Christos Fountzilas

MD, FACP
Medical Oncology
Buffalo Spree Top Doctor 2024

Dr. Fountzilas is a Buffalo Spree Top Doctor! See all of our physicians who made this year's list.

Top Doctors 2024

Cancers Treated:

Specializing In:

Early phase clinical trials

Research Interests:

DNA repair dysregulation in gastrointestinal cancers Biomarker-driven therapy of gastrointestinal cancers Novel immunotherapeutics for gastrointestinal malignancies (cellular immunotherapy, cytokine therapy, oncolytic virotherapy) Drug development Biomarker identification

About Christos Fountzilas

Biography:

I am a board certified medical oncologist focusing in gastrointestinal cancers with special emphasis in in pancreatic cancer. My research interests include drug development for gastrointestinal cancers, novel immunotherapy strategies and biomarker discovery.

Positions

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • Associate Professor of Oncology
  • Department of Medicine
  • Co-Leader, Gastrointestinal Clinical Disease Team
  • Associate Director for Solid Tumors, Early Phase Clinical Trials Program

Background

Education and Training:

  • 2000-2006 - MD - Aristotle University of Thessaloniki School of Medicine

Residency:

  • 2007-2008 - Post Graduate Internship, Athens Naval Hospital and Veterans Medical Center, Hellenic Navy, Athens, Greece
  • 2010-2013 - Internal Medicine, Lenox Hill Hospital, Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, New York, New York

Fellowship:

  • 2013-2016 - Hematology and Medical Oncology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas

Board Certification:

  • Medical Oncology Board Certification, Greece
  • American Board of Internal Medicine-Certification in Medical Oncology
  • American Board of Internal Medicine-Certification in Hematology
  • American Board of Internal Medicine-Certification in Internal Medicine

Professional Memberships:

  • American Association for Cancer Research
  • European Society for Medical Oncology
  • American Society of Clinical Oncology
  • American College of Physicians
  • North American Neuroendocrine Tumor Society
  • American College of Gastroenterology
  • Athens Medical Association

Professional Experience:

  • 2013-2016 - Hematology/Medical Oncology Fellowship, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX
  • 2010-2013 - Internal Medicine Residency, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, NY
  • 2007-2010 - Medical Officer, Hellenic Navy, Athens, Greece

Honors & Awards:

  • 2022 - Young Investigator Award, National Comprehensive Cancer Network Foundation
  • 2020 - Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PANCAN) Patient Champions
  • 2019 - Fellow, American College of Physicians
  • 2015-2016 - Cancer Research Training Program from Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, RP140105
  • 2015 - Harold F. and Sarah L. McDonald Scholar Award for Excellence in Oncology
  • 2015 - AACR/ASCO 2015 Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshop
  • 2009 - Hellenic Republic Medal for participation in international peacekeeping operations
  • 2008 - United Nations Peacekeeping Medal
  • 2006-2007 - Hellenic State Scholarship Foundation Award
  • 2005-2006 - Hellenic State Scholarship Foundation Scholarship

Clinical Trials


Featured on Cancer Talk


Publications

Full Publications list on PubMed

- Fountzilas C, Bajor D, Mukherjee S, Saltzman J, Witkiewicz A, Maguire O, Minderman H, Nambiar R, Rosenheck H, Knudsen E, Muhitch J, Abrams S, Wang K, Hutson A, Attwood K, Hicks K, Jurcevic J, Kalinski P, Iyer R, Boland PM. Phase Ib/II study of Cetuximab Plus Pembrolizumab in Patients with Advanced RAS wild-type Colorectal Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2021 Oct 13:clincanres.1650.2021. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-21-1650
- Mahalingam D, Wilkinson G, Eng K, Fields P, Raber P, Moseley J, Cheetham K, Coffey M, Nuovo G, Kalinski P, Zhang B, Arora S, Fountzilas C. Pembrolizumab in combination with the oncolytic virus pelareorep and chemotherapy in patients with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma, a Phase 1b study. Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Nov 6. pii: clincanres.2078.2019. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-19-2078.
- Zonneville J, Wang M, Alruwaili MM, Smith B, Melnick M, Eng KH, Melendy T, Park BH, Iyer R, Fountzilas C, Bakin AV. Selective therapeutic strategy for p53-deficient cancer by targeting dysregulation in DNA repair. Commun Biol 4, 862 (2021). doi: 10.1038/s42003-021-02370-0
- Fountzilas C, Gupta M, Lee S, Krishnamurthi S, Estfan B, Wang K, Attwood K, Wilton J, Bies R, Bshara W, Iyer RV. A Multicenter Phase Ib/II Study of Tivozanib in Patients with Advanced Inoperable Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Br J Cancer 122, 963–970 (2020). doi: 10.1038/s41416-020-0737-6
- Ling X, Wu W, Aljahdali IAM, Liao J, Santha S, Fountzilas C, Boland PM, Li F. FL118, acting as a 'molecular glue degrader', binds to dephosphorylates and degrades the oncoprotein DDX5 (p68) to control c-Myc, survivin and mutant Kras against colorectal and pancreatic cancer with high efficacy. Clin Transl Med. 2022 May;12(5):e881. doi: 10.1002/ctm2.881. PMID: 35604033; PMCID: PMC9126027.