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

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

November 16, 2024
IN THE NEWS: 'Young and Healthy' Millennials on Shock Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis

Newsweek Though the recommended age to begin receiving colonoscopies is 45, there has been a noticeable amount of people being diagnosed with colorectal cancer at even younger ages. Wasif Saif, M.D., MBBS , medical oncologist, co-leader of the Gastrointestinal and Neuroendocrine Oncology Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) and leader of the Phase I Clinical Trials MDT , explained the symptoms and risk factors of colorectal cancer that people of average and high-risk need to know, including ho...
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July 30, 2024
IN THE NEWS: New Screening Approved to Test for Colorectal Cancer

WJR The FDA has approved a new blood test to screen for colorectal cancer, called Shield. This screening is available to adults 45 and older who are at an average risk of developing colon cancer. Wasif Saif, M.D., MBBS , medical oncologist, co-leader of the Gastrointestinal and Neuroendocrine Oncology Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) and leader of the Phase I Clinical Trials MDT , joined ‘JR Morning to answer some questions about what this new test means for the future of colorectal cancer screening. Schedu...
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May 20, 2024
Karmanos Welcomes Wasif Saif, M.D., to Lead Phase I Clinical Trials

The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute welcomes Wasif Saif, M.D., MBBS , as the new leader of the Phase I Clinical Trials Multidisciplinary Team and co-leader of the Gastrointestinal (GI) and Neuroendocrine Oncology Multidisciplinary Team (MDT). Dr. Saif is a world-renowned hematologist and oncologist specializing in GI cancers, experimental therapeutics and pharmacogenetics. He joined Karmanos on March 1, 2024. “Karmanos Cancer Institute is a trailblazer in cancer research and has been a m...
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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