Sanaz Memarzadeh, MD, PhD

The main focus area in the G.O. (gynecologic oncology) Discovery Laboratory led by Dr. Sanaz Memarzadeh is understanding why some gynecologic cancers, including ovarian and endometrial cancer, relapse despite current standard of care treatments. To understand this clinical challenge, the laboratory team is taking two approaches:

1. Identification of a population of tumor cells that may be uniquely poised to escape therapy, and
2. Testing combination treatment options that target unique vulnerabilities in these cells.

Memarzadeh and her team have leveraged remarkable expertise within the UCLA scientific community through collaborative efforts focused on addressing these questions. Ongoing work is aimed at

1. testing a therapeutic strategy that targets the most common genetic alteration in all human cancers (p53),
2. assessing whether carboplatin resistant tumor cells resemble other aggressive cancers such as small cell neuroendocrine carcinomas,
3. testing combinations that may overcome resistance to immune therapy in ovarian cancer, and
4. defining driver mutations that can initiate cancer in normal gynecologic tissues.

Memarzadeh also has a keen interest in developing and executing clinical trials that can help advance the care of women with gynecologic cancers. As a clinician scientist, Memarzadeh and her team are well-poised to translate scientific findings into potential therapies through innovative clinical trials. They hope to achieve this goal through scientific research in collaboration with other leading-edge expertise at the Jonsonn Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Neal AS, Nunez M, Lai T, Tosevska A, Morselli M, Amneus M, Zakhour M, Moatamed NA, Pellegrini M, Memarzadeh S. Expression of Stromal Progesterone Receptor and Differential Methylation Patterns in the Endometrium May Correlate with Response to Progesterone Therapy in Endometrial Complex Atypical Hyperplasia. Reprod Sci. 2020 Mar 2. doi: 10.1007/s43032-020-00175-w. Epub ahead of print.

Phan N, Hong JJ, Tofig B, Mapua M, Elashoff D, Moatamed NA, Huang J, Memarzadeh S, Damoiseaux R, Soragni A. A simple high-throughput approach identifies actionable drug sensitivities in patient-derived tumor organoids. Commun Biol. 2019 Feb 25;2:78. doi: 10.1038/s42003-019-0305-x.

Soragni A, Janzen DM, Johnson LM, Lindgren AG, Thai-Quynh Nguyen A, Tiourin E, Soriaga AB, Lu J, Jiang L, Faull KF, Pellegrini M, Memarzadeh S, Eisenberg DS. A Designed Inhibitor of p53 Aggregation Rescues p53 Tumor Suppression in Ovarian Carcinomas. Cancer Cell. 2016 Jan 11;29(1):90-103. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2015.12.002. Epub 2015 Dec 31.

Tiourin E, Velasco VS, Rosales MA, Sullivan PS, Janzen DM, Memarzadeh S. Tubal Ligation Induces Quiescence in the Epithelia of the Fallopian Tube Fimbria. Reprod Sci. 2015 Oct;22(10):1262-71. doi: 10.1177/1933719115574345. Epub 2015 Mar 2.

Janzen DM, Paik DY, Rosales MA, Yep B, Cheng D, Witte ON, Kayadibi H, Ryan CM, Jung ME, Faull K, Memarzadeh S. Low levels of circulating estrogen sensitize PTEN-null endometrial tumors to PARP inhibition in vivo. Mol Cancer Ther. 2013 Dec;12(12):2917-28. doi: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-13-0572. Epub 2013 Nov 12.