Alan P. Venook, MD

Alan P. Venook, MD

Madden Family Distinguished Professorship in Medical Oncology and Translational Research, UCSF

Shorenstein Associate Director for Program Development, Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, Professor, Department of Medicine (Hematology/Oncology), UCSF

Cancer Center Program Membership

Molecular Oncology

Phone: (415) 353-9888 (appts)

Box 3111, UCSF
San Francisco, CA 94143-1705

Physician Biography

UCSF Profiles

Research Summary

Dr. Alan Venook is the Madden Family Distinguished Professor of Medical Oncology and Translational Research at UCSF and is the Shorenstein Associate Director for Program Development at the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCSF. He was the founding Chairman of the NCI’s Hepatobiliary Task Force, chaired the GI Committee of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology from 2010 -2016 and was an Associate Editor of the Journal of Clinical Oncology from 2010 - 2015.

Dr. Venook’s research interests include the regional treatment of tumors in the liver and the development of new therapies for colorectal and liver cancers. It was his observation from data in the advanced colorectal cancer study -- CALGB/SWOG 80405 – that helped define “sidedness”, the phenomenon that colon cancers arising in the right colon are biologically different than those that arise on the left side. Recently his group has turned its focus to understanding the interactions between immunotherapy and the microbiome and the marked increase in colorectal cancer in young adults.

Research Funding

  • August 5, 1999 - May 31, 2023 - Cancer Center Support Grant , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P30CA082103
  • December 1, 1974 - March 31, 2009 - General Clinical Research Center , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: M01RR000079
  • July 28, 1993 - March 31, 2003 - CANCER AND LEUKEMIA GROUP B , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: U10CA060138

Education

Rutgers College, New Brunswick, New Jersey, BA, 1976, Biological Sciences
University of California San Francisco, MD, 1980, Medicine
University of California San Francisco, Internship, 1981, Internal Medicine
University of California, Davis, Residency, 1985, Internal Medicine
University of California San Francisco, Fellowship, 1987, Hematology/Oncology

Honors & Awards

  • 2010
    Director's Service Award, National Cancer Institute
  • 2011
    Service Excellence Award, Healthnetwork Foundation
  • 2013
    NCCN Board of Producers Award, National Comprehensive Cancer Network
  • 2017
    Heroes of Hope Award, Colon Cancer Alliance
  • 2019
    Giant of Cancer Care in GI Oncology
  • 2022
    Luminary in Gastrointestinal Cancer, Ruesch Center for the Cure of GI Cancers

Selected Publications

  1. Kyaw TS, Upadhyay V, Tolstykh I, Van Loon K, Laffan A, Stanfield D, Gempis D, Kenfield SA, Chan JM, Piawah S, Atreya CE, Ng K, Venook A, Kidder W, Turnbaugh PJ, Van Blarigan EL. Variety of fruit and vegetables and alcohol intake are associated with gut microbial species and gene abundance in colorectal cancer survivors. Am J Clin Nutr. 2023 Jul 18.  View on PubMed
  2. Wang QL, Ma C, Yuan C, Shi Q, Wolpin BM, Zhang Y, Fuchs CS, Meyer J, Zemla T, Cheng E, Kumthekar P, Guthrie KA, Couture F, Kuebler P, Kumar P, Tan B, Krishnamurthi S, Goldberg RM, Venook A, Blanke C, Shields AF, O'Reilly EM, Meyerhardt JA, Ng K. Plasma 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels and Survival in Stage III Colon Cancer: Findings from CALGB/SWOG 80702 (Alliance). Clin Cancer Res. 2023 Jul 14; 29(14):2621-2630.  View on PubMed
  3. Keenan BP, Sibley A, Zhang L, Westring AF, Velazquez AI, Bank EM, Bergsland EK, Boreta L, Conroy P, Daras M, Hermiston M, Hsu G, Paris PL, Piawah S, Sinha S, Sosa JA, Tsang M, Venook AP, Wong M, Yom SS, Van Loon K. Evaluation of Culture Conducive to Academic Success by Gender at a Comprehensive Cancer Center. Oncologist. 2023 Jul 13.  View on PubMed
  4. Liu VN, Zuniga KB, Paciorek A, Zhang L, Chan JM, Carroll PR, Van Loon K, Laffan A, Venook A, Van Blarigan EL, Kenfield SA. Barriers and confidence among colorectal and prostate cancer survivors participating in two behavioral intervention studies. Support Care Cancer. 2023 Jul 10; 31(8):453.  View on PubMed
  5. Venook AP. Flashback Foreword: IFL/FOLFOX/IROX in Advanced Colorectal Cancer and FOLFIRI and FOLFOX6 in Colorectal Cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2023 07 01; 41(19):3459-3460.  View on PubMed
  6. Benson AB, D'Angelica MI, Abrams T, Abbott DE, Ahmed A, Anaya DA, Anders R, Are C, Bachini M, Binder D, Borad M, Bowlus C, Brown D, Burgoyne A, Castellanos J, Chahal P, Cloyd J, Covey AM, Glazer ES, Hawkins WG, Iyer R, Jacob R, Jennings L, Kelley RK, Kim R, Levine M, Palta M, Park JO, Raman S, Reddy S, Ronnekleiv-Kelly S, Sahai V, Singh G, Stein S, Turk A, Vauthey JN, Venook AP, Yopp A, McMillian N, Schonfeld R, Hochstetler C. NCCN Guidelines® Insights: Biliary Tract Cancers, Version 2.2023. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2023 07; 21(7):694-704.  View on PubMed
  7. Basch E, Dueck AC, Mitchell SA, Mamon H, Weiser M, Saltz L, Gollub M, Rogak L, Ginos B, Mazza GL, Colgrove B, Chang G, Minasian L, Denicoff A, Thanarajasingam G, Musher B, George T, Venook A, Farma J, O'Reilly E, Meyerhardt JA, Shi Q, Schrag D. Patient-Reported Outcomes During and After Treatment for Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer in the PROSPECT Trial (Alliance N1048). J Clin Oncol. 2023 Jun 04; JCO2300903.  View on PubMed
  8. Schrag D, Shi Q, Weiser MR, Gollub MJ, Saltz LB, Musher BL, Goldberg J, Al Baghdadi T, Goodman KA, McWilliams RR, Farma JM, George TJ, Kennecke HF, Shergill A, Montemurro M, Nelson GD, Colgrove B, Gordon V, Venook AP, O'Reilly EM, Meyerhardt JA, Dueck AC, Basch E, Chang GJ, Mamon HJ. Preoperative Treatment of Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2023 Jun 04.  View on PubMed
  9. Benson AB, Venook AP, Al-Hawary MM, Azad N, Chen YJ, Ciombor KK, Cohen S, Cooper HS, Deming D, Garrido-Laguna I, Grem JL, Hecht JR, Hoffe S, Hubbard J, Hunt S, Hussan H, Jeck W, Johung KL, Joseph N, Kirilcuk N, Krishnamurthi S, Maratt J, Messersmith WA, Meyerhardt J, Miller ED, Mulcahy MF, Nurkin S, Overman MJ, Parikh A, Patel H, Pedersen K, Saltz L, Schneider C, Shibata D, Skibber JM, Sofocleous CT, Stotsky-Himelfarb E, Tavakkoli A, Willett CG, Williams G, Algieri F, Gurski L, Stehman K. Anal Carcinoma, Version 2.2023, NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2023 06; 21(6):653-677.  View on PubMed
  10. Venook AP. Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy for Colorectal Cancer: Too Good to Be True? JCO Oncol Pract. 2023 05; 19(5):263-264.  View on PubMed
  11. Savoie MB, Paciorek A, Van Loon K, Anwar M, Atreya CE, Johnson PC, Kenfield SA, Laffan A, Levin AO, Smith JF, Stanfield D, Venook A, Zhang L, Van Blarigan EL, Rowen T. Sexual function remains persistently low in women after treatment for colorectal cancer and anal squamous cell carcinoma. J Sex Med. 2023 03 31; 20(4):439-446.  View on PubMed
  12. Zack T, Losert KP, Maisel SM, Wild J, Yaqubie A, Herman M, Knox JJ, Mayer RJ, Venook AP, Butte A, O'Neill AF, Abou-Alfa GK, Gordan JD. Defining incidence and complications of fibrolamellar liver cancer through tiered computational analysis of clinical data. NPJ Precis Oncol. 2023 Mar 23; 7(1):29.  View on PubMed
  13. Wang L, Langlais C, Kenfield SA, Van Loon K, Laffan A, Atreya CE, Chan JM, Zhang L, Allen IE, Miaskowski C, Fukuoka Y, Meyerhardt JA, Venook AP, Van Blarigan EL. Quality of life among colorectal cancer survivors participating in a pilot randomized controlled trial of a web-based dietary intervention with text messages. Support Care Cancer. 2023 Feb 10; 31(3):155.  View on PubMed
  14. Raghav K, Ou F-S, Venook AP, Innocenti F, Sun R, Lenz H-J, Kopetz S.  Acquired genomic alterations on first-line chemotherapy with cetuximab or bevacizumab in advanced colorectal cancer: Circulating tumor DNA analysis of the randomized CALGB/SWOG 80405 trial (Alliance). J Clin Oncol 2023 Jan 20: 41 (3): 472-478. View on PubMed
  15. Fidelman N, Atreya CE, Griffith M, Milloy MA, Carnevale J, Cinar P, Venook AP, Van Loon K. Phase I prospective trial of TAS-102 (trifluridine and tipiracil) and radioembolization with 90Y resin microspheres for chemo-refractory colorectal liver metastases. BMC Cancer. 2022 Dec 13; 22(1):1307.  View on PubMed
  16. Lee S, Ma C, Shi Q, Kumar P, Couture F, Kuebler P, Krishnamurthi S, Lewis D, Tan B, Goldberg RM, Venook A, Blanke C, O'Reilly EM, Shields AF, Meyerhardt JA. Potential Mediators of Oxaliplatin-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy From Adjuvant Therapy in Stage III Colon Cancer: Findings From CALGB (Alliance)/SWOG 80702. J Clin Oncol. 2023 02 10; 41(5):1079-1091.  View on PubMed
  17. Greenberg AL, Tolstykh IV, Van Loon K, Laffan A, Stanfield D, Steiding P, Kenfield SA, Chan JM, Atreya CE, Piawah S, Kidder W, Venook AP, Van Blarigan EL, Varma MG. Association between adherence to the American Cancer Society Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines and stool frequency among colon cancer survivors: a cohort study. J Cancer Surviv. 2023 06; 17(3):836-847.  View on PubMed
  18. Kemeny MM, Zhao F, Forastiere AA, Catalano P, Hamilton SR, Miedema BW, Dawson NA, Weiner LM, Smith BD, Mason BA, Graziano SL, Gilman PB, Venook AP, Pinto HA, Whitehead RP, O'Dwyer PJ, Benson AB. Phase III Prospectively Randomized Trial of Perioperative 5-FU After Curative Resection for Colon Cancer: An Intergroup Trial of the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (E1292). Ann Surg Oncol. 2023 Feb; 30(2):1099-1109.  View on PubMed
  19. Benson AB, Venook AP, Al-Hawary MM, Azad N, Chen YJ, Ciombor KK, Cohen S, Cooper HS, Deming D, Garrido-Laguna I, Grem JL, Gunn A, Hecht JR, Hoffe S, Hubbard J, Hunt S, Jeck W, Johung KL, Kirilcuk N, Krishnamurthi S, Maratt JK, Messersmith WA, Meyerhardt J, Miller ED, Mulcahy MF, Nurkin S, Overman MJ, Parikh A, Patel H, Pedersen K, Saltz L, Schneider C, Shibata D, Skibber JM, Sofocleous CT, Stotsky-Himelfarb E, Tavakkoli A, Willett CG, Gregory K, Gurski L. Rectal Cancer, Version 2.2022, NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2022 10; 20(10):1139-1167.  View on PubMed
  20. Spanogiannopoulos P, Kyaw TS, Guthrie BGH, Bradley PH, Lee JV, Melamed J, Malig YNA, Lam KN, Gempis D, Sandy M, Kidder W, Van Blarigan EL, Atreya CE, Venook A, Gerona RR, Goga A, Pollard KS, Turnbaugh PJ. Host and gut bacteria share metabolic pathways for anti-cancer drug metabolism. Nat Microbiol. 2022 10; 7(10):1605-1620.  View on PubMed
  21. Johnson RM, Qu X, Lin CF, Huw LY, Venkatanarayan A, Sokol E, Ou FS, Ihuegbu N, Zill OA, Kabbarah O, Wang L, Bourgon R, de Sousa E Melo F, Bolen C, Daemen A, Venook AP, Innocenti F, Lenz HJ, Bais C. ARID1A mutations confer intrinsic and acquired resistance to cetuximab treatment in colorectal cancer. Nat Commun. 2022 09 19; 13(1):5478.  View on PubMed
  22.  Abou-Alfa GK, Shi Q, Knox JJ, Kaubisch A, Niedzwiecki D, Posey J,Tan BR, Kavan P, Goel R, Lammers P, Bekaii-Saab TS, Tam VC, Rajdev L, Kelley RK, El Dika I, Zemla T, Potaracke RI, Balletti J, El-Khoueiry AB, Harding JH, Suga JM, Schwartz LH, Goldberg RM, Bertagnolli MM, Meyerhardt J, O’Reilly EM, Venook AP.  Assessment of treatment with sorafenib plus doxorubicin vs sorafenib alone in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (Phase 3 CALGB 80802 randomized clinical trial).  JAMA Oncol 2019; 5(11):1582-1588. View on PubMed
  23. Venook AP, Niedzwiecki D,Lenz H-J, Innocenti F, Fruth B, Meyerhardt JA, Schrag D, Greene C, O'Neil BH, Atkins JN, Berry S, Polite BN, O'Reilly EM, Goldberg RM, Hochster HS, Schilsky RL, Bertagnolli MA, El-Khoueiry AB, Watson P, Benson AB 3rd, Mulkerin DL, Mayer RL, Blanke C.  Effect of first-line chemotherapy combined with cetuximab or bevacizumab on overall survival in patients with KRAS wild-type advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer: a Randomized clinical Trial. JAMA. 2017 Jun 20; 317 (23): 2392-2401. View on PubMed

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