He then pursued a fellowship in hematology and medical oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, completing his training in 1983.
[1][2] In 1981, Hagop Kantarjian joined The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center as a fellow in the Department of Developmental Therapeutics.
He was appointed the Kelcie Margaret Kana Research Chair in the Department of Leukemia, a position he held from 1998 to 2015.
His work contributed to the development of targeted therapies, including tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as imatinib, dasatinib, nilotinib, and bosutinib, which have increased 10-year survival rates for CML from 20% to 90%.
[5][6] He also played a key role in developing the HYPER-CVAD regimen for ALL, replacing radiation therapy with spinal fluid chemotherapy to prevent central nervous system involvement.