Ankur Varma, MBBS

Research Program: Cancer Therapeutics Faculty Rank: Associate Professor Campus: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College: College of Medicine Department: Internal Med Hem-Onc

Cancer Research Interest

• Disease Site Focus: Leukemia/ Lymphoma, Hematologic Malignancies
• Research Focus Area: Treatment, Diagnosis/ Prognosis
• Type of Research: Clinical, Translational
• Research Keywords: AML, ALL, CML, CLL, MDS
• Research Interest Statement: My cancer research focuses on improving treatment outcomes for hematologic cancers, particularly leukemia, lymphoma, and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). I am deeply interested in the role of stem cell transplants in treating these conditions, aiming to optimize transplant procedures and reduce complications. Additionally, I explore novel therapeutic approaches to enhance the effectiveness of stem cell transplants and improve long-term survival for patients battling these aggressive blood cancers.

Contact Information

• Email Address: AVarma@uams.edu
• Profiles Research Networking Software: View Profile

Open Clinical Trials

• “A Phase 3 Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Study of BLEXIMENIB, Venetoclax and Azacitidine for the Treatment of Participants with Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia Harboring KMT2A Rearrangements or NPM1 Mutations who are Ineligible for Intensive Chemotherapy” (NCT06852222)
• “MM1YA-S01, “A Randomized Phase II Study Comparing Cytarabine + Daunorubicin(7+3) vs (Daunorubicin and Cytarabine) Liposome, Cytarabine + Daunorubicin +Venetoclax, Azacitidine + Venetoclax, and (Daunorubicin and Cytarabine) Liposome+ Venetoclax in Patients Aged 59 or Younger Who are Considered High-Risk(Adverse) Acute Myeloid Leukemia as Determined by MYELOMATCH; AMyeloMATCH Clinical Trial”” (NCT05554406)
• “MYELOMATCH, Master Screening and Reassessment Protocol (MSRP) for Tier Advancement in the NCI myeloMATCH Clinical Trials” (NCT05564390)
• “Expanded Access Protocol (EAP) for Patients Receiving Lisocabtagene Maraleucel that is Nonconforming for Commercial Release” (NCT04400591)

Recent Publications

• Thalambedu N, Mohan Lal B, Harbaugh B, [et al., including Varma A]. Unveiling Myelodysplastic Syndromes: Exploring Pathogenic Mechanisms and Therapeutic Advances. Cancers. 2025 17(3). PMID: 39941875. PMCID: PMC11816122.
• Pandey T, Inamdar S, Jeffus S, [et al., including Varma A]. Simultaneous Presentation of Relapsed Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma and Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis in a Patient With HIV: A Case Report. Cureus. 2025 17(1):e78263. PMID: 40026931. PMCID: PMC11872240.
• Kongtim P, Vittayawacharin P, Zou J, [et al., including Varma A]. ASTCT Consensus Recommendations on Testing and Treatment of Patients with Donor-specific Anti-HLA Antibodies. Transplantation and cellular therapy. 2024 30(12):1139-1154. PMID: 39260570.
• Fugere T, Baltz A, Mukherjee A, [et al., including Varma A]. Immune Effector Cell-Associated HLH-like Syndrome: A Review of the Literature of an Increasingly Recognized Entity. Cancers. 2023 15(21). PMID: 37958323. PMCID: PMC10647774.
• Gannamani V, Varma A, Nathan S, Ustun C. Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) associated permanent hyponatremia in umbilical cord blood transplant recipient. Transplant immunology. 2023 76:101742. PMID: 36372142.
• Baranwal A, Byun J, Ritz E, [et al., including Varma A]. Myeloablative TBI is associated with increased risk of pulmonary GVHD in patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant. Bone marrow transplantation. 2022 57(10):1632-1634. PMID: 35970875.
• Strati P, Varma A, Adkins S, [et al.]. Hematopoietic recovery and immune reconstitution after axicabtagene ciloleucel in patients with large B-cell lymphoma. Haematologica. 2021 106(10):2667-2672. PMID: 32732355. PMCID: PMC8485681.
• Shah MV, Saliba RM, Varma A, [et al.]. Allogeneic stem cell transplant for patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms in blast phase: improving outcomes in the recent era. British journal of haematology. 2021 193(5):1004-1008. PMID: 33821472.
• Yassa G, Varma A, Baptista J, [et al.]. Human Herpesvirus-6 Infection and Calcineurin Inhibitor Pain Syndrome Interaction after Umbilical Cord Blood Transplant. Transplantation and cellular therapy. 2021 27(5):439-440. PMID: 33789834.