as a basis for combining treatments targeting the nervous system with other therapies, such as immunotherapy, in the treatment of head and neck cancers.
Dr. Amit is continuing his work by building a team to study how the neural microenvironment affects responses to chemotherapy and immunotherapy in patients with non-melanoma skin cancer and other cancers, and to develop novel strategies to combat resistance to these therapies.
In the News
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Head and Neck Surgery - Research, Division of Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Head and Neck Surgery - Research, Division of Surgery, MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX
Research Interests
Dr. Moran Amit is a cancer biologist with research interests in the tumor microenvironment and tumor neurobiology. His research efforts have led to insights and advances in the understanding of the interactions between tumors and the nervous system, towards the goal of developing cancer therapies that target the nervous system. He is the principal investigator on an NIH R37 translational cancer biology grant and other peer-reviewed grants. His group is involved in several novel, ongoing clinical trials, including a trial of neoadjuvant immunotherapy in patients with non-melanoma skin cancer. Most recently, his preclinical studies have focused on developing and testing rational combinations of neuromodulating and immune checkpoint blockade therapies. These concepts are being moved into the clinic to improve treatment outcomes for our patients.
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2016 | Technion-IIT, Haifa, ISR, PHD, Cancer Biology |
| 2013 | Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, ISR, M.Sc, Neuroscience |
| 2004 | Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, ISR, MD, Medicine |
Honors & Awards
| 2019 | "Wall of Science" for scientific achievements published in high impact Journal, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2017 | Best Clinical Research Award, North American Skull Base Society |
| 2016 | Best Basic Research Award, American Head and Neck Society |
| 2014 | Best Resident Clinical Research Award, American Head and Neck Society |
| 2014 | Best Resident Research Award, Israeli Society for Otolaryngology |
| 2014 | Ministry of Science, Technology and Space Fellowship |
| 2011 | Best Resident Research Award, Israeli Society for Otolaryngology |
| 2007 | Chief Medical Officer Citation, IDF Medical Corps |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Choi KY, Amit M, Tam S, Bell D, Phan J, Garden AS, Williams MD, Ferrarotto R, El-Naggar AK, Raza SM, DeMonte F, Kupferman ME, Hanna EY, Su SY. Clinical Implication of Diagnostic and Histopathologic Discrepancies in Sinonasal Malignancies. Laryngoscope 131(5):E1468-E1475, 2021. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32946597.
- Amit M, Liu C, Gleber-Netto FO, Kini S, Tam S, Benov A, Aashiq M, El-Naggar AK, Moreno AC, Rosenthal DI, Glisson BS, Ferrarotto R, Wong MK, Migden MR, Baruch EN, Li G, Khanna A, Goepfert RP, Nagarajan P, Weber RS, Myers JN, Gross ND. Inclusion of extranodal extension in the lymph node classification of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Cancer 127(8):1238-1245, 2021. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33320343.
- Silverman DA, Martinez VK, Dougherty PM, Myers JN, Calin GA, Amit M. Cancer-associated neurogenesis and nerve-cancer crosstalk. Cancer Res 81(6):1431-1440, 2021. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33334813.
- Amit M, Liu C, Netto Gleber FO, Kini S, Tam S, Benov A, Aashiq M, El-Naggar AK, Moreno AC, Rosenthal DI, Glisson BS, Ferrarotto R, Wong MK, Migden MR, Li G, Khanna A, Goepfert RP, Nagarajan P, Weber RS, Myers JN, Gross ND. Integrating depth of invasion in T classification improves the prognostic performance of the American Joint Committee on Cancer primary tumor staging system for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Eur J Cancer 144:169-177, 2021. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33352413.
- Baruch EN, Youngster I, Ben-Betzalel G, Ortenberg R, Lahat A, Katz L, Adler K, Dick-Necula D, Raskin S, Bloch N, Rotin D, Anafi L, Avivi C, Melnichenko J, Steinberg-Silman Y, Mamtani R, Harati H, Asher N, Shapira-Frommer R, Brosh-Nissimov T, Eshet Y, Ben-Simon S, Ziv O, Khan MAW, Amit M, Ajami NJ, Barshack I, Schachter J, Wargo JA, Koren O, Markel G, Boursi B. Fecal microbiota transplant promotes response in immunotherapy-refractory melanoma patients. Science 371(6529):602-609, 2021. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33303685.
- Hunt PJ, Kabotyanski KE, Calin GA, Xie T, Myers JN, Amit M. Interrupting Neuron-Tumor Interactions to Overcome Treatment Resistance. Cancers (Basel) 12(12), 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33322770.
- Dragomir MP, Moisoiu V, Manaila R, Pardini B, Knutsen E, Anfossi S, Amit M, Calin GA. A Holistic Perspective: Exosomes Shuttle between Nerves and Immune Cells in the Tumor Microenvironment. J Clin Med 9(11), 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33142779.
- Maor Y, Cohen D, Paran N, Israely T, Ezra V, Axelrod O, Shinar E, Izak M, Rahav G, Rahimi-Levene N, Bazofin BM, Gelman R, Dicker D, Brosh-Nissimov T, Megged O, Dahan D, Benov A, Paz A, Edward K, Moran A, Rogowski O, Sorkine P, Mayo A, Zimhony O, Chen J. Compassionate use of convalescent plasma for treatment of moderate and severe pneumonia in COVID-19 patients and association with IgG antibody levels in donated plasma. EClinicalMedicine 26:100525, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32923991.
- Amit M, Kimhi H, Bader T, Chen J, Glassberg E, Benov A. Mass-surveillance technologies to fight coronavirus spread: the case of Israel. Nat Med 26(8):1167-1169, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32457444.
- Amit M, Tam S, Bader T, Sorkin A, Benov A. Pausing cancer screening during the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2pandemic: Should we revisit the recommendations?. Eur J Cancer 134:86-89, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32473542.
- Amit M, Sorkin A, Chen J, Cohen B, Karol D, Tsur AM, Lev S, Rozenblat T, Dvir A, Landau G, Fridrich L, Glassberg E, Kesari S, Sviri S, Gelman R, Miller A, Epstein D, Ben-Avi R, Matan M, Jakobson DJ, Bader T, Dahan D, King DA, Ben-Ari A, Soroksky A, Bar A, Fink N, Singer P, Benov A. Clinical Course and Outcomes of Severe Covid-19: A National Scale Study. J Clin Med 9(7), 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32708357.
- Amit M, Takahashi H, Dragomir MP, Lindemann A, Gleber-Netto FO, Pickering CR, Anfossi S, Osman AA, Cai Y, Wang R, Knutsen E, Shimizu M, Ivan C, Rao X, Wang J, Silverman DA, Tam S, Zhao M, Caulin C, Zinger A, Tasciotti E, Dougherty PM, El-Naggar A, Calin GA, Myers JN. Loss of p53 drives neuron reprogramming in head and neck cancer. Nature 578(7795):449-454, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32051587.
- Du KN, Shepherd AJ, Ma IV, Roldan CJ, Amit M, Feng LMS, Desai S, Cata JP. Lack of association between angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers and pain improvement in patients with oral cancer. Ecancermedicalscience 14:1121, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33209112.
- Silverman DA, Calin GA, Myers JN, Amit M. Neural reprogramming via microRNAs: the new kid on the p53-deficient block. Mol Cell Oncol 7(4):1756723, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32944617.
- Tam S, Yao CMK, Amit M, Gajera M, Luo X, Treistman R, Khanna A, Aashiq M, Nagarajan P, Bell D, El-Naggar A, Migden M, Wong M, Glisson B, Ferrarotto R, Esmaeli B, Rosenthal D, Li G, Weber RS, Myers JN, Gross ND. Association of Immunosuppression With Outcomes of Patients With Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31804658.
- Amit M, Na'ara S, Fridman E, Vladovski E, Wasserman T, Milman N, Gil Z. RET, a targetable driver of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Int J Cancer 144(12):3014-3022, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30515799.
- Amit M, Tam S, Takahashi H, Choi KY, Zafereo M, Bell D, Weber RS. Prognostic performance of the American Joint Committee on Cancer 8th edition of the TNM staging system in patients with early oral tongue cancer. Head Neck 41(5):1270-1276, 2019. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30537405.
- Amit M, Hutcheson K, Zaveri J, Lewin J, Kupferman ME, Hessel AC, Goepfert RP, Brandon Gunn G, Garden AS, Ferraratto R, Dave Fuller C, Tam S, Gross ND. Patient-reported outcomes of symptom burden in patients receiving surgical or nonsurgical treatment for low-intermediate risk oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: A comparative analysis of a prospective registry. Oral Oncol 91:13-20, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30926057.
- Amit M, Abdelmeguid AS, Watcherporn T, Takahashi H, Tam S, Bell D, Ferrarotto R, Glisson B, Kupferman ME, Roberts DB, Su SY, Raza SM, DeMonte F, Hanna EY. Induction Chemotherapy Response as a Guide for Treatment Optimization in Sinonasal Undifferentiated Carcinoma. J Clin Oncol 37(6):504-512, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30615549.
- Na'ara S, Amit M, Gil Z. L1CAM induces perineural invasion of pancreas cancer cells by upregulation of metalloproteinase expression. Oncogene 38(4):596-608, 2019. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30171263.
- Tam S, Amit M, Zafereo M, Bell D, Weber RS. Depth of invasion as a predictor of nodal disease and survival in patients with oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma. Head Neck 41(1):177-184, 2019. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30537401.
- Amit M, Na'ara S, Hanna EY. Contemporary Treatment Approaches to Sinonasal Mucosal Melanoma. Curr Oncol Rep 20(2):10, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29492677.
- Amit M, Tam S, Abdelmeguid AS, Roberts DB, Raza SM, Su SY, Kupferman ME, DeMonte F, Hanna EY. Approaches to regional lymph node metastasis in patients with head and neck mucosal melanoma. Cancer 124(3):514-520, 2018. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 29044491.
- Amit M, Na'ara S, Francis D, Matanis W, Zolotov S, Eisenhaber B, Eisenhaber F, Weiler Sagie M, Malkin L, Billan S, Charas T, Gil Z. Post-translational Regulation of Radioactive Iodine Therapy Response in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma. J Natl Cancer Inst 109(12), 2017. PMID: 30053080.
- Amit M, Tam S, Abdelmeguid AS, Roberts DB, Takahashi Y, Raza SM, Su SY, Kupferman ME, DeMonte F, Hanna EY. Mutation status among patients with sinonasal mucosal melanoma and its impact on survival. Br J Cancer 116(12):1564-1571, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28494469.
- Amit M, Na'ara S, Leider-Trejo L, Binenbaum Y, Kulish N, Fridman E, Shabtai-Orbach A, Wong RJ, Gil Z. Upregulation of RET induces perineurial invasion of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Oncogene 36(23):3232-3239, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28092668.
- Amit M, Na'ara S, Trejo-Leider L, Ramer N, Burstein D, Yue M, Miles B, Yang X, Lei D, Bjoerndal K, Godballe C, Mücke T, Wolff KD, Eckardt AM, Copelli C, Sesenna E, Patel S, Ganly I, Gil Z. Defining the surgical margins of adenoid cystic carcinoma and their impact on outcome: An international collaborative study. Head Neck 39(5):1008-1014, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28252829.
- Amit M, Na'ara S, Gil Z. Mechanisms of cancer dissemination along nerves. Nat Rev Cancer 16(6):399-408, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27150016.
- Amit M, Eran A, Billan S, Fridman E, Na'ara S, Charas T, Gil Z. Perineural Spread in Noncutaneous Head and Neck Cancer: New Insights into an Old Problem. J Neurol Surg B Skull Base 77(2):86-95, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27123384.
- Na'ara S, Gil Z, Amit M. In Vitro Modeling of Cancerous Neural Invasion: The Dorsal Root Ganglion Model. J Vis Exp(110):e52990, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27167037.
- Amit M, Na'ara S, Leider-Trejo L, Akrish S, Cohen JT, Billan S, Gil Z. Improving the rate of negative margins after surgery for oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma: A prospective randomized controlled study. Head Neck 38 Suppl 1:E1803-9, 2016. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26685937.
- Shabtay-Orbach A, Amit M, Binenbaum Y, Na'ara S, Gil Z. Paracrine regulation of glioma cells invasion by astrocytes is mediated by glial-derived neurotrophic factor. Int J Cancer 137(5):1012-20, 2015. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25487790.
- Langer L, Binenbaum Y, Gugel L, Amit M, Gil Z, Dekel S. Computer-aided diagnostics in digital pathology: automated evaluation of early-phase pancreatic cancer in mice. Int J Comput Assist Radiol Surg 10(7):1043-54, 2015. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25354901.
- Amit M, Binenbaum Y, Trejo-Leider L, Sharma K, Ramer N, Ramer I, Agbetoba A, Miles B, Yang X, Lei D, Bjørndal K, Godballe C, Mücke T, Wolff KD, Eckardt AM, Copelli C, Sesenna E, Palmer F, Ganly I, Patel S, Gil Z. International collaborative validation of intraneural invasion as a prognostic marker in adenoid cystic carcinoma of the head and neck. Head Neck 37(7):1038-45, 2015. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 24710845.
- Amit M, Na'ara S, Sharma K, Ramer N, Ramer I, Agbetoba A, Glick J, Yang X, Lei D, Bjoerndal K, Godballe C, Mücke T, Klaus-Dietrich W, Eckardt AM, Copelli C, Sesenna E, Palmer F, Ganly I, Gil Z. Elective neck dissection in patients with head and neck adenoid cystic carcinoma: an international collaborative study. Ann Surg Oncol 22(4):1353-9, 2015. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25249259.
- Amit M, Na'ara S, Binenbaum Y, Billan S, Sviri G, Cohen JT, Gil Z. Treatment and Outcome of Patients with Skull Base Chordoma: A Meta-analysis. J Neurol Surg B Skull Base 75(6):383-90, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25452895.
- Amit M, Yen TC, Liao CT, Chaturvedi P, Agarwal JP, Kowalski LP, Kohler HF, Ebrahimi A, Clark JR, Cernea CR, Brandao JS, Kreppel M, Zöller JE, Leider-Trejo L, Bachar G, Shpitzer T, Bolzoni AV, Patel RP, Jonnalagadda S, Robbins TK, Shah JP, Patel SG, Gil Z. The origin of regional failure in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma with pathologically negative neck metastases. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 140(12):1130-7, 2014. PMID: 25074731.
- International Consortium for Outcome Research (ICOR) in Head and Neck Cancer, Ebrahimi A, Gil Z, Amit M, Yen TC, Liao CT, Chaturvedi P, Agarwal JP, Kowalski LP, Kreppel M, Cernea CR, Brandao J, Bachar G, Bolzoni Villaret A, Fliss D, Fridman E, Robbins KT, Shah JP, Patel SG, Clark JR. Primary tumor staging for oral cancer and a proposed modification incorporating depth of invasion: an international multicenter retrospective study. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 140(12):1138-48, 2014. PMID: 25075712.
- Binenbaum Y, Amit M, Billan S, Cohen JT, Gil Z. Minimal clinically important differences in quality of life scores of oral cavity and oropharynx cancer patients. Ann Surg Oncol 21(8):2773-81, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 24710774.
- Weizman N, Krelin Y, Shabtay-Orbach A, Amit M, Binenbaum Y, Wong RJ, Gil Z. Macrophages mediate gemcitabine resistance of pancreatic adenocarcinoma by upregulating cytidine deaminase. Oncogene 33(29):3812-9, 2014. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23995783.
- Amit M, Gil Z. Macrophages increase the resistance of pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells to gemcitabine by upregulating cytidine deaminase. Oncoimmunology 2(12):e27231, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24498570.
- Amit M, Cohen J, Koren I, Gil Z. Cadaveric study for skull base reconstruction using anteriorly based inferior turbinate flap. Laryngoscope 123(12):2940-4, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23804533.
- Amit M, Yen TC, Liao CT, Chaturvedi P, Agarwal JP, Kowalski LP, Ebrahimi A, Clark JR, Kreppel M, Zöller J, Fridman E, Bolzoni VA, Shah JP, Binenbaum Y, Patel SG, Gil Z, International Consortium for Outcome Research (ICOR) in Head and Neck Cancer. Improvement in survival of patients with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma: An international collaborative study. Cancer 119(24):4242-8, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24114787.
- Patel SG, Amit M, Yen TC, Liao CT, Chaturvedi P, Agarwal JP, Kowalski LP, Ebrahimi A, Clark JR, Cernea CR, Brandao SJ, Kreppel M, Zöller J, Fliss D, Fridman E, Bachar G, Shpitzer T, Bolzoni VA, Patel PR, Jonnalagadda S, Robbins KT, Shah JP, Gil Z, International Consortium for Outcome Research (ICOR) in Head and Neck Cancer. Lymph node density in oral cavity cancer: results of the International Consortium for Outcomes Research. Br J Cancer 109(8):2087-95, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24064974.
- Amit M, Binenbaum Y, Cohen JT, Gil Z. Effectiveness of an oxidized cellulose patch hemostatic agent in thyroid surgery: a prospective, randomized, controlled study. J Am Coll Surg 217(2):221-5, 2013. PMID: 23870217.
- Amit M, Laider-Trejo L, Shalom V, Shabtay-Orbach A, Krelin Y, Gil Z. Characterization of the melanoma brain metastatic niche in mice and humans. Cancer Med 2(2):155-63, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23634283.
- Krelin Y, Berkovich L, Amit M, Gil Z. Association between tumorigenic potential and the fate of cancer cells in a syngeneic melanoma model. PLoS One 8(4):e62124, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23626777.
- Cavel O, Shomron O, Shabtay A, Vital J, Trejo-Leider L, Weizman N, Krelin Y, Fong Y, Wong RJ, Amit M, Gil Z. Endoneurial macrophages induce perineural invasion of pancreatic cancer cells by secretion of GDNF and activation of RET tyrosine kinase receptor. Cancer Res 72(22):5733-43, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22971345.
- Amit M, Bell D, Hunt PJ, Hanna E, Su SY, Kupferman M, Aashiq M, Takahashi H, Gidley PW, Nader ME, DeMonte F, Raza SM. Surgical management of carcinomas of the infratemporal fossa and skull base: patterns of failure and predictors of long-term outcomes. J Neurosurg:1-7. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32534492.
Grant & Contract Support
| Title: | Neural Regulation of Head and Neck Cancer |
| Funding Source: | National Institutes of Health |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Defining the Role of Tumor-Neural Crosstalk in Cancer Progression |
| Funding Source: | American Cancer Society (ACS) |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | The role of GPIT complex in well differentiated thyroid carcinoma |
| Funding Source: | Dahlia Greidinger |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | L1CAM driven neural invasion in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma |
| Funding Source: | Barbara S. Goodman RCDA in Pancreatic Cancer |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | The role of Schwann cells and adhesion molecules in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma oncogenesis |
| Funding Source: | Atidim (Futures) Program for Excellence in Science |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Role of L1CAM in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma carcinogenesis and invasion |
| Funding Source: | Israel Cancer Association, ICA |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Neuro-immune crosstalk in head and neck cancer |
| Funding Source: | Moon Shots Program |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Neural regulation of skin cancer |
| Funding Source: | Institutional Research Grant |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Neural networks in oropharyngeal cancer |
| Funding Source: | Stifel Oropharynx Research Program |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |