News and Media
Leukemia Insights Newsletter
Our Leukemia Insights e-newsletter, started in 2007 by Hagop Kantarjian, M.D., focuses on our various therapy options. A special thanks to Mary Alma Welch and Lisa Palacios for their continued work on this important publication.
August 2026: Novel approaches for the treatment of CMML in 2026 | Authors: Guillermo Montalban-Bravo, M.D. and Guillermo Garcia-Manero, M.D.
July 2026: Novel approaches for the treatment of adult ALL in 2026 | Authors: Elias Jabbour, M.D., and Hannah Goulart, M.D.
Please contact Leukemia@mdanderson.org for archived issues.
Featured Podcast:
Tracking leukemia with minimal residual disease (MRD)
Naveen Pemmaraju, M.D., and Fadi Haddad, M.D., explain how minimal residual disease, or MRD, is helping doctors monitor leukemia more precisely and personalize treatment.
A leukemia survivor’s perspective on aligning care with what matters most
When Britt Mayo received a phone call from his doctor at 7:15 a.m. after a routine physical, he knew it wouldn’t be good news.
“I remember hearing the diagnosis and my brain going completely blank,” he says. “In that moment, my world shrank. I went from long-term life plans to wondering if I’d make it to the next year.”
Diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in 2010, Britt quickly realized that understanding his treatment options wasn’t enough. He needed his care team to understand what mattered most to him.
Protecting what matters most
Britt’s top priority was clear: live as long as possible — without compromising the parts of life that defined who he was.
Protecting the function of his hands was essential for the lifelong pianist and computer user. He wanted to avoid neuropathy. He also hoped to prevent cognitive side effects, such as chemobrain, that could affect his work and thinking. With family spread across the globe, travel mattered deeply to him and his wife, Diana.
At the time, the standard treatment for CLL involved chemotherapy. Britt was hesitant. Through open conversations with his care team, he learned about an emerging clinical trial that might be available in the future, allowing him to potentially avoid chemotherapy.
Together, he and his care team developed a watch-and-wait strategy designed to safely delay treatment until he could qualify for the clinical trial.
Why early conversations about cancer care matter
Looking back, Britt believes those early conversations were critical.
“If I had received even one round of chemotherapy, I would have been ineligible for the trial,” he says. “That conversation changed everything.”
Britt eventually enrolled in an immunotherapy clinical trial and achieved remission — without compromising his life expectancy or the activities he valued most.
Today, immunotherapy has become a standard treatment for many patients with CLL. For Britt, aligning care with his priorities brought emotional relief as well as clinical benefits.
“Before we had that conversation, there was tension between what I wanted and what I thought I had to do,” he says. “Once the plan matched my goals, I felt at ease. That’s a liberating feeling.”
He has since spoken with hundreds of fellow patients during clinical trials and clinic visits. Many, he says, didn’t realize they had choices.
“I can’t tell you how many times people told me they didn’t know there were options,” he says. “Early communication could have sent them down a very different path.”
He emphasizes that every diagnosis is different. Some cancers have multiple treatment options, while others require a specific approach.
“At a place like UT MD Anderson that has deep experience and offers many treatment approaches, patients often have options,” he says. “But even when choices are limited, understanding a patient’s goals helps the care team support quality of life, symptom management and family needs.”
Leukemia News
2026
Nicholas James Short, M.D. has been appointed as the Service Line Center Medical Director (SL-CMD) for the Leukemia Service Line and Chief of the Section of Developmental Therapeutics.
Maro Ohanian, D.O., was promoted to professor, Leukemia.
Hussein Abbas, M.D., Ph.D. was promoted to associate professor, Leukemia.
Lucia Masarova, M.D. was promoted to associate professor, Leukemia.
Yue Wei, Ph.D. was promoted to associate professor, Leukemia.
Hussein Abbas, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor, Leukemia, was named a Faculty Scholar honoree. The Faculty Scholar Program was established to recognize assistant and associate professors who exhibit outstanding abilities and excellence in research, education, patient care or prevention.
Hussein Abbas, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor, Leukemia, was featured in a recent Houston Chronicle article, "Medical Mystery Solved," which highlighted the exceptional care and expertise provided to a patient facing a complex medical challenge.
Sarah Velasquez, RN, was recently featured in an article published by CURE Today, written by a grateful patient and authored and submitted for online publication by Advanced Practice Provider, Jackie Broadway-Duren, PhD, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, "The Cancer Care Team Member Every Patient With CLL Deserves"
EHA: Oral combination shows high response rates in patients with hard-to-treat acute myeloid leukemia | Ghayas Issa, M.D., associate professor of Leukemia
Read the full release | Read the study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology
Hannah Goulart, M.D., assistant professor, Leukemia, received the 2026 Conquer Cancer Merit Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Michael Andreeff, M.D., Ph.D., professor, Leukemia received the Grinberg-Wisch Award at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.
Low-intensity combination therapy yields strong outcomes in hard-to-treat AML | Tapan Kadia, M.D., professor of Leukemia.
Read the full release | Read the study in American Journal of Hematology
William G. Wierda, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Leukemia, has been named to the 14th Annual Class of Giants of Cancer Care® Inductees, as announced by OncLive.
2025
Hagop M. Kantarjian, M.D. was named on The 100 Most Influential People in Oncology in 2025 by OncoDaily.
Hussein Abbas, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in Leukemia, has been awarded a $1,047,232 grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) for his project, FIRE-AML: A Longitudinal Machine Learning-Based Framework of Inflammation Driving Relapse and Early Mortality in AML.
Hagop M. Kantarjian, M.D. professor in Leukemia at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, was honored as the Laureate for Special Distinction in Research at the King Hussein Cancer Research Award ceremony. Recognized for a lifetime of exceptional contributions to cancer research and the treatment of leukemia, Dr. Kantarjian was the guest of honor at the event, where Prince Talal celebrated this year's award recipients.
William G. Wierda, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Leukemia, received the R. Lee Clark Prize for Clinical Excellence. Dr. Wierda serves in multiple leadership roles at MD Anderson, including chief of the Section of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL), Leukemia Center medical director, executive medical director for Hematologic Services, executive medical director for the Inpatient Medical Service, and deputy department chair. An internationally recognized expert in immunotherapy, chemoimmunotherapy, and targeted therapies for CLL, his research has contributed to the development of innovative treatments and improved understanding of disease biomarkers that help predict patient response and outcomes.
Guillermo Garcia-Manero, M.D., ad interim chair of Leukemia and professor in Leukemia, was recognized as an Honoree for Research Excellence at MD Anderson’s Celebration of Faculty Excellence. An internationally renowned physician-scientist, Dr. Garcia-Manero has dedicated his career to advancing the understanding and treatment of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
Ghayas Issa, M.D., associate professor in Leukemia, was named to the 10th cohort of MD Anderson’s Andrew Sabin Family Fellows. The fellowship recognizes early career clinician-scientists conducting innovative, high-impact cancer research.
Guillermo Montalban-Bravo, M.D., assistant professor in Leukemia, was named to the 10th cohort of MD Anderson’s Andrew Sabin Family Fellows. The fellowship supports emerging leaders in cancer research whose work has the potential to transform patient care.
Important Publications & Articles
Program Genealogies: A History of Leukemia Research at MD Anderson Cancer Center (1965-Present)
Michael Keating, M.D., Emil J Freireich, M.D., and Hagop M. Kantarjian, M.D.
Emil J Freireich: The man who cured childhood leukemia
A Tribute to Emil J Freireich, M.D.
The evolution of acute lymphoblastic leukemia research and therapy at MD Anderson over four decades
A tour of leukemia progress in 2025, viewed through the MD Anderson leukemia research lens
Curing Most Leukemias on the Horizon: A 5-Decade MD Anderson Perspective on Leukemia Research