Beth Karlan, MD Director, Gyn/Oncology Director, Women's Cancer Research Institute
Email: beth.karlan@cshs.org Phone: (310) 423-3302 Fax: (310) 423-9753

Institute Affiliation

Academic Appointments

Awards and Activities

Research Focus

Discovery of ovarian cancer specific biomarkers for early detection, targeted/individualized therapy and prognostication. Inherited cancer susceptibility, specifically cancers associated with BRCA mutations. Clinical studies involve early detection in high risk populations as well as targeted therapies for ovarian cancer.

Research Contributions

Gilda Radner Hereditary Cancer Detection Program findngs helped shape the NIH Consensus Statement on Ovarian Cancer Screening. Molecular analysis demonstrated the multifocality of these tumors, and focused screening efforts on biomarkers. Analysis of BRCA ovarian cancers demonstrated improved survival and enhanced platinum sensitivity. Further analysis demonstrated secondary mutations as a mechanism of acquired platinum resistance.

Current investigations include:

Genomic and proteomic profiles that comprise ovarian cancer-specific signatures. Hereditary cancer penetrance, behavior and epigenetic modifiers.

Selected Publications

1. Walsh CS, Ogawa S, Karahashi H, Scoles DR, Pavelka JC, Tran H, Miller CW, Kawamata N, Ginther C, Dering J, Sanada M, Nannya Y, Slamon DJ, Koeffler HP, Karlan BY: ERCC5 is a novel biomarker of ovarian cancer prognosis. J. Clin. Oncol., 26(18): 2952-8, 2008
2. Sakai W, Swisher EM, Karlan BY, Agarwal MK, Higgins J, Friedman C, Villegas E, Jacquemont C, Farrugia DJ, Couch FJ, Urban N, Taniguchi T: Secondary mutations as a mechanism of cisplatin resistance in BRCA2-mutated cancers. Nature, 451(7182): 1116-20, 2008
3. Karlan BY, Berchuck A, Mutch D: The role of genetic testing for cancer susceptibility in gynecologic practice. Obstetrics and gynecology, 110(1): 155-67, 2007
4. Gordon MS, Matei D, Aghajanian C, Matulonis UA, Brewer M, Fleming GF, Hainsworth JD, Garcia AA, Pegram MD, Schilder RJ, Cohn DE, Roman L, Derynck MK, Ng K, Lyons B, Allison DE, Eberhard DA, Pham TQ, Dere RC, Karlan BY: Clinical activity of pertuzumab (rhuMAb 2C4), a HER dimerization inhibitor, in advanced ovarian cancer: potential predictive relationship with tumor HER2 activation status. J. Clin. Oncol., 24(26): 4324-32, 2006
5. Cass I, Holschneider C, Datta N, Barbuto D, Walts AE, Karlan BY: BRCA-mutation-associated fallopian tube carcinoma: a distinct clinical phenotype?. Obstetrics and gynecology, 106(6): 1327-34, 2005
6. Li AJ, Elmore RG, Pavelka JC, Karlan BY: Hyperandrogenism, mediated by obesity and receptor polymorphisms, promotes aggressive epithelial ovarian cancer biology. Gynecol. Oncol., 107(3): 420-3, 2007