Wasif Saif, M.D., MBBS

Specialties

Oncology - Medical

Board Certification

American Board of Internal Medicine - Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology

Multidisciplinary Team

Language(s) Spoken

English, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu

Locations

Karmanos Cancer Center
4100 John R
Detroit, MI 48201
Get Directions

Phone:1-800-KARMANOS

Call For Appointment

Podcast: Listen

Cancers Treatments

Cancers Treated

Locations

Karmanos Cancer Center

4100 John R
Detroit, MI 48201
Get Directions

Phone:1-800-KARMANOS

Get Directions

Education

Cancers Treatments

Clinical Trials

A Phase 1a/1b Study Investigating the Safety, Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Preliminary Antitumor Activity of the CDK4 Inhibitor BGB-43395, Alone or as Part of Combination Therapies in Patients with Metastatic HR+/HER2- Breast Cance

Cancer Category
Brain and Nervous System,Breast,Gastrointestinal (GI),Genitourinary (GU),Gynecologic,Head and Neck,Lung,Skin
Age Group
Adult
Phase
Phase I

A Phase I Clinical Study to Evaluate the Safety, Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics, and Clinical Activity of GSK5764227 in Participants with Advanced Solid Tumors

Cancer Category
Breast,Gastrointestinal (GI),Genitourinary (GU),Gynecologic,Lung,Skin
Age Group
Adult
Phase
Phase I

A Phase 1/2, Open-Label, Dose-Escalation and Cohort-Expansion Study Evaluating the Safety, Pharmacokinetics, and Therapeutic Activity of OBI-992 in Subjects with Advanced Solid Tumors

Cancer Category
Gastrointestinal (GI),Lung
Age Group
Adult
Phase
Phase I/II

Additional Info

Dr. Saif is an internationally renowned expert in gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, experimental therapeutics, and pharmacogenetics. He is recognized as a key opinion leader and a dedicated clinician. Over the past two decades, he has led numerous clinical trials, including those resulting in FDA-approved therapies for various tumor types. He has vast experience with phase I dose-defining and hypothesis-driven studies and has collaborated with leading institutions such as Yale, Columbia, and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories.

Dr. Saif’s research is deeply rooted in translational studies in GI carcinogenesis, predictive biomarkers, and mechanisms of resistance to cancer therapeutics. His work has often involved collaborative “team science” projects and systems biology approaches to uncover genetic pathways and associated networks. He has also made significant contributions to research on fluoropyrimidine drugs, focusing on dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) deficiency, the uracil breath test, and thymidylate synthase genotyping, among other areas.

In addition to his clinical trial leadership, Dr. Saif has coordinated and co-led large-scale database analyses and served as a principal investigator (PI) for numerous national and international studies, many of which have been published in high-impact journals and laid the foundation for future clinical research. He has contributed to over 600 peer-reviewed publications, 75 abstracts, and 24 book chapters and serves on several editorial boards. Dr. Saif is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences and continues to serve on grant review committees worldwide

Related News

December 18, 2024
Karmanos Cancer Institute Physicians Begin Prescribing New FDA-approved Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Device to Treat Advanced Liver Cancer

The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute , the largest provider of cancer care and research in Michigan and part of McLaren Health Care, announced today that the new TheraBionic P1 device, an FDA-approved, at-home treatment , is now available to treat advanced liver cancer. Karmanos Cancer Center is the first institution worldwide to prescribe this treatment. The TheraBionic P1 device is a novel, handheld, portable device that produces low levels of 27.12 MHz radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, whic...
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December 09, 2024
IN THE NEWS: Where Do We Stand with DCTs Heading Into 2025?

Clinical Leader As we approach a new year, Clinical Leader asked clinical trials professionals about the success and future outlook of using decentralized clinical trials (DCT). Wasif Saif, M.D., MBBS , medical oncologist and leader of the Phase I Clinical Trials Multidisciplinary Team at Karmanos, explained how DCTs have provided access to many cancer patients, and what should be considered when designing a trial. Read the article here .
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December 02, 2024
IN THE NEWS: Cancer Researcher Highlights ‘Myths and Misconceptions’ Patients Have About Trials

Healio Do you understand how clinical trials work in oncology? Wasif Saif, M.D., MBBS , medical oncologist, leader of the Phase I Clinical Trials Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) and co-leader of the Gastrointestinal and Neuroendocrine Oncology MDT , debunked a common myth about clinical trials for cancer and explained why there are no placebos in phase I trials. Read the article here . Learn more about clinical trials at Karmanos here .
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Awards

President Centenary Gold Medal
Harper Nelson Raghbir Gold Medal
America's Top Doctors for Cancer since 2009
New York Magazine: Top Doctor, 2020
Boston Magazine: Top Doctor 2017, 2018
Newsweek: Best Doctor, 2016
Sutherland Memorial Gold Medal
Mackenzie Memorial Silver Medal

Professional Memberships

American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO)
Carcinoid Foundation, NANETS, International Society of Gastrointestinal Oncology (ISGIO)
American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET)

Publications

Saif MW, Becerra CR, Fakih MG, Sun W, Popovic L, Krishnamurthi S, George TJ, Rudek MA, Shepard DR,Skopek J, Sramek V, Zaric B, Yamamiya I, Benhadji KA, Hamada K, He Y, Rosen L. A phase I, open-label study evaluating the safety and pharmacokinetics of trifluridine/tipiracil in patients with advanced solidtumors and varying degrees of renal impairment. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 2021 Sep;88(3):485-497. doi: 10.1007/s00280-021-04308-z.
Saif MW, Rajagopal S, Caplain J, Grimm E, Serebrennikova O,Das M, Tsichlis PN, Martell R. A phase I delayed-start, randomized and pharmacodynamic study ofmetformin and chemotherapy in patients with solid tumors. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 2019Dec;84(6):1323-1331. doi: 10.1007/s00280-019-03967-3.
Saif MW, Eloubeidi MA, Russo S, Steg A,Thornton J, Fiveash J, Carpenter M, Blanquicett C, Diasio RB, Johnson MR. Phase I study of capecitabine with concomitant radiotherapy for patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer: expression analysis of genes related to outcome. J Clin Oncol. 2005 Dec 1;23(34):8679-87. doi:10.1200/JCO.2005.02.0628.
Sahai V, Saif MW, Kalyan A, Philip PA, Rocha-Lima CM, Ocean A, Ondovik MS, Simeone DM, Banerjee S, Bhore R, Louis CU, Picozzi V. A Phase I/II Open-Label Multicenter Single-Arm Study of FABLOx (Metronomic 5-Fluorouracil Plus nab-Paclitaxel, Bevacizumab, Leucovorin, and Oxaliplatin) in Patients with Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer. J Pancreatc Cancer. 2019 Sep 25;5(1):35-42.doi: 10.1089/pancan.2019.0012.
Chu E, Haller D, Cartwright T, Twelves C, Cassidy J, Sun W, Saif MW,McKenna E, Lee S, Schmoll HJ. Epidemiology and natural history of central venous access device use and infusion pump function in the NO16966 trial. Br J Cancer. 2014 Mar 18;110(6):1438-45. doi:10.1038/bjc.2014.74.

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Wasif Saif, M.D., MBBS