Beth Karlan, MD Director, Gyn/Oncology Associate Director, Women's Cancer Program, Cancer Institute
Email: karlanb@cshs.org Phone: (310) 423-3302 Fax: (310) 423-9753

Institute Affiliation

Academic Appointments

Awards and Activities

Research Focus

Ovarian cancer specific biomarkers for early detection, prognostication and targeted/individualized therapy, inherited cancer susceptibility.

Research Contributions

Gilda Radner Hereditary Cancer Program helped inform national guidelines on ovarian cancer screening. Molecular analysis demonstrated the multifocality of hereditary ovarian cancer and focused screening efforts on biomarkers. Analysis of BRCA ovarian cancers demonstrated improved survival and enhanced platinum sensitivity. Further analysis demonstrated secondary mutations as a mechanism of acquired platinum resistance.

Current investigations include:

Ovarian cancer molecular signatures, risk predictors and prevention, BRCA-associated tumor biology.

Selected Publications

1. Sakai W, Swisher EM, Karlan BY, Agarwal MK, Higgins J, Friedman C, Villegas E, Jacquemont C, Farrugia DJ, Couch FJ, Urban N, Taniguchi T: Secondary mutations as a mechanism of cisplatin resistance in BRCA2-mutated cancers. Nature, 451(7182): 1116-20, 2008
2. Karlan BY, Oza AM, Richardson GE, Provencher DM, Hansen VL, Buck M, Chambers SK, Ghatage P, Pippitt Jr, Brown 3rd, Covens A, Nagarkar RV, Davy M, Leath 3rd, Nguyen H, Stepan DE, Weinreich DM, Tassoudji M, Sun YN, Vergote IB: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase II study of AMG 386 combined with weekly paclitaxel in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer. J. Clin. Oncol., 30(4): 362-71, 2011
3. Hoover RN, Hyer M, Pfeiffer RM, Adam E, Bond B, Cheville AL, Colton T, Hartge P, Hatch EE, Herbst AL, Karlan BY, Kaufman R, Noller KL, Palmer JR, Robboy SJ, Saal RC, Strohsnitter W, Titus-Ernstoff L, Troisi R: Adverse health outcomes in women exposed in utero to diethylstilbestrol. N. Engl. J. Med., 365(14): 1304-14, 2011