Michael J Birrer, PhD, MD

Research Program: Cancer Therapeutics Faculty Rank: Vice Chancellor and Director, WPR Cancer Institute Campus: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College: College of Medicine Department: Internal Medicine

Cancer Research Interest

• Research Focus Area: Prevention, Treatment, Informatics, Detection, Carcinogenesis, Diagnosis/ Prognosis
• Type of Research: Clinical, Population Sciences
• Research Interest Statement: My lab is dedicated to the elucidation of the genomic basis for ovarian cancer. The lab has systematically analyzed the global gene.

Contact Information

• Email Address: MJBIRRER@UAMS.EDU
• Profiles Research Networking Software: View Profile

Open Clinical Trials

• “A Randomized, Open Label, Two-Arm, Multicenter Phase 2 Study to Evaluate Efficacy and Safety of PRGN-2009 in Combination with Pembrolizumab Versus Pembrolizumab Monotherapy in Patients with Recurrent or Metastatic Cervical Cancer” (NCT06157151)
• “NRG GY036 A Phase III Trial of One vs. Two Years of Maintenance Olaparib, with or Without Bevacizumab, in Patients with BRCA1/2 Mutated or Homologous Recombination Deficient (HRD+) Ovarian Cancer Following Response to First Line Platinum-Based Chemotherapy” (NCT06580314)
• “A Phase 1, First-in-Human, Open-Label Study to Evaluate the Safety, Tolerability, PK, and Preliminary Anti-Tumor Activity of the Novel Oral CDK2 DEGRADER NKT3964 in Adults with Advanced/Metastatic Solid Tumors” (NCT06586957)
• “A First-In-Human, Phase 1/2, Open-Label, Multi-Center, Dose-Escalation, Dose-Optimization, and Dose-Expansion Study to Evaluate the Safety, Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Anti-Tumor Activity of PARP1 Selective Inhibitor, IMP1734, as Monotherapy and in Combination in Participants with Advanced Solid Tumors” (NCT06253130)
• “An open-label, multicenter, randomized Phase 2 study of the ATR inhibitor tuvusertib in combination with the PARP inhibitor niraparib or the ATM inhibitor lartesertib in participants with BRCA mutant and/or homologous recombination deficiency (HRD)-positive epithelial ovarian cancer that progressed on prior PARP inhibitor therapy” (NCT06433219)
• “A Phase 1b Dose Optimization Study of Sovilnesib (an Oral KIF18A Inhibitor) in Subjects with Advanced High Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer” (NCT06084416)
• “A Phase 1 Open-Label, Multiple Dose Study to Evaluate Safety and Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of FTX-6058 in Subjects with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD)” (NCT05169580)
• “An Open Label, Phase 1, Treatment Study to Evaluate the Safety, Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of IDE397 (MAT2A Inhibitor) in Adult Participants with Advanced Solid Tumors” (NCT04794699)

Active Grants

• Health Resources & Services Administration – 1 CE1HS53555-01-00
  “Cancer Care Mobile Vans, Computerized Tomography Equipment, and Lung Cancer Screening”
  Principal Investigator
  9/30/2024 – 9/29/2027
• NIH/Nat. Cancer Institute – 1U01CA294459
  “3D Spatial Multi-Omics Profiling of Ovarian Cancer”
  Principal Investigator
  9/1/2024 – 8/31/2029
• Health Resources & Services Administration – 1 CE1HS52094-01-00
  “Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending - Construction”
  Principal Investigator
  9/30/2023 – 9/29/2026
• Health Resources & Services Administration – 1 CE1HS52481-01-00
  “Cancer Care Mobile Van and Mammography Equipment”
  Principal Investigator
  9/30/2023 – 9/29/2026
• Health Resources & Services Administration – 1 CE1HS52245-01-00
  “Regional Cancer Care Facilities and Equipment”
  Principal Investigator
  9/30/2023 – 9/29/2026

Recent Publications

• Bai M, Cella D, Jeon S, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Self-affirmation intervention for patients newly diagnosed with advanced cancer: a preliminary efficacy trial. Journal of psychosocial oncology. 2025:1-23. PMID: 39812781.
• Kjeldsen MK, Jørgensen M, Grønseth DSB, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Beyond HRD status: Unraveling Genetic Variants Impacting PARP Inhibitor Sensitivity in Advanced Ovarian Cancer. Cancer research communications. 2024. PMID: 39591206. PMCID: PMC11670052.
• Moore KN, Lorusso D, Oaknin A, [et al., including Birrer M]. Safety and tolerability of mirvetuximab soravtansine monotherapy for folate receptor alpha-expressing recurrent ovarian cancer: An integrated safety summary. Gynecologic oncology. 2024 191:249-258. PMID: 39461270.
• Birrer M, Li G, Yunokawa M, [et al.]. Bintrafusp Alfa for Recurrent or Metastatic Cervical Cancer After Platinum Failure: A Nonrandomized Controlled Trial. JAMA oncology. 2024. PMID: 39052242. PMCID: PMC11273284.
• Andrews JT, Zhang Z, Prasad GVRK, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Metabolically active neutrophils represent a permissive niche for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Mucosal immunology. 2024. PMID: 38844208. PMCID: PMC11493682.
• Ferri-Borgogno S, Burks JK, Seeley EH, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Molecular, Metabolic, and Subcellular Mapping of the Tumor Immune Microenvironment via 3D Targeted and Non-Targeted Multiplex Multi-Omics Analyses. Cancers. 2024 16(5). PMID: 38473208. PMCID: PMC10930466.
• Scalise CB, Kincaid K, Thigpen H, [et al., including Birrer M]. A spatial proteomic study of platinum refractory HGSOC implicates dual AKT and WNT activity linked to an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Gynecologic oncology. 2024 185:83-94. PMID: 38377762.
• Chowdhury S, Kennedy JJ, Ivey RG, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Proteogenomic analysis of chemo-refractory high-grade serous ovarian cancer. Cell. 2024 187(4):1016. PMID: 38364782. PMCID: PMC10935576.
• Ledermann JA, Shapira-Frommer R, Santin AD, [et al., including Birrer M]. Molecular determinants of clinical outcomes of pembrolizumab in recurrent ovarian cancer: Exploratory analysis of KEYNOTE-100. Gynecologic oncology. 2023 178:119-129. PMID: 37862791.
• Chowdhury S, Kennedy JJ, Ivey RG, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Proteogenomic analysis of chemo-refractory high-grade serous ovarian cancer. Cell. 2023 186(16):3476-3498.e35. PMID: 37541199. PMCID: PMC10414761.
• Arend R, Dholakia J, Castro C, [et al., including Birrer M]. DKK1 is a predictive biomarker for response to DKN-01: Results of a phase 2 basket study in women with recurrent endometrial carcinoma. Gynecologic oncology. 2023 172:82-91. PMID: 37001446.
• LaFargue CJ, Amero P, Noh K, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Overcoming adaptive resistance to anti-VEGF therapy by targeting CD5L. Nature communications. 2023 14(1):2407. PMID: 37100807. PMCID: PMC10133315.
• Tewari KS, Sill MW, Birrer MJ, [et al.]. Final survival analysis of topotecan and paclitaxel for first-line treatment of advanced cervical cancer: An NRG oncology randomized study. Gynecologic oncology. 2023 171:141-150. PMID: 36898292. PMCID: PMC10286827.
• Osann K, Wenzel L, McKinney C, [et al., including Birrer M]. Fear of recurrence, emotional well-being and quality of life among long-term advanced ovarian cancer survivors. Gynecologic oncology. 2023 171:151-158. PMID: 36905875. PMCID: PMC10681156.
• Penson RT, Ambrosio AJ, Whalen CA, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Phase II Trials of Iniparib (BSI-201) in Combination with Gemcitabine and Carboplatin in Patients with Recurrent Ovarian Cancer. The oncologist. 2023. PMID: 36718018. PMCID: PMC10020803.
• Sato S, Gillette M, de Santiago PR, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. LINE-1 ORF1p as a candidate biomarker in high grade serous ovarian carcinoma. Scientific reports. 2023 13(1):1537. PMID: 36707610. PMCID: PMC9883229.
• Banerjee S, Drapkin R, Richardson DL, Birrer M. Targeting NaPi2b in ovarian cancer. Cancer treatment reviews. 2023 112:102489. PMID: 36446254.
• Farley JH, Brady WE, O'Malley D, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. A phase II evaluation of temsirolimus with carboplatin and paclitaxel followed by temsirolimus consolidation in clear cell ovarian cancer: An NRG oncology trial. Gynecologic oncology. 2022 167(3):423-428. PMID: 36244829. PMCID: PMC9789681.
• Campos S, Matulonis U, Berlin S, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. A randomized phase II trial of bevacizumab vs. bevacizumab and erlotinib as first-line consolidation after carboplatin, paclitaxel, and bevacizumab in newly diagnosed patients with mullerian tumors. International journal of clinical oncology. 2022 27(12):1881-1890. PMID: 36344654.
• Casablanca Y, Wang G, Lankes HA, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Improving Risk Assessment for Metastatic Disease in Endometrioid Endometrial Cancer Patients Using Molecular and Clinical Features: An NRG Oncology/Gynecologic Oncology Group Study. Cancers. 2022 14(17). PMID: 36077609. PMCID: PMC9454742.
• Chowdhury S, Wang R, Yu Q, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. DAGBagM: learning directed acyclic graphs of mixed variables with an application to identify protein biomarkers for treatment response in ovarian cancer. BMC bioinformatics. 2022 23(1):321. PMID: 35931981. PMCID: PMC9354326.
• Birrer MJ, Fujiwara K, Oaknin A, [et al.]. The Changing Landscape of Systemic Treatment for Cervical Cancer: Rationale for Inhibition of the TGF-β and PD-L1 Pathways. Frontiers in oncology. 2022 12:814169. PMID: 35280818. PMCID: PMC8905681.
• Huang D, Chowdhury S, Wang H, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Multiomic analysis identifies CPT1A as a potential therapeutic target in platinum-refractory, high-grade serous ovarian cancer. Cell reports. Medicine. 2021 2(12):100471. PMID: 35028612. PMCID: PMC8714940.
• Swisher EM, Aghajanian C, O'Malley DM, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Impact of homologous recombination status and responses with veliparib combined with first-line chemotherapy in ovarian cancer in the Phase 3 VELIA/GOG-3005 study. Gynecologic oncology. 2021. PMID: 34906376.
• Bigelow EO, Harris J, Fakhry C, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Risk stratification after recurrence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related and non-HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer: Secondary analysis of NRG Oncology RTOG 0129 and 0522. Head & neck. 2021. PMID: 34729846. PMCID: PMC8783635.
• Huang D, Savage SR, Calinawan AP, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. A highly annotated database of genes associated with platinum resistance in cancer. Oncogene. 2021 40(46):6395-6405. PMID: 34645978. PMCID: PMC8602037.
• Monk BJ, Colombo N, Oza AM, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Chemotherapy with or without avelumab followed by avelumab maintenance versus chemotherapy alone in patients with previously untreated epithelial ovarian cancer (JAVELIN Ovarian 100): an open-label, randomised, phase 3 trial. The Lancet. Oncology. 2021. PMID: 34363762.
• Krasner CN, Campos SM, Young CL, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Sequential Phase II clinical trials evaluating CRLX101 as monotherapy and in combination with bevacizumab in recurrent ovarian cancer. Gynecologic oncology. 2021. PMID: 34243976.
• Grushko TA, Filiaci VL, Montag AG, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Effects of Slide Storage on Detection of Molecular Markers by IHC and FISH in Endometrial Cancer Tissues From a Clinical Trial: An NRG Oncology/GOG Pilot Study. Applied immunohistochemistry & molecular morphology : AIMM. 2021. PMID: 34224438. PMCID: PMC8664981.
• Martinez A, Buckley M, Scalise CB, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Understanding the effect of mechanical forces on ovarian cancer progression. Gynecologic oncology. 2021. PMID: 33888338. PMCID: PMC9115803.
• Zhu Y, Ferri-Borgogno S, Sheng J, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. SIO: A Spatioimageomics Pipeline to Identify Prognostic Biomarkers Associated with the Ovarian Tumor Microenvironment. Cancers. 2021 13(8). PMID: 33917869. PMCID: PMC8068305.
• Wenzel L, Osann K, McKinney C, [et al., including Birrer M]. Quality of Life and Adverse Events: Prognostic Relationships in Long-Term Ovarian Cancer Survival. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2021. PMID: 33729494. PMCID: PMC8486331.
• Buechel ME, Enserro D, Burger RA, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Correlation of imaging and plasma based biomarkers to predict response to bevacizumab in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Gynecologic oncology. 2021. PMID: 33712274. PMCID: PMC8327185.
• Moore KN, Oza AM, Colombo N, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Phase III, randomized trial of mirvetuximab soravtansine versus chemotherapy in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer: primary analysis of FORWARD I. Annals of oncology : official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology. 2021. PMID: 33667670.
• Merritt MA, Strickler HD, Hutson AD, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Sex Hormones, Insulin, and Insulin-like Growth Factors in Recurrence of High-Stage Endometrial Cancer. Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology. 2021. PMID: 33622671. PMCID: PMC8026669.
• Chi RA, van der Watt P, Wei W, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Inhibition of Kpnβ1 mediated nuclear import enhances cisplatin chemosensitivity in cervical cancer. BMC cancer. 2021 21(1):106. PMID: 33530952. PMCID: PMC7852134.
• Martinez A, Buckley MS, Scalise CB, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Utilization of a 3-D tissue engineered model to investigate the effects of perfusion on gynecologic cancer biology. Journal of tissue engineering. 2021 12:20417314211055015. PMID: 34820113. PMCID: PMC8606733.
• Roane BM, Meza-Perez S, Katre AA, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Neutralization of TGFβ Improves Tumor Immunity and Reduces Tumor Progression in Ovarian Carcinoma. Molecular cancer therapeutics. 2020. PMID: 33323456. PMCID: PMC7933076.
• Betella I, Turbitt WJ, Szul T, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Corrigendum to 'Wnt signaling modulator DKK1 as an immunotherapeutic target in ovarian cancer' [Gynecologic Oncology 157 (2020) 765-774]. Gynecologic oncology. 2020 159(1):295. PMID: 32839025.
• Moore KN, Birrer MJ, Marsters J, [et al.]. Phase 1b study of anti-NaPi2b antibody-drug conjugate lifastuzumab vedotin (DNIB0600A) in patients with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer. Gynecologic oncology. 2020 158(3):631-639. PMID: 32534811.
• Tewari KS, Sill MW, Monk BJ, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Circulating Tumor Cells In Advanced Cervical Cancer: NRG Oncology-Gynecologic Oncology Group Study 240 (NCT 00803062). Molecular cancer therapeutics. 2020. PMID: 32847980. PMCID: PMC7907274.
• Da Silva DM, Enserro DM, Mayadev JS, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Immune Activation in Patients with Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer Treated with Ipilimumab Following Definitive Chemoradiation (GOG-9929). Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. 2020. PMID: 32816895. PMCID: PMC7642021.
• Geistlinger L, Oh S, Ramos M, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Multiomic Analysis of Subtype Evolution and Heterogeneity in High-Grade Serous Ovarian Carcinoma. Cancer research. 2020. PMID: 32747365. PMCID: PMC7572645.
• Santin AD, Filiaci V, Bellone S, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Corrigendum to "Phase II evaluation of copanlisib, a selective inhibitor of Pi3kca, in patients with persistent or recurrent endometrial carcinoma harboring PIK3CA hotspot mutations: An NRG oncology study (NRG-GY008)" [Gynecol. Oncol. Rep. 31 (2020) 100532]. Gynecologic oncology reports. 2020 33:100590. PMID: 32885014. PMCID: PMC7452617.
• Myers AP, Konstantinopoulos PA, Barry WT, [et al., including Birrer M]. Phase II, 2-stage, 2-arm, PIK3CA mutation stratified trial of MK-2206 in recurrent endometrial cancer. International journal of cancer. 2020 147(2):413-422. PMID: 31714586. PMCID: PMC7214201.
• Betella I, Turbitt WJ, Szul T, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Wnt signaling modulator DKK1 as an immunotherapeutic target in ovarian cancer. Gynecologic oncology. 2020 157(3):765-774. PMID: 32192732.
• Arend RC, Beer HM, Cohen YC, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Ofranergene obadenovec (VB-111) in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer; favorable response rates in a phase I/II study are associated with an immunotherapeutic effect. Gynecologic oncology. 2020 157(3):578-584. PMID: 32265057.
• O'Malley DM, Matulonis UA, Birrer MJ, [et al.]. Phase Ib study of mirvetuximab soravtansine, a folate receptor alpha (FRα)-targeting antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), in combination with bevacizumab in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Gynecologic oncology. 2020 157(2):379-385. PMID: 32081463.
• Qi R, Wang Y, Bruno PM, [et al., including Birrer MJ]. Author Correction: Nanoparticle conjugates of a highly potent toxin enhance safety and circumvent platinum resistance in ovarian cancer. Nature communications. 2020 11(1):1940. PMID: 32303677. PMCID: PMC7165165.