IgorPuzanovMD

Genitourinary Oncology, Hematologic Oncology, Melanoma

Senior Vice President, Clinical Investigation; Judith and Stanford Lipsey Chair in Clinical Studies; Professor of Oncology and Medicine; Director, Center for Early Phase Clinical Trials; Chief of Early Phase Clinical Trials and Melanoma; Co-Leader, CCSG Experimental Therapeutics Program

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Office
Elm and Carlton St
Buffalo, NY 14263
Phone+1 716-845-2300

Fax+1 716-845-3423

Summary

Dr. Igor Puzanov is an oncologist in Buffalo, NY and is affiliated with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. He received his medical degree from Charles University in Prague Faculty of Medicine and has been in practice 26 years. He also speaks multiple languages, including Czech, Russian, and Croatian. He specializes in genitourinary oncology, hematologic oncology, and melanoma and is experienced in amyloidosis, hematologic oncology, renal cell carcinoma, prostate cancer, and melanoma.

Education & Training

Vanderbilt UniversityMSCI, Clinical Investigation, 2004 - 2007
Vanderbilt University Medical CenterFellowship, Hematology and Medical Oncology, 2002 - 2005
University of Texas Southwestern Medical CenterResidency, Internal Medicine, 1998 - 2001
Charles University in Prague Faculty of MedicineClass of 1991

Certifications & Licensure

NY State Medical License 2016 - 2026
TN State Medical License 2002 - 2017
TX State Medical License 2001 - 2005
OK State Medical License 2000 - 2002
American Board of Internal Medicine Internal Medicine
American Board of Internal Medicine Medical Oncology

Awards, Honors, & Recognition

Top Doctor Award Top Doctor Magazine, 2020-2021
Bridge 2018 Award for Lifelong Contributions to Melanoma Research Melanoma Foundation Onlus, 2018
Americas Top Oncologist Award Consumers Research Council of America, 2007
Discovery Award 2012
Meaningful Use Stage 1 Certification Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2012
Fellow American College of Physicians, 2011
Outstanding Contribution Award US-Chinese Anti-Cancer Association, 2010
IMPACT Award Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, 2010
Team Science Award for Cytokine Working Group International Society of Biological Therapy of Cancer, 2010
Hematology-Oncology Outstanding Fellow Award Vanderbilt University, 2005
Aventis Travel Award 2004
Amgen Travel Award 2004
James W. McLaughlin Fellowship Fund Travel Award 1995, 1997
Hoffman-La Roche Travel Award 1992
Dean's Award Charles University, 1990
Merit Scholarship Charles University, 1986
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Clinical Trials

SJG-136 in Treating Patients With Solid Tumors That Are Metastatic or Cannot Be Removed By Surgery Start of enrollment: 2005 Feb 01
Completed
Phase 1
Safety Study of PLX108-01 in Patients With Solid Tumors Start of enrollment: 2009 Oct 01
Completed
Phase 1
S0931, Everolimus in Treating Patients With Kidney Cancer Who Have Undergone Surgery Start of enrollment: 2011 Apr 01
Active, not recruiting
Phase 3
Aldesleukin With or Without Ziv-Aflibercept in Treating Patients With Stage III-IV Melanoma That Cannot Be Removed by Surgery Start of enrollment: 2011 Jan 18
Completed
Phase 2
Ipilimumab or High-Dose Interferon Alfa-2b in Treating Patients With High-Risk Stage III-IV Melanoma That Has Been Removed by Surgery Start of enrollment: 2011 May 25
Active, not recruiting
Phase 3
Autonomic Phenotype Before and After Akt Inhibition Start of enrollment: 2012 May 01
Withdrawn
Dabrafenib and Trametinib Followed by Ipilimumab and Nivolumab or Ipilimumab and Nivolumab Followed by Dabrafenib and Trametinib in Treating Patients With Stage III-IV BRAFV600 Melanoma Start of enrollment: 2015 Sep 08
Active, not recruiting
Phase 3
An Investigational Immuno-therapy Study to Evaluate Safety and Effectiveness in Patients With Melanoma That Has Spread to the Brain, Treated With Nivolumab in Combination With Ipilimumab, Followed by Nivolumab by Itself Start of enrollment: 2015 Mar 05
Completed
Phase 2
Physician/Patient Choice of Either High-Dose Recombinant Interferon Alfa-2B or Ipilimumab, Versus Pembrolizumab in Treating Patients With Stage III-IV High Risk Melanoma That Has Been Removed by Surgery Start of enrollment: 2015 Nov 10
Active, not recruiting
Phase 3
A Study of RGX-104 in Patients With Advanced Lung & Endometrial Cancer Start of enrollment: 2016 Nov 01
Recruiting
Phase 1
CPI-006 Alone and in Combination With Ciforadenant and With Pembrolizumab for Patients With Advanced Cancers Start of enrollment: 2018 Apr 25
Completed
Phase 1
Study of ADCT-301 in Patients With Selected Advanced Solid Tumors Start of enrollment: 2018 Nov 09
Terminated
Phase 1
Polarized Dendritic Cell (aDC1) Based Treatment, Interferon Alpha-2, Rintatolimod, and Celecoxib for the Treatment of HLA-A2+ Refractory Melanoma Start of enrollment: 2024 Jun 20
Recruiting
Phase 2
IO102-IO103 in Combination With Pembrolizumab Versus Pembrolizumab Alone in Advanced Melanoma (IOB-013 / KN-D18) Start of enrollment: 2022 May 17
Active, not recruiting
Phase 3
Roles: Contact, Principal Investigator
Predicting Responsiveness in Oncology Patients Based on Host Response Evaluation During Anti Cancer Treatments Start of enrollment: 2019 Oct 01
Recruiting
Roles: Contact, Principal Investigator
IDE196 (Darovasertib) in Combination With Crizotinib as First-line Therapy in Metastatic Uveal Melanoma Start of enrollment: 2023 Oct 31
Recruiting
Phase 2, Phase 3
Roles: Contact
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Publications & Presentations

PubMed

Racial Differences in Systemic Immune Parameters in Individuals With Lung Cancer.
Mitchell S von Itzstein, Jialiang Liu, Hong Mu-Mosley, Farjana Fattah, Jason Y Park
JTO Clinical and Research Reports. 2025-01-01
Acquired resistance to PD-L1 inhibition enhances a type I IFN-regulated secretory program in tumors.
Yuhao Shi, Amber McKenery, Melissa Dolan, Michalis Mastri, James W Hill
EMBO Reports. 2024-12-11
2 citations
Adjuvant Everolimus in Patients with Completely Resected, Very High-risk Renal Cell Carcinoma of Clear Cell Histology: Results from the Phase 3 Placebo-controlled SWOG...
Primo N Lara Jr, Catherine Tangen, Elisabeth I Heath, Shuchi Gulati, Mark N Stein
European Urology. 2024-09-01

Journal Articles

Association of BRAF V600E/K Mutation Status and Prior BRAF/MEK Inhibition with Pembrolizumab Outcomes in Advanced Melanoma
Igor Puzanov, Kim A Margolin, Jose Lutzky, Ahmad Tarhini, Nageatte Ibrahim, JAMA Oncology
Combined Nivolumab and Ipilimumab in Melanoma Metastatic to the Brain
Kim Margolin, Omid Hamid, Christopher D Lao, Anna C Pavlick, Michael A Postow, F Stephen Hodi, Nikhil I Khushalani, Marc S Ernstoff, Hussein A Tawbi, Igor Puzanov, Ahm..., The New England Journal of Medicine
A Phase II study of bevacizumab and high-dose interleukin-2 in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma: A Cytokine Working Group (CWG) study
Dandamudi UB, Ghebremichael M, Sosman JA, Clark JI, McDermott DF, Atkins MB, Dutcher JP, Urba WJ, Regan MM, Puzanov I, Crocenzi TS, Curti BD, Vaishampayan UN, Crosby N..., J Immunother, 11/1/2013
Future perspectives in melanoma research Meeting report from the "Melanoma Bridge Napoli, December 2nd-4th 2012"
Ascierto PA, Grimaldi AM, Acquavella N, Borgognoni L, Calabrò L, Cascinelli N, Cesano A, Del Vecchio M, Eggermont AM, Faries M, Ferrone S, Fox BA, Gajewski TF, Galon J..., Journal of Translational Medicine, 6/1/2013
Anti-CTLA-4 and BRAF inhibition in patients with metastatic melanoma and brain metastases
Puzanov I, Wolchok JD, Ascierto PA, Hamid O, Margolin K, Expert Rev. Dermatol, 1/1/2013
Vemurafenib: a potent, selective BRAF kinase inhibitor
Puzanov, I, Flaherty, KT Sosman, JA, Grippo, J, Su, F, Bollag, G and Lee, RJ, Drugs of the Future, 1/1/2011
B-RAF inhibitors: An evolving role in the therapy of malignant melanoma
Shepherd C, Puzanov I, and Sosman JA, Current Oncology Reports, 5/1/2010
Current use of targeted therapy in renal cell carcinoma
Puzanov I, Farmakoterapie, 1/1/2010
Optimization of targeted therapy use in renal cell carcinoma
Puzanov I, Farmakoterapie Review, 1/1/2010
Building on a foundation of VEGF and mTOR targeted agents in renal cell carcinoma
Flaherty, KT and Puzanov, I, Biochemical Pharmacology, 1/1/2010
Combination targeted therapy in renal cell carcinoma
Sosman, JA. & Puzanov, I, Cancer, 1/1/2009
Development of new strategies for renal cell carcinoma therapy
Puzanov I. & Liao, C-Y, Farmakoterapie, 1/1/2008
Evolving strategies for the management of multitargeted kinase inhibitor-associated hand-foot skin reaction
Lacouture, ME, Wu, S, Robert, C, Atkins, MB, Kong, HH, Guitart, J, Garbe, C, Hauschild, A, Puzanov, I, Alexandrescu, DT, Anderson, RT, Wood, L. & Dutcher, JP, The Oncologist, 1/1/2008
Opportunities and obstacles to combination targeted therapy in renal cell cancer
Sosman, JA. & Puzanov, I., Atkins MB, Clinical Cancer Research, 1/1/2007
Hybrid resistance by mouse NK cells in vitro
Sivakumar, PV, George, T, Puzanov, IJ., Williams, NS., Stepp, S., Liu, J., Schatzle, J., Lai, WC., Bennett, M. & Kumar, V, Methods in Molecular Biology, 1/1/2000
Development of self-recognition systems in natural killer cells
Sivakumar, PV., Williams, NS., Puzanov, IJ., Schatzle, JD., Bennett, M. & Kumar, V, Advances in Experimental Medicine & Biology, 1/1/1998
Natural killer cell differentiation: insights from knockout and transgenic mouse models and in vitro systems
Williams, NS., Klem J., Puzanov, IJ., Sivakumar, PV., Schatzle, JD., Bennett, M. & Kumar, V., Immunological Reviews, 1/1/1998
Ontogeny and differentiation of murine natural killer cells and their receptors
Sivakumar, PV., Puzanov, I., Williams, NS., Bennett, M. & Kumar, V, Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, 1/1/1998
Ontogeny of NK cells and the role of bone marrow microenvironment and IL-15
Puzanov, IJ., Williams, NS., Schatzle, J., Sivakumar, PV., Bennett, M. & Kumar, V, Research in Immunology, 1/1/1997
BRAF Fusions Define a Distinct Molecular Subset of Melanomas with Potential Sensitivity to MEK Inhibition
Hutchinson KE, Lipson D, Stephens PJ, Otto G, Lyle PL, Vnencak-Jones CL, Ross JS, Sosman JA, Puzanov I, Miller VA, Pao W
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Authored Content

Association of BRAF V600E/K Mutation Status and Prior BRAF/MEK Inhibition with Pembrolizumab Outcomes in Advanced MelanomaJuly 2020
Association of BRAF V600E/K Mutation Status and Prior BRAF/MEK Inhibition with Pembrolizumab Outcomes in Advanced MelanomaJuly 2020

Press Mentions

OncoHost Announces AI-Based Clinical Trial Collaboration to Analyze Immunotherapy ResistanceApril 5th, 2022
Troponin Monitoring Can Detect MyocarditisDecember 31st, 2021
Igor Puzanov on Pegylated IL-2 plus Nivolumab in First-Line Treatment for Metastatic MelanomaNovember 18th, 2021
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Grant Support

P30 Administrative supplement to support participation and leadership of RPCI in NCI ETCTN trialsNIH/NCI Early Therapeutics Clinical Trials Network (ETCTN)2016–2024
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Center Support Grant (CCSG)NIH2014–2024
Genetic and phenotypic biomarkers to predict immune-related adverse events.UT Southwestern Medical Center/ACS2018–2021
RPCI CCSG/Early Phase Clinical Research SupportNIH/NCI2018–2019
Buffalo Clinical and Translational Research CenterNIH/SUNYat Buffalo/NCATS2015–2019
Development of novel immuno-PET techniques for in vivo study of anti-PDL1 antibody therapiesVICC2015
(IND 102, 133) Inhibition of Aurora Kinase A as Treatment for MelanomaFDA2009–2013
Molecular Based Targeted Therapy of MelanomaV Foundation2006–2009
The integrated laboratory and clinical assessment of new anticancer agents in early stages of human testingNIH/NCI2003–2009
PHI Study Of Daily X 5 Intravenous SJG-136National Center For Research Resources2006–2008
Task Order 1 to the Phase I Dose Escalation Study of Daily X 5 Intravenous SJG-136 in Patients with Advanced Solid TumorsTRI CTEP2005–2008
Research Career Development Program, (salary, MSCI tuition, laboratory research support)NIH K122004–2005

Committees

Member, SITC, Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer Immunotherapy Guideline (CIG) Expert Panel 2020 - Present
Member, SITC CTCAE Taskforce 2020 - Present
Member, ORIEN Scientific Retreat Planning Task Force 2019 - Present
Member, SITC Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor and Cytokine‐related Adverse Event Subcommittee 2019 - Present
Member, SITC Biomarkers Committee/Microbiome Subcommittee 2018 - Present
Member, NCCN Guidelines Panel Scientific Committee, Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer Panel (RPCCC) 2017 - Present
Member, Key Faculty Member, Drug Development Core Leadership Group, Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), State University of New York at Buffalo 2017 - Present
Member, I-O Policy Working Group Effort on Serious but Rare Adverse Events, Planning Group (organized by Immuno-Oncology Policy Working Group) 2017 - Present
Member, State University of New York at Buffalo CFAR Investigators (CNS Reservoirs Group) 2017 - Present
Member, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer, Membership Committee 2015 - Present
Member, Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC); Institute for Clinical Immuno-Oncology (ICLIO), faculty 2015 - Present
Member, Amgen, Steering Committee for a Phase Ib clinical trial of TVEC+pembrolizumab in patients with melanoma 2014 - Present
Member, International Consortium for Cell Therapy and Immunotherapy (EU) 2011 - Present
Member, NCI/EORTC/UK International Rare Cancer Initiative-ocular Melanoma Group 2011 - Present
Member, Masaryk Cancer Center, Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic International Advisory Board, Phase I Drug Development 2011 - Present
Member, Melanoma Research Foundation Breakthrough Consortium Immunology Subcommittee/Angiogenesis Subcommittee 2010 - Present
Member, ECOG GU Core Committee 2010 - Present
Member, Scientific Review Committee (RPCCC) 2016 - 2020
Member, Bioanalytics, Metabolomics, and Pharmacokinetics Shared Resources Advisory Committee (RPCCC) 2016 - 2020
Member, Roche, Steering Committee for a Phase II clinical trial of vemurafenib in melanoma patients carrying nonV600E mutations 2011 - 2015
Member, Roche, Steering Committee for a Phase II clinical trial of vemurafenib in tumors carrying V600 mutations 2011 - 2015
Member, GlaxoSmithKline, Cutaneous Events Committee, RAF Inhibitors 2011 - 2014
Member, ACORDA Therapeutics, Inc. Data Safety and Monitoring Board, Phase I Study of GGF2 2011 - 2012
Member, Therapeutic Task Force and Translational Research Committee (Vanderbilt) 2010 - 2016
Member, Angiogenesis Task Force, Cardiotoxicity Group, NCI/CTEP 2010 - 2014
Member, Data Safety and Monitoring Committee (Vanderbilt) 2009 - 2016