Christos Vaklavas
( out of 387 reviews )

Christos Vaklavas, MD

Languages spoken: English, German, Modern Greek

Clinical Locations

Farmington Health Center

801-213-3200

Farmington Health Center

2K, Gynecology and Mammography
801-213-3200

  • 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

    4.8 /5
    ( out of 387 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.
    Patients are de-identified for confidentiality and patient privacy.

    September 28, 2023
    FARMINGTON HEALTH CENTER

    Very caring and very informed on latest treatments

    September 21, 2023
    HUNTSMAN MENTAL HEALTH INSTITUTE

    Professional, good bed side manner, concerned about me, took the time I needed without me feeling rushed.

    September 21, 2023
    FARMINGTON HEALTH CENTER

    I feel very confident in his care. He listened to my questions and answered them well.

    September 14, 2023
    FARMINGTON HEALTH CENTER

    He is a kind and understanding dr. Who listens to you. He makes you feel important and not just another case.

    September 08, 2023
    HUNTSMAN MENTAL HEALTH INSTITUTE

    When I told him my wishes of getting my treatment started he did everything possible to make that happen. Very understanding in what my needs where and why.

    September 07, 2023
    FARMINGTON HEALTH CENTER

    I feel listened to and that he has my best interests at heart.

    August 31, 2023
    FARMINGTON HEALTH CENTER

    None better. Thanks to his whole team.

    August 23, 2023
    FARMINGTON HEALTH CENTER

    He went over my health history very carefully with me. He also went over my medications.

    August 17, 2023
    FARMINGTON HEALTH CENTER

    I could not be happier with my entire oncology team. Dr. Vaklavas is always timely, courteous, compassionate, and takes the time to discuss my options for treatment. I feel very blessed to have him as a doctor.

    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 -Primary
    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).
    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.
    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).
    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).
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    28. Vaklavas C, Forero-Torres A (2011). How do I treat "triple-negative" disease. Curr Treat Options Oncol, 12(4), 369-88.
    29. Vaklavas C, Chatzizisis YS, Tsimberidou AM (2011). Common cardiovascular medications in cancer therapeutics. Pharmacol Ther, 130(2), 177-90.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    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.
    37. Vaklavas C, Chatzizisis YS, Ziakas A, Zamboulis C, Giannoglou GD (2008). Molecular basis of statin-associated myopathy. Atherosclerosis, 202(1), 18-28.
    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.
    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.

    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.

    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.