Musa Yilmaz, MD
Department of Leukemia, Division of Cancer Medicine
About Dr. Yilmaz
Dr. Musa Yilmaz received his medical training from Marmara University School of Medicine in Turkey. His residency was completed at the University of TX Medical School in Houston, TX. Dr. Yilmaz then completed fellowships in both Leukemia and Hematology/Oncology at The University of TX MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Baylor College of Medicine; also, in Houston, TX. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Leukemia at MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Dr. Musa Yilmaz has published extensively in the field of leukemia, and particularly, on prospective phase I and II trials of novel therapeutic combinations. He also serves as the Principal Investigator for four, active, clinical trials. Dr. Yilmaz’ primary, research interests have been the role of early response assessment, particularly MRD (Minimal Residual Disease), in patients with acute leukemias and how this information can be used to identify patients at highest risk for relapse and death. In particular, he has published a paper in the American Journal of Hematology on the impact of achieving early MRD negativity in patients with ALL. He has also authored several other papers on the role of MRD in acute leukemias.
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Leukemia, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2008 | Marmara University School of Medicine, Istanbul, TUR, MD, Medicine |
Postgraduate Training
| 2013-2016 | Clinical Fellowship, Hematology and Oncology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX |
| 2012-2013 | Clinical Fellowship, Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX |
| 2011-2012 | Clinical Residency, Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Medical School, Houston, TX |
Board Certifications
| 2016 | American Board of Internal Medicine Hematology |
| 2016 | American Board of Internal Medicine Oncology |
| 2012 | American Internal Medicine Board Certification |
Experience & Service
Institutional Committee Activities
Member, Institutional Review Board (IRB #5), 2020 - Present
Member, Institutional Review Board (IRB #1), 2019 - 2020
Member, Scientific Research Committee (SRC #4), 2017 - 2019
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Yilmaz M, Kantarjian H, Ravandi F. Acute promyelocytic leukemia current treatment algorithms. Blood Cancer J 11(6):123, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34193815.
- Yilmaz M, Alfayez M, DiNardo CD, Borthakur G, Kadia TM, Konopleva MY, Loghavi S, Kanagal-Shamanna R, Patel KP, Jabbour EJ, Garcia-Manero G, Pemmaraju N, Pierce SA, Ghayas I, Short NJ, Montalban-Bravo G, Takahashi K, Assi R, Alotaibi AS, Ohanian M, Andreeff M, Cortes JE, Kantarjian HM, Ravandi F, Daver NG. Correction to: Outcomes with sequential FLT3-inhibitor-based therapies in patients with AML. J Hematol Oncol 14(1):34, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33618754.
- Alotaibi AS, Yilmaz M, Kanagal-Shamanna R, Loghavi S, Kadia TM, DiNardo CD, Borthakur G, Konopleva M, Pierce S, Wang SA, Tang G, Guerra V, Samra B, Pemmaraju N, Jabbour E, Short N, Issa G, Ohanian M, Garcia-Manero G, Bhalla K, Patel K, Takahashi K, Andreeff M, Cortes J, Kantarjian H, Ravandi F, Daver N. Patterns of Resistance Differ in Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treated with Type I versus Type II FLT3 Inhibitors. Blood Cancer Discovery(2):1-10, 2021. e-Pub 2020.
- Yilmaz M, Ravandi F. The potential role of Bi-specific antibodies in acute myeloid leukemia. Best Pract Res Clin Haematol 33(4):101218, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33279174.
- Yilmaz M, Alfayez M, DiNardo CD, Borthakur G, Kadia TM, Konopleva MY, Loghavi S, Kanagal-Shamanna R, Patel KP, Jabbour EJ, Garcia-Manero G, Pemmaraju N, Pierce SA, Ghayas I, Short NJ, Montalban-Bravo G, Takahashi K, Assi R, Alotaibi AS, Ohanian M, Andreeff M, Cortes JE, Kantarjian HM, Ravandi F, Daver NG. Outcomes with sequential FLT3-inhibitor-based therapies in patients with AML. J Hematol Oncol 13(1):132, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33032648.
- Yilmaz M, Kantarjian H, Wang X, Khoury JD, Ravandi F, Jorgensen J, Short NJ, Loghavi S, Cortes J, Garcia-Manero G, Kadia T, Sasaki K, Konopleva M, Takahashi K, Wierda W, Jain N, Verstovsek S, Estrov Z, Bose P, Pierce S, Garris R, O'Brien S, Jabbour E. The early achievement of measurable residual disease negativity in the treatment of adults with Philadelphia-negative B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia is a strong predictor for survival. Am J Hematol 95(2):144-150, 2020. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31682008.
- Alotaibi AS, Yilmaz M, Loghavi S, DiNardo C, Borthakur G, Kadia TM, Thakral B, Pemmaraju N, Issa GC, Konopleva M, Short NJ, Patel K, Tang G, Ravandi F, Daver N. Emergence of BCR-ABL1 Fusion in AML Post-FLT3 Inhibitor-Based Therapy: A Potentially Targetable Mechanism of Resistance - A Case Series. Front Oncol 10:588876, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33194747.
- Yilmaz, M, Naqvi, K, Ravandi, F. Current and emerging treatments for acute promyelocytic leukemia. Expert Opinion on Orphan Drugs 7(11):453-461, 2019.
- Chamoun K, Kantarjian HM, Wang X, Naqvi K, Aung F, Garcia-Manero G, Borthakur G, Jabbour E, Kadia T, Daver N, DiNardo CD, Jain N, Konopleva M, Cortes J, Ravandi F, Yilmaz M. Unrecognized fluid overload during induction therapy increases morbidity in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia. Cancer 125(18):3219-3224, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31150121.
- Yilmaz M, Daver N. From DNA Sequencing to Clinical Trials: Finding New Targeted Drugs for Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Drugs 79(11):1177-1186, 2019. PMID: 31222627.
- Yilmaz M, Wang F, Loghavi S, Bueso-Ramos C, Gumbs C, Little L, Song X, Zhang J, Kadia T, Borthakur G, Jabbour E, Pemmaraju N, Short N, Garcia-Manero G, Estrov Z, Kantarjian H, Futreal A, Takahashi K, Ravandi F. Late relapse in acute myeloid leukemia (AML): clonal evolution or therapy-related leukemia?. Blood Cancer J 9(2):7, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30651532.
- Jabbour E, Düll J, Yilmaz M, Khoury JD, Ravandi F, Jain N, Einsele H, Garcia-Manero G, Konopleva M, Short NJ, Thompson PA, Wierda W, Daver N, Cortes J, O'brien S, Kantarjian H, Topp MS. Outcome of patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia after blinatumomab failure: No change in the level of CD19 expression. Am J Hematol 93(3):371-374, 2018. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 29178361.
- Yilmaz M, Kantarjian H, Ravandi-Kashani F, Short NJ, Jabbour E. Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia in adults: current treatments and future perspectives. Clin Adv Hematol Oncol 16(3):216-223, 2018. PMID: 29742077.
- Yilmaz M, Kantarjian H, Jabbour E. Treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in older adults: now and the future. Clin Adv Hematol Oncol 15(4):266-274, 2017. PMID: 28591103.
- Pacheco JM, Yilmaz M, Rice L. How low is too low: Statin induced hemolysis. Am J Hematol 91(2):267, 2016. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26147873.
- Yilmaz M, Jabbour E. Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors Early in the Disease Course: Lessons From Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia. Semin Oncol 42(6):876-86, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26615132.
- Yilmaz M, Lahoti A, O'Brien S, Nogueras-González GM, Burger J, Ferrajoli A, Borthakur G, Ravandi F, Pierce S, Jabbour E, Kantarjian H, Cortes JE. Estimated glomerular filtration rate changes in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Cancer 121(21):3894-904, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26217876.
- Yilmaz M, Richard S, Jabbour E. The clinical potential of inotuzumab ozogamicin in relapsed and refractory acute lymphocytic leukemia. Ther Adv Hematol 6(5):253-61, 2015. PMID: 26425338.
- Mattiuzzi G, Yilmaz M, Kantarjian H, Borthakur G, Konopleva M, Jabbour E, Brown Y, Pierce S, Cortes J. Pharmacokinetics of posaconazole prophylaxis of patients with acute myeloid leukemia. J Infect Chemother 21(9):663-7, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26141814.
- Yilmaz M, Abaza Y, Jabbour E. Selecting the best frontline treatment in chronic myeloid leukemia. Curr Hematol Malig Rep 10(2):145-57, 2015. PMID: 25921387.
- Yilmaz M, Kantarjian H, Jabbour E, O'Brien S, Borthakur G, Verstovsek S, Garcia-Manero G, Ravandi F, Burger J, Pierce S, Quintas-Cardama A, Cortes J. Similar outcome of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia treated with imatinib in or out of clinical trials. Clin Lymphoma Myeloma Leuk 13(6):693-9, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24060289.
- Yilmaz M, Chemaly RF, Han XY, Thall PF, Fox PS, Tarrand JJ, De Lima MJ, Hosing CM, Popat UR, Shpall E, Champlin RE, Qazilbash MH. Adenoviral infections in adult allogeneic hematopoietic SCT recipients: a single center experience. Bone Marrow Transplant 48(9):1218-23, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23503529.
- Yilmaz M, Daver N, Borthakur G, Kadia T, DiNardo C, Kanagal-Shamanna R, Loghavi S, Oran B, Popat UR, Pierce S, Jabbour E, Short NJ, Issa G, Ohanian M, Konopleva M, Patel K, Kantarjian H, Ravandi F. FLT3 inhibitor based induction and allogeneic stem cell transplant in complete remission 1 improve outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia with very low FLT3 allelic burden. Am J Hematol. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33891709.
- Yilmaz M, Kantarjian HM, Toruner G, Yin CC, Kanagal-Shamanna R, Cortes JE, Issa G, Short NJ, Khoury JD, Garcia-Manero G, Ravandi F, Kadia T, Konopleva M, Wierda WG, Jain N, Estrov Z, Sasaki K, Pierce S, O'Brien SM, Jabbour EJ. Translocation t(1;19)(q23;p13) in adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia - a distinct subtype with favorable prognosis. Leuk Lymphoma:1-5. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32955970.
- Yilmaz M, Kadia T, Ravandi F. Identifying effective drug combinations for patients with acute myeloid leukemia. Expert Rev Anticancer Ther:1-11. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32552126.
Invited Articles
- Yilmaz M, Kantarjian H, Jabbour E. ALL in Older Adults: Novel Treatment Modalities. Oncology Times 39(20):1, 11-16, 2017.
Abstracts
- Musa Yilmaz, Hagop M. Kantarjian, Muharrem Muftuoglu, Tapan M. Kadia, Marina Konopleva, Gautam Borthakur, Courtney Denton Dinardo, Naveen Pemmaraju, Nicholas James Short, Yesid Alvarado, Guillermo Montalban-Bravo, Carissa Jurisprudenica, Allison Pike, Maro Ohanian, Elias Jabbour, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Vivian Ruvolo, Farhad Ravandi, Michael Andreeff, Naval Guastad Daver. Quizartinib with decitabine and venetoclax (triplet) is highly active in patients with FLT3-ITD mutated acute myeloid leukemia (AML). American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, 2021.
- Yilmaz M, Alfayez M, Kadia T, DiNardo C, Borthakur G, Loghavi S, Konopleva M, Kanagal-Shamanna R, Patel K, Jabbour E, Garcia-Manero G, Pemmaraju N, Pierce S, Issa G, Short N, Montalban-Bravo G, Takahashi K, Assi R, Alotaibi A, Andreeff M, Cortes J, Kantarjian H, Ravandi F, Daver N. Outcomes with Sequential FLT3-Inhibitor (FLT3i) Based Therapies in Patients (pts) with FLT3-Mutated Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Exposed to Prior FLT3i Based Therapies. Blood 136(Supplement 1):22-24, 2020.
- Yilmaz M, Kantarjian H, Muftuoglu M, Kadia T, Konopleva M, Borthakur G, DiNardo CD, Pemmaraju N, Short N, Alvarado Y, Montalban-Bravo G, Jurisprudencia C, Pike A, Ohanian M, Jabbour E, Garcia-Manero G, Ruvolo V, Ravandi F, Andreeff M, Daver N. Quizartinib with Decitabine +/- Venetoclax Is Highly Active in Patients (Pts) with FLT3-ITD Mutated (mut) Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML): Clinical Report and Signaling Cytof Profiling from a Phase IB/II Trial. Blood 136(Supplement 1):19-20, 2020.
- Kadia T, Garcia-Manero G, Yilmaz M, Dinardo C, Konopleva M, Montalban-Bravo G, Borthakur G, Jabbour E, Jain N, Andreeff M, Short N, Issa G, Ohanian M, Bose P, Daver N, Wang S, Tidwell R, Estrov Z, Ravandi F, Kantarjian H. Venetoclax (Ven) added to intensive chemo with cladribine, idarubicin, and AraC (CLIA) achieves high rates of durable complete remission with low rates of measurable residual disease (MRD) in pts with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML). ASCO Virtual Scientific Program, 2020.
- Yilmaz M, Kantarjian H, Wang X, Khoury J, Ravandi F, Jorgensen J, Short N, Loghavi S, Cortes J, Garcia-Manero G, Kadia T, Sasaki K, Konopleva M, Takahashi K, Wierda W, Jain N, Verstovsek S, Estrov Z, Bose P, Pierce S, Garris R, O'Brien S, Jabbour E. The Early Achievement of Measurable Residual Disease Negativity in the Treatment of Adults with Philadelphia-Negative B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Is a Strong Predictor for Survival. Blood 134(Suppl 1), 2019.
- Yilmaz M, Kantarjian H, Ravandi F, Thomas D, Khouri M, Garcia-Manero G, Garris R, Cortes J, Short N, Sasaki K, Issa G, Koller P, Schroeder H, Kadia T, Verstovsek S, Daver N, Jain N, Konopleva M, O’Brien S, Jabbour E. Hyper-CVAD Plus Ofatumumab as Frontline Therapy for Adults with CD20 Positive Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Clinical Lymphoma Myeloma and Leukemia 19(S1):S185, 2019.
- Kamal Chamoun, MD, Hagop M. Kantarjian, MD, Kiran Naqvi, MD, MPH, Xuemei Wang, MS, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, MD, Gautam Borthakur, MD,Elias J. Jabbour, MD, Tapan M. Kadia, MD, Naval G. Daver, MD, Courtney D. DiNardo, MD, MSc, Nitin Jain, MD, Marina Y. Konopleva, MD, PhD, JorgeE. Cortes, MD, Farhad Ravandi, MBBS, Musa Yilmaz, MD. Weight Increase during Induction Therapy Predicts Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Transfer in Patients (Pts) with AcutePromyelocytic Leukemia (APL). Blood 132(Suppl 1), 2018.
- Musa Yilmaz, Devendra KC, Mary Abisola Akosile, Joseph David Khoury, Nicholas J Short, Jorge E. Cortes, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Farhad Ravandi, Tapan Kadia, Koji Sasaki, Marina Konopleva, William G Wierda, Nitin Jain, Srdan Verstovsek, Zeev Estrov, Sherry Pierce, Susan M. O'Brien, Elias J. Jabbour and Hagop M. Kantarjian. The Prognostic Significance of Translocation (1;19) in Adult Patients (Pts) with B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). Blood 130(Suppl 1):2712, 2017.
- Musa Yilmaz, Elias J. Jabbour, Xuemei Wang, Sanam Loghavi, Joseph David Khoury, Jeffrey L. Jorgensen, Farhad Ravandi, Nicholas J Short, Jorge E. Cortes, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Tapan Kadia, Koji Sasaki, Marina Konopleva, Koichi Takahashi, Maria Khouri, Nitin Jain, Srdan Verstovsek, Zeev Estrov, Zeev Estrov, Prithviraj Bose, Sherry Pierce, Rebecca Garris, Susan M. O'Brien and Hagop M. Kantarjian. Dynamics of Measurable Disease at Remission Determines Survival in Patients (Pts) with Philadelphia Chromosome Negative B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). Blood 130(Suppl 1):1434, 2017.
- Musa Yilmaz, Hagop M. Kantarjian, Xuemei Wang, Devendra KC, Joseph David Khoury, Farhad Ravandi, Nicholas J Short, Jorge E. Cortes, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Tapan Kadia, Koji Sasaki, Marina Konopleva, William G Wierda, Maria Khouri, Nitin Jain, Srdan Verstovsek, Zeev Estrov, Prithviraj Bose, Sherry Pierce, Rebecca Garris, Susan M. O'Brien and Elias J. Jabbour. Prognostic Index for Survival in Adult Patients with Philadelphia-Negative B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). Blood 130(Suppl 1):1435, 2017.
- Yilmaz M, Sasaki K, Ravandi F, Cortes J, Garcia-Manero G, Kadia T, Daver N, Pemmaraju N, Borthakur G, Dinardo C, Takahashi K, O'Brien S, Estrov Z, Pike A, Brandt M, Kantarjian H, Jabbour E.. Randomized Phase II Study of Clofarabine or Fludarabine Combined with ldarubicin and Cytarabine for the Treatment of Newly Diagnosed AML. Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma and Leukemia 15(Supplement 2):S18, 2015.
- Sasaki K, Yilmaz M, Kantarjian H, Thomas D, Khouri M, Garcia-Manero G, Garris R, Cortes J, Schroeder H, Kadia T, Ravandi F, Verstovsek S, Daver N, Jain N, Konopleva M, O'Brien S, Jabbour E.. Ofatumumab in Combination with Hyper-CVAD Regimen as Frontline Treatment for Adults with CD-20 Positive Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma and Leukemia 15(Supplement 1):S18, 2015.
- Yilmaz M, Kantarjian H, Cortes J, Garcia-Manero G, Chahoud J, Ravandi F, Sasaki K, Konopleva M, Takahashi K, Wierda W, Jain N, Verstovsek S, Estrov Z, Bose P, Pierces, Jabbour E. Results of Intensive Chemotherapy in 434 Adult Patients (pts) with Philadelphia-Negative Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL): Predictive Prognostic Model for Survival. Blood 126(23), 2015.
- Yilmaz M, Kantarjian H, Ravandi F, Jorgensen J, Wang S, Garcia-Manero G, Cortes J, Sasaki. The Prognostic Value of Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) after Salvage Therapy in Patients (Pts) with Relapsed or Refractory (R/R) Beel/ Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). Blood 126(23), 2015.
- Dahl J, Kantarjian H, Yilmaz M, Kadia T, Garcia-Manero G, Ravandi F, Borthakur G, Cortes J, Ferrajoli A, Sasaki K, Chahoud J, Autry J, Garris R, Jabbour E.. Outcomes of Patients with Relapsed/Refractory (R/R) 8-ce/l Acute lymphocytic leukemia (All} post Blinatumomab Failure. Blood 126(23), 2015.
- Gulbis A, Yilmaz M, Sui D, Bassett R, Rivera Z, Champlin RR, De-Lima M. Linezolid Use Early After Stem Cell Transplant - A Cautionary Tale. Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation 19(2):S376-S377, 2013.
- Yilmaz M, Kantarjian H, Quintas-Cardama A, O'Brien S, Burger J, Ferrajoli A, Borthakur G, Ravandi F, Pierce S, Jabbour E, Cortes J. Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate Changes in Patients (Pts) With Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) Treated With Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors. Blood 122, 2013.
- Alison M Gulbis, Musa Yilmaz, Dawen Sui, Roland L Bassett, Zandra R Rivera, Richard E. Champlin, Marcos De Lima. Linezolid Use in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: A Cautionary Tale. Blood 120(21), 2012.
- Yilmaz M, Kantarjian H, Jabbour E, O'Brien S, Borthakur G, Verstovsek S, Garcia-Manero G, Ravandi F, Burger J, Pierce S, Quintas-Cardama A, Cortes J. The outcome of patients (pts) with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) treated with imatinib outside of a clinical trial or on a clinical trial at a single institution. Blood 120, 2012.
- Yilmaz M, Han X, De-lima M, Hosing C, Popat, U, Champlin R, Qazilbash M. Incidence and Outcome of Adenovirus Infection in Adult Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant Recipients. Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation 17(2):S290, 2011.
- Musa Yilmaz, Feng Wang, Sanam Loghavi, Carlos E. BuesoRamos, Curtis Gumbs, Latasha Little, Xingzhi Song, Jianhua Zhang, Tapan M. Kadia, Gautam Borthakur, Elias Jabbour, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Zeev Estrov, Hagop M. Kantarjian, Phillip Andrew Futreal, Koichi Takahashi, Farhad Ravandi, Nicholas James Short. Clonal evolution in acute myeloid leukemia (AML): Relapse after a long remission period. JCO 36(Suppl 15). e-Pub 2018.
Book Chapters
- Yilmaz M, Udden M. Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. In: Tumor Board Review, Guidelinnes and Case Reviews in Oncology. second. Demos Medical, 348-356, 2015.
Letters to the Editor
- Fernando RR, Yilmaz M, Higgins JP. The changing electrocardiogram in Brugada syndrome. Int J Cardiol 163: e36-7, 2013.