Sami N. Malek, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine
Division of Hematology/Oncology

smalek@umich.edu

The laboratory interests are centered on hematological malignancies. We study chronic lymphocytic leukemia, Follicular Lymphoma (NHL) and myelodysplastic syndromes/acute myelogenous leukemia. With regards to CLL we are specifically interested in the following aspects of the disease: i) to obtain genome wide single nucleotide polymorphisms assignments using high density SNP chips and to find new regions of loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and regions of chromosomal amplification. ii) to study genetic instability of CLL prospectively over time iii) to study a new protein that is selectively over expressed in CLL with del13q14 iv) to correlate genetic lesions with clinical outcome using clinical databases and v) to identify genes relevant to CLL pathogenesis using integrated genomic profiling (genomic and expression array integration).

For FL, we are interested in genetic abnormalities, specifically a genome wide search for LOH or amplification using SNP-chips and acquired alterations in follicular lymphoma that correlate with transformation to diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. We have identified target regions for tumor suppressor genes and are in the process of evaluating candidates. We are developing SNP and LOH based clinical assays for FL outcome prediction.

We will shortly be commencing work on the MDS to AML transition using integrated genomic profiling approaches.

Representative Publications

Lisa Kujawski, Peter Ouillette, Harry Erba, Chris Saddler, Andrzej Jakubowiak, Mark Kaminski, Kerby Shedden and Sami N. Malek (2008): Genomic complexity identifies patients with aggressive chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Blood, in press.

Dale Bixby, Lisa Kujawski, Shaomeng Wang and Sami N. Malek (2008): The pre-clinical development of MDM 2 inhibitors in chronic lymphocytic leukemia uncovers a central role for p53 status in sensitivity to MDM 2 inhibitor-mediated apoptosis. Cell Cycle, in press.

Ouillette, P., Erba, H, Kujawski, L., Kaminski, M., Shedden, K. and Malek, S.N. (2008). Integrated Genomic Profiling of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Identifies Subtypes of Deletion 13q14. Cancer Research 68(4), Feb.15, 1012-1021.

Chris Saddler, Peter Ouillette, Lisa Kujawski, Sanjeev Kumar, Moshe Talpaz, Mark Kaminski, Harry Erba, Kerby Shedden, Shaomeng Wang, and Sami N. Malek (2008): Comprehensive Biomarker and Genomic Analysis Identifies P53 Status as the Major Determinant of Response to MDM 2 Inhibitors in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. Blood, Vol. 111, 1584-1593.

Ross CW, Ouillette PD, Saddler CM, Shedden KA, Malek SN . Comprehensive analysis of copy number and allele status identifies multiple chromosome defects underlying follicular lymphoma pathogenesis. Clin Cancer Res. 2007 Aug 15;13(16):4777-85.

Malek, S.N. and Flinn, I. (2003): Incorporating Monoclonal Antibodies in Blood and Marrow Transplantation. Seminars in Oncology, Vol. 30, No. 4, 520-530.

Malek, S.N. , Hatfield, A.J. and Flinn, I.W. (2003): MALT Lymphomas. Current Treatment Options in Oncology Vol. 4, (4). 269-279.

Malek, S.N. and Gore, S.D. Commentary: topoisomerases as targets in acute leukemia: I, II, I plus II or none? Leukemia Research, Jan 27 (1): 1-3, 2003.