Prof. Anwaar Saeed

I am an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. I serve as the Chief of the Gastrointestinal (GI) Medical Oncology Program. I also serve as the Vice Chair of the Colorectal Cancer Committee of the NSABP Foundation. My research efforts are focused on immune modulatory approaches in patients with gastric & esophageal cancer, colon cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma as well as chemoprevention/ immunoprevention in the high-risk GI population. I have published more than 150 peer reviewed papers, posters and book chapters, and have led more than 40 clinical trials, focused on various immune modulatory regimens including but not limited to immune check point inhibitor combinations with chemotherapy, other checkpoint inhibitors, antibody drug conjugates, bi-specific T cell engagers (BiTE), angiogenesis inhibitors, as well as immunotherapy combinations with regional approaches like stereotactic radiosurgery and intensity-modulated radiation therapy. I currently lead several investigator-initiated trials focused on novel targeted immunotherapy combinations including the ongoing phase I/II CAMILLA multicohort study looking at Cabozantinib plus Durvalumab with or without Tremelimumab in GI malignancies. Results from phase I/II part of the CAMILLA led to the development of the currently ongoing global pivotal trial, STELLAR 303, in patients with previously treated microsatellite stable colorectal cancer. I am also the study chair for a soon to open SWOG/intergroup NCI national trial (S2303) testing a novel chemo-immunotherapy regimen in patients with advanced gastric & esophageal adenocarcinoma.