Christos Vaklavas
( out of 280 reviews )

Christos Vaklavas, MD

Languages spoken: English, German, Modern Greek

Clinical Locations

Farmington Health Center

Farmington
801-213-3200

Huntsman Cancer Institute - Cancer Hospital North

2K, Gynecology and Mammography
Salt Lake City
801-213-4269

  • Throughout his career, Dr. Vaklavas has developed a series of research activities in breast cancer that span the entire spectrum from lab-based research to clinical trials. In the lab, his focus has been on translation (mRNA to protein) and the discovery of compounds that disrupt oncogenic translation. This research has been supported by a Young Investigator Award from ASCO and a Career Catalyst Award in Basic and Translational Research from Susan G Komen.

    As the Physician Leader in Breast Cancer at Huntsman Cancer Institute, he oversees all clinical research conducted in the Institute pertaining to breast cancer. He oversees the clinical trials portfolio and serves as the Principal Investigator for many clinical trials including investigator-initiated studies that intend to bring the highly innovative basic science conducted at Huntsman Cancer Institute closer to clinical applications.

    Specialties

    Board Certification

    American Board of Internal Medicine (Internal Medicine)
    American Board of Internal Medicine (Sub: Hematology)
    American Board of Internal Medicine (Sub: Medical Oncology)

    Patient Rating

    4.9 /5
    ( out of 280 reviews )

    The patient rating score is an average of all responses on our patient experience survey. The rating averages scores for all questions about care from our providers.

    The scale on which responses are measured is 1 to 5 with 5 being the best score.

    Patient Comments

    Patient comments are gathered from our patient experience survey and displayed in their entirety. For the convenience of our visitors, some patient comments have been translated from their original language into English while preserving their original meaning as accurately as possible. Patients are de-identified for confidentiality and patient privacy.

    March 27, 2025
    FARMINGTON HEALTH CENTER

    I appreciated Dr. Vaklavas's concern about me and the best route to take for my treatment.

    March 09, 2025
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Dr. Vaklavas explains everything carefully and draws diagrams, timeliness whatever we need to understand treatment and results and the way the cancer cells are responding. He is very respectful of our questions and takes time to answer them all. He is personable and kind. He is very respectful and concerned for modesty. We are very grateful for his expertise as well as his thoughtfulness.

    February 21, 2025
    FARMINGTON HEALTH CENTER

    I can't say enough about this Doctor. He is very polite, proffesional, empathetic, knowledgeable, upbeat...he makes sure you understand about your cancer, the amount of it, what his treatment will be and why you need the treatment. He makes sure I understand and if I have any more questions. Gives me the number in case I need him before my next appointment and is upbeat so I can be also. 100% recommend this Doctor as any persons Oncologist.

    February 20, 2025
    FARMINGTON HEALTH CENTER

    Personable and respectful. Wish he had more knowledge of alternate treatments (non-invasive) and the care to suggest them.

    January 23, 2025
    FARMINGTON HEALTH CENTER

    Dr. V is the BEST!

    January 23, 2025
    FARMINGTON HEALTH CENTER

    Very knowledgeable and explains your health and procedures to patients. Friendly and on time!

    January 17, 2025
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Dr. Vaklavas is a very caring and knowledgeable person. He is very open to questions and explains all information and treatments so a new patient to cancer can understand.

    January 05, 2025
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Visit wasn't rushed, went over a lot of information & answered many questions.

    January 05, 2025
    HUNTSMAN CANCER CENTER

    Dr. Vaklavas showed respect and kindness to me. His caring attitude helped me to relax and focus on the information he clearly provided. I'm grateful for his medical knowledge and expert care as a physician.

    See More Patient Comments

  • Throughout his career, Dr. Vaklavas has developed a series of research activities in breast cancer that span the entire spectrum from lab-based research to clinical trials. In the lab, his focus has been on translation (mRNA to protein) and the discovery of compounds that disrupt oncogenic translation. This research has been supported by a Young Investigator Award from ASCO and a Career Catalyst Award in Basic and Translational Research from Susan G Komen.

    As the Physician Leader in Breast Cancer at Huntsman Cancer Institute, he oversees all clinical research conducted in the Institute pertaining to breast cancer. He oversees the clinical trials portfolio and serves as the Principal Investigator for many clinical trials including investigator-initiated studies that intend to bring the highly innovative basic science conducted at Huntsman Cancer Institute closer to clinical applications.

    Board Certification and Academic Information

    Academic Departments Internal Medicine -Associate Professor
    Academic Divisions Oncology
    Board Certification
    American Board of Internal Medicine (Internal Medicine)
    American Board of Internal Medicine (Sub: Hematology)
    American Board of Internal Medicine (Sub: Medical Oncology)

    Selected Publications

    Journal Article

    1. Coletta AM, Playdon MC, Baron KG, Wei M, Kelley K, Vaklavas C, Beck A, Buys SS, Chipman J, Ulrich CM, Walker D, White S, Oza S, Zingg RW, Hansen PA (2021). The association between time-of-day of habitual exercise training and changes in relevant cancer health outcomes among cancer survivors. PLoS One, 16(10:e0258135).
    2. Gonzalez-Ericsson PI, Wulfkhule JD, Gallagher RI, Sun X, Axelrod ML, Sheng Q, Luo N, Gomez H, Sanchez V, Sanders M, Pusztai L, Petricoin E, Blenman KRM, Balko JM, I-SPY2 Trial Team (2021). Tumor-Specific Major Histocompatibility-II Expression Predicts Benefit to Anti-PD-1/L1 Therapy in Patients With HER2-Negative Primary Breast Cancer. Clin Cancer Res, 27(19), 5299-5306.
    3. Stringer-Reasor EM, May JE, Olariu E, Caterinicchia V, Li Y, Chen D, Della Manna DL, Rocque GB, Vaklavas C, Falkson CI, Nabell LM, Acosta EP, Forero-Torres A, Yang ES (2021). An open-label, pilot study of veliparib and lapatinib in patients with metastatic, triple-negative breast cancer. . Breast Cancer Res, 23(1:30).
    4. Chae YK, Hong F, Vaklavas C, Cheng HC, Hammerman P, Mitchell EP, Zwiebel JA, Ivy SP, Gray RJ, Li S, McShane LM, Rubinstein LV, Patton D, Williams PM, Hamilton SR, Mansfield A, Conley BA, Arteaga CL, Harris LN, ODwyer PJ, Chen AP, Flaherty KT (2020). A Phase II Study of AZD4547 in Patients with Tumors harboring Aberrations in the FGFR Pathway: Results from the NCI-MATCH Trial (EAY131) Sub-protocol W. J Clin Oncol, 38(21), 2407-2417.
    5. Vaklavas C, Roberts BS, Varley KE, Lin NU, Liu MC, Rugo HS, Puhalla S, Nanda R, Storniolo AM, Carey LA, Saleh MN, Li Y, Delossantos JF, Grizzle WE, LoBuglio AF, Myers RM, Forero-Torres A on behalf of the Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium (2020). TBCRC 002: A phase II, randomized, open label trial of preoperative letrozole with or without bevacizumab in post-menopausal women with newly diagnosed stage II/III hormone receptor positive and HER2 negative breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res, 22(1:22).
    6. Vaklavas C, Blume SW, Grizzle WE (2020). Hallmarks and Determinants of Oncogenic Translation Revealed by Ribosome Profiling in Models of Breast Cancer. . Transl Oncol, 13(2), 452-470.
    7. Connolly RM, Leal JP, Solnes L, Huang CY, Carpenter A, Gaffney K, Abramson V, Carey LA, Liu MC, Rimawi M, Specht J, Storniolo AM, Valero V, Vaklavas C, Krop IE, Winer EP, Camp M, Miller RS, Wolff AC, Cimino-Mathews A, Park BH, Wahl RL, Stearns V (2019). TBCRC026: Phase II Trial Correlating Standardized Uptake Value With Pathologic Complete Response to Pertuzumab and Trastuzumab in Breast Cancer. J Clin Oncol, 37(9), 714-722. (Read full article)
    8. Vaklavas C, Zinn KR, Samuel SL, Meng Z, Grizzle WE, Choi H, Blume SW (2018). Translational control of the undifferentiated phenotype in ER‑positive breast tumor cells: Cytoplasmic localization of ERα and impact of IRES inhibition. Oncol Rep, 39(6), 2482-2498. (Read full article)
    9. Vaklavas C, Blume SW, Grizzle WE (2017). Translational Dysregulation in Cancer: Molecular Insights and Potential Clinical Applications in Biomarker Development. Front Oncol, 7, 158. (Read full article)
    10. Chae YK, Ranganath K, Hammerman PS, Vaklavas C, Mohindra N, Kalyan A, Matsangou M, Costa R, Carneiro B, Villaflor VM, Cristofanilli M, Giles FJ (2016). Inhibition of the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) pathway: the current landscape and barriers to clinical application. Oncotarget, 8(9), 16052-16074. (Read full article)
    11. Vaklavas C, Grizzle WE, Choi H, Meng Z, Zinn KR, Shrestha K, Blume SW (2016). IRES inhibition induces terminal differentiation and synchronized death in triple-negative breast cancer and glioblastoma cells. Tumour Biol, 37(10), 13247-13264. (Read full article)
    12. Rugo HS, et al, I-SPY2 Investigators (2016). Adaptive Randomization of Veliparib-Carboplatin Treatment in Breast Cancer. N Engl J Med, 375(1), 23-34.
    13. Park JW, et al, I-SPY2 Investigators (2016). Adaptive Randomization of Neratinib in Early Breast Cancer. N Engl J Med, 375(1), 11-22.
    14. Forero A, Li Y, Chen D, Grizzle WE, Updike KL, Merz ND, Downs-Kelly E, Burwell TC, Vaklavas C, Buchsbaum DJ, Myers RM, LoBuglio AF, Varley KE (2016). Expression of the MHC Class II Pathway in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Tumor Cells Is Associated with a Good Prognosis and Infiltrating Lymphocytes. Cancer Immunol Res, 4(5), 390-9. (Read full article)
    15. Morris GJ, Dawood S, Cortes J, Ward JH, Vaklavas C, Forero A, Ward S, Toppmeyer D (2015). Sub-centimeter HER2-Positive Breast Cancer: How Small Is Too Small to Treat? Semin Oncol, 42(4), e67-79. (Read full article)
    16. Turner NC, et al, PALOMA3 Study Group (2015). Palbociclib in Hormone-Receptor-Positive Advanced Breast Cancer. N Engl J Med, 373(3), 209-19.
    17. Paoletti C, Li Y, Muiz MC, Kidwell KM, Aung K, Thomas DG, Brown ME, Abramson VG, Irvin WJ Jr, Lin NU, Liu MC, Nanda R, Nangia JR, Storniolo AM, Traina TA, Vaklavas C, Van Poznak CH, Wolff AC, Forero-Torres A, Hayes DF, Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium TBCRC (2015). Significance of Circulating Tumor Cells in Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Patients within a Randomized, Phase II Trial: TBCRC 019. Clin Cancer Res, 21(12), 2771-9. (Read full article)
    18. Forero-Torres A, Varley KE, Abramson VG, Li Y, Vaklavas C, Lin NU, Liu MC, Rugo HS, Nanda R, Storniolo AM, Traina TA, Patil S, Van Poznak CH, Nangia JR, Irvin WJ Jr, Krontiras H, De Los Santos JF, Haluska P, Grizzle W, Myers RM, Wolff AC, Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium TBCRC (2015). TBCRC 019: A Phase II Trial of Nanoparticle Albumin-Bound Paclitaxel with or without the Anti-Death Receptor 5 Monoclonal Antibody Tigatuzumab in Patients with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer. Clin Cancer Res, 21(12), 2722-9. (Read full article)
    19. Vaklavas C, Meng Z, Choi H, Grizzle WE, Zinn KR, Blume SW (2015). Small molecule inhibitors of IRES-mediated translation. Cancer Biol Ther, 16(10), 1471-85. (Read full article)
    20. Vaklavas C, Forero A (2014). Management of metastatic breast cancer with second-generation antibody-drug conjugates: focus on glembatumumab vedotin (CDX-011, CR011-vcMMAE). BioDrugs, 28(3), 253-63. (Read full article)
    21. Tsimberidou AM, Vaklavas C, Fu S, Wen S, Lim JA, Hong D, Wheler J, Naing A, Uehara C, Wallace M, Kurzrock R (2014). Hepatic arterial infusion therapy in advanced cancer and liver-predominant disease: the MD Anderson Experience. Hepatogastroenterology, 60(127), 1611-23. (Read full article)
    22. Vaklavas C, Meredith RF, Shen S, Knox SJ, Micallef IN, Shah JJ, LoBuglio AF, Forero-Torres A (2013). Phase I study of a modified regimen of ⁹⁰Yttrium-ibritumomab tiuxetan for relapsed or refractory follicular or transformed CD20+ non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Cancer Biother Radiopharm, 28(5), 370-9. (Read full article)
    23. Yadav BS, Bansal A, Sharma SC, Javid SH, Anderson BO, Vaklavas C, Forero A, Ravi V, Patel S, Boudadi K, Chugh R, Morris GJ (2013). A 62-year-old woman with osteogenic sarcoma in the contralateral breast 15 years after treatment for breast cancer. Semin Oncol, 40(2), 135-44. (Read full article)
    24. Vaklavas C, Forero-Torres A (2013). Safety and efficacy of brentuximab vedotin in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma or systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma. Ther Adv Hematol, 3(4), 209-25. (Read full article)
    25. Garrido-Laguna I, Janku F, Vaklavas C, Falchook GS, Fu S, Hong DS, Naing A, Tsimberidou AM, Wen S, Kurzrock R (2011). Validation of the Royal Marsden Hospital prognostic score in patients treated in the Phase I Clinical Trials Program at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. Cancer, 118(5), 1422-8. (Read full article)
    26. Vaklavas C, Ross JR, Nabell LM, Forero A, Heslin MJ, Wood TE (2012). By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes: sporadic cancers versus eponymous hereditary cancer predisposition syndromes. J Natl Compr Canc Netw, 10(1), 7-13. (Read full article)
    27. Vaklavas C, Steciuk MR, Ren Y, Baird MF, Mikhail FM, Foran JM (2011). A case of acute promyelocytic leukemia without RARα rearrangement and apparently normal cytogenetics. Clin Lymphoma Myeloma Leuk, 11(6), 521-4. (Read full article)
    28. Vaklavas C, Forero-Torres A (2011). How do I treat "triple-negative" disease. Curr Treat Options Oncol, 12(4), 369-88. (Read full article)
    29. Vaklavas C, Chatzizisis YS, Tsimberidou AM (2011). Common cardiovascular medications in cancer therapeutics. Pharmacol Ther, 130(2), 177-90. (Read full article)
    30. Vaklavas C, Tsimberidou AM, Wen S, Hong D, Wheler J, Ng CS, Naing A, Uehara C, Wolff RA, Kurzrock R (2010). Phase 1 clinical trials in 83 patients with pancreatic cancer: The M.D. Anderson Cancer Center experience. Cancer, 117(1), 77-85. (Read full article)
    31. Vaklavas C, Sotelo-Rafiq EP, Lovy J, Escobar MA, Tsimberidou AM (2010). Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in a patient without apparent immunosuppression. Virol J, 7, 256. (Read full article)
    32. Chatzizisis YS, Koskinas KC, Misirli G, Vaklavas C, Hatzitolios A, Giannoglou GD (2010). Risk factors and drug interactions predisposing to statin-induced myopathy: implications for risk assessment, prevention and treatment. Drug Saf, 33(3), 171-87. (Read full article)
    33. Guerrouahen BS, Futami M, Vaklavas C, Kanerva J, Whichard ZL, Nwawka K, Blanchard EG, Lee FY, Robinson LJ, Arceci R, Kornblau SM, Wieder E, Cayre YE, Corey SJ (2010). Dasatinib inhibits the growth of molecularly heterogeneous myeloid leukemias. Clin Cancer Res, 16(4), 1149-58. (Read full article)
    34. Vaklavas C, Lenihan D, Kurzrock R, Tsimberidou AM (2010). Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapies and cardiovascular toxicity: what are the important clinical markers to target? Oncologist, 15(2), 130-41. (Read full article)
    35. Aguilera DG, Vaklavas C, Tsimberidou AM, Wen S, Medeiros LJ, Corey SJ (2009). Pediatric therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome/acute myeloid leukemia: the MD Anderson Cancer Center experience. J Pediatr Hematol Oncol, 31(11), 803-11. (Read full article)
    36. Tsimberidou AM, Vaklavas C, Wen S, Hong D, Wheler J, Ng C, Naing A, Tse S, Busaidy N, Markman M, Sherman SI, Kurzrock R (2009). Phase I clinical trials in 56 patients with thyroid cancer: the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center experience. J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 94(11), 4423-32. (Read full article)
    37. Vaklavas C, Chatzizisis YS, Ziakas A, Zamboulis C, Giannoglou GD (2008). Molecular basis of statin-associated myopathy. Atherosclerosis, 202(1), 18-28. (Read full article)
    38. Vaklavas C, Tefferi A, Butterfield J, Ketterling R, Verstovsek S, Kantarjian H, Pardanani A (2006). 'Idiopathic' eosinophilia with an Occult T-cell clone: prevalence and clinical course. Leuk Res, 31(5), 691-4. (Read full article)
    39. Christakis C, Vaklavas C, Kontos N, Chatzidimitriou C, Tzelepi K, Karanikas M, Christakis E (2005). Pelvic reconstruction of the retroperitoneum after abdominoperineal resection of the rectum using full-thickness skin grafts. Tech Coloproctol, 8 Suppl 1, s85-8. (Read full article)

    Book Chapter

    1. Vaklavas C, LoBuglio AF, Saleh M, Yelin M, Forero A (2013). CDX-011 (Glembatumumab Vedotin, CR011-vcMMAE). In Antibody-Drug Conjugates and Immunotoxins: From Pre-Clinical Development to Therapeutic Applications; Cancer Drug Discovery and Development series (pp. 211-20). Springer.
    2. Forero A, Vaklavas C, LoBuglio AF (2013). Brentuximab Vedotin (SGN-35) for CD30 Positive Malignancies. In Antibody- Drug Conjugates and Immunotoxins: From Pre-Clinical Development to Therapeutic Applications; Cancer Drug Discovery and Development series (pp. 161-75). Springer.

    Editorial

    1. Welm BE, Vaklavas C, Welm AL (2021). Toward improved models of human cancer. 5(1).
    2. Vaklavas C, Chatzizisis YS (2010). The changing perspective of cardiology in cancer care. Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther, 9(1), 1-3. (Read full article)

    Letter

    1. Chatzizisis YS, Vaklavas C, Giannoglou GD (2007). Coenzyme Q10 depletion: etiopathogenic or predisposing factor in statin associated myopathy? [Letter to the editor]. Am J Cardiol, 101(7), 1071. (Read full article)

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