Judith E Karp, MD

Research Summary

Judith E. Karp is a Professor of Oncology and Medicine and Director of the Leukemia Program at the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. She received her medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine, completed internship and residency at Stanford University Hospital and Johns Hopkins Hospital, and completed her Oncology Fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. From 1990-1995, she served as Special Assistant to Director, National Cancer Institute. Her research interests focus on the experimental therapeutics of acute leukemias, including development of timed sequential therapy, new biologic agents for older adults with acute leukemias, and new approaches to the treatment of refractory acute leukemias including secondary leukemias that evolve from myelodysplasia or from prior cytotoxic chemotherapies.

Journal Citations

Acharya, M.R.; Karp, J.E.; Sausville, E.A.; Hwang, K.; Ryan, Q.; Gojo, I.; Venitz, J.; Figg, W.D.; Sparreboom, A. Factors affecting the pharmacokinetic profile of MS-275, a novel histone deacetylase inhibitor, in patients with cancer. Invest New Drugs. 2006 Sep;24(5):367-375.

Chandra, J.; Tracy, J.; Loegering, D.; Flatten, K.; Verstovsek, S.; Beran, M.; Gorre, M.; Estrov, Z.; Donato, N.; Talpaz, M.; Sawyers, C.; Bhalla, K.; Karp, J.; Sausville, E.; Kaufmann, S.H. Adaphostin-induced oxidative stress overcomes BCR/ABL mutation-dependent and -independent imatinib resistance. Blood. 2006 Mar 15;107(6):2501-2506.

Giles, F.; Verstovsek, S.; Faderl, S.; Vey, N.; Karp, J.; Roboz, G.; Khan, K.D.; Cooper, M.; Bilgrami, S.F.; Ferrant, A.; Daenen, S.; Karsten, V.; Cahill, A.; Albitar, M.; Kantarjian, H.; O'Brien, S.; Feldman, E. A phase II study of cloretazine (VNP40101M), a novel sulfonylhydrazine alkylating agent, in patients with very high risk relapsed acute myeloid leukemia. Leuk Res. 2006 Dec;30(12):1591-1595.

Gore, S.D.; Baylin, S.; Sugar, E.; Carraway, H.; Miller, C.B.; Carducci, M.; Grever, M.; Galm, O.; Dauses, T.; Karp, J.E.; Rudek, M.A.; Zhao, M.; Smith, B.D.; Manning, J.; Jiemjit, A.; Dover, G.; Mays, A.; Zwiebel, J.; Murgo, A.; Weng, L.J.; Herman, J.G. Combined DNA methyltransferase and histone deacetylase inhibition in the treatment of myeloid neoplasms. Cancer Res. 2006 Jun 15;66(12):6361-6369.

Karp, J.E.; Smith, B.D. Exploiting oxidative damage to overcome resistance. Leuk Res. 2006 Oct;30(10):1213-1214.
Karp, J.E.; Smith, B.D. Developmental clinical trials: building one step at a time. Leuk Res. 2006 Jul;30(7):765-766.

Levinson, N.M.; Kuchment, O.; Shen, K.; Young, M.A.; Koldobskiy, M.; Karplus, M.; Cole, P.A.; Kuriyan, J. A Src-like inactive conformation in the abl tyrosine kinase domain. PLoS Biol. 2006 May;4(5):e144.

Levis, M.; Brown, P.; Smith, B.D.; Stine, A.; Pham, R.; Stone, R.; Deangelo, D.; Galinsky, I.; Giles, F.; Estey, E.; Kantarjian, H.; Cohen, P.; Wang, Y.; Roesel, J.; Karp, J.E.; Small, D. Plasma inhibitory activity (PIA): a pharmacodynamic assay reveals insights into the basis for cytotoxic response to FLT3 inhibitors. Blood. 2006 Nov 15;108(10):3477-3483.

Steensma, D.P.; McClure, R.F.; Karp, J.E.; Tefferi, A.; Lasho, T.L.; Powell, H.L.; DeWald, G.W.; Kaufmann, S.H. JAK2 V617F is a rare finding in de novo acute myeloid leukemia, but STAT3 activation is common and remains unexplained. Leukemia. 2006 Jun;20(6):971-978.

Gojo, I.; Jiemjit, A.; Trepel, J.B.; Sparreboom, A.; Figg, W.D.; Rollins, S.; Tidwell, M.L.; Greer, J.; Chung, E.J.; Lee, M.J.; Gore, S.D.; Sausville, E.A.; Zwiebel, J.; Karp, J.E. Phase 1 and pharmacologic study of MS-275, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, in adults with refractory and relapsed acute leukemias. Blood. 2007 Apr 1;109(7):2781-2790.

Gojo, I.; Tidwell, M.L.; Greer, J.; Takebe, N.; Seiter, K.; Pochron, M.F.; Johnson, B.; Sznol, M.; Karp, J.E. Phase I and pharmacokinetic study of Triapine, a potent ribonucleotide reductase inhibitor, in adults with advanced hematologic malignancies. Leuk Res. 2007 Sep;31(9):1165-1173.

Karp, J.E.; Lancet, J.E. Development of farnesyltransferase inhibitors for clinical cancer therapy: focus on hematologic malignancies. Cancer Invest. 2007 Sep;25(6):484-494.

Karp, J.E.; Ricklis, R.M.; Balakrishnan, K.; Briel, J.; Greer, J.; Gore, S.D.; Smith, B.D.; McDevitt, M.A.; Carraway, H.; Levis, M.J.; Gandhi, V. A phase 1 clinical-laboratory study of clofarabine followed by cyclophosphamide for adults with refractory acute leukemias. Blood. 2007 Sep 15;110(6):1762-1769.

Karp, J.E.; Smith, B.D.; Levis, M.J.; Gore, S.D.; Greer, J.; Hattenburg, C.; Briel, J.; Jones, R.J.; Wright, J.J.; Colevas, A.D. Sequential flavopiridol, cytosine arabinoside, and mitoxantrone: a phase II trial in adults with poor-risk acute myelogenous leukemia. Clin Cancer Res. 2007 Aug 1;13(15 Pt 1):4467-4473.

Lancet, J.E.; Gojo, I.; Gotlib, J.; Feldman, E.J.; Greer, J.; Liesveld, J.L.; Bruzek, L.M.; Morris, L.; Park, Y.; Adjei, A.A.; Kaufmann, S.H.; Garrett-Mayer, E.; Greenberg, P.L.; Wright, J.J.; Karp, J.E. A phase 2 study of the farnesyltransferase inhibitor tipifarnib in poor-risk and elderly patients with previously untreated acute myelogenous leukemia. Blood. 2007 Feb 15;109(4):1387-1394.

Lin, T.L.; Vala, M.S.; Barber, J.P.; Karp, J.E.; Smith, B.D.; Matsui, W.; Jones, R.J. Induction of acute lymphocytic leukemia differentiation by maintenance therapy. Leukemia. 2007 Sep;21(9):1915-1920.

McDevitt, M.A.; Condon, M.; Stamberg, J.; Karp, J.E.; McDiarmid, M. Fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) in bone marrow and peripheral blood of leukemia patients: implications for occupational surveillance. Mutation research. 2007 Apr 20;629(1):24-31.

Meng, X.W.; Lee, S.H.; Dai, H.; Loegering, D.; Yu, C.; Flatten, K.; Schneider, P.; Dai, N.T.; Kumar, S.K.; Smith, B.D.; Karp, J.E.; Adjei, A.A.; Kaufmann, S.H. Mcl-1 as a buffer for proapoptotic Bcl-2 family members during TRAIL-induced apoptosis: a mechanistic basis for sorafenib (Bay 43-9006)-induced TRAIL sensitization. J Biol Chem. 2007 Oct 12;282(41):29831-29846.

Karp, J.E.; Giles, F.J.; Gojo, I.; Morris, L.; Greer, J.; Johnson, B.; Thein, M.; Sznol, M.; Low, J. A phase I study of the novel ribonucleotide reductase inhibitor 3-aminopyridine-2-carboxaldehyde thiosemicarbazone (3-AP, Triapine) in combination with the nucleoside analog fludarabine for patients with refractory acute leukemias and aggressive myeloproliferative disorders. Leuk Res. 2008 Jan;32(1):71-77.

Karp, J.E.; Smith, B.D.; Gojo, I.; Lancet, J.E.; Greer, J.; Klein, M.; Morris, L.; Levis, M.J.; Gore, S.D.; Wright, J.J.; Garrett-Mayer, E. Phase II trial of tipifarnib as maintenance therapy in first complete remission in adults with acute myelogenous leukemia and poor-risk features. Clin Cancer Res. 2008 May 15;14(10):3077-3082.

Raponi, M.; Lancet, J.E.; Fan, H.; Dossey, L.; Lee, G.; Gojo, I.; Feldman, E.J.; Gotlib, J.; Morris, L.E.; Greenberg, P.L.; Wright, J.J.; Harousseau, J.L.; Lowenberg, B.; Stone, R.M.; De Porre, P.; Wang, Y.; Karp, J.E. A 2-gene classifier for predicting response to the farnesyltransferase inhibitor tipifarnib in acute myeloid leukemia. Blood. 2008 Dec 26;111:2589-2596.

Williams, M.A.; Rangasamy, T.; Bauer, S.M.; Killedar, S.; Karp, M.; Kensler, T.W.; Yamamoto, M.; Breysse, P.; Biswal, S.; Georas, S.N. Disruption of the transcription factor Nrf2 promotes pro-oxidative dendritic cells that stimulate Th2-like immunoresponsiveness upon activation by ambient particulate matter. J Immunol. 2008 Oct 1;181(7):4545-4559.

Yu, W.; Gius, D.; Onyango, P.; Muldoon-Jacobs, K.; Karp, J.; Feinberg, A.P.; Cui, H. Epigenetic silencing of tumour suppressor gene p15 by its antisense RNA. Nature. 2008 Jan 10;451(7175):202-206.

Fathi, A.T.; Karp, J.E. New agents in acute myeloid leukemia: beyond cytarabine and anthracyclines. Curr Oncol Rep. 2009 Sep;11(5):346-352.

Karp, J.E.; Flatten, K.; Feldman, E.J.; Greer, J.M.; Loegering, D.A.; Ricklis, R.M.; Morris, L.E.; Ritchie, E.; Smith, B.D.; Ironside, V.; Talbott, T.; Roboz, G.; Le, S.B.; Meng, X.W.; Schneider, P.A.; Dai, N.T.; Adjei, A.A.; Gore, S.D.; Levis, M.J.; Wright, J.J.; Garrett-Mayer, E.; Kaufmann, S.H. Active oral regimen for elderly adults with newly diagnosed acute myelogenous leukemia: a preclinical and phase 1 trial of the farnesyltransferase inhibitor tipifarnib (R115777, Zarnestra) combined with etoposide. Blood. 2009 May 14;113(20):4841-4852.

Pratz, K.W.; Cortes, J.; Roboz, G.J.; Rao, N.; Arowojolu, O.; Stine, A.; Shiotsu, Y.; Shudo, A.; Akinaga, S.; Small, D.; Karp, J.E.; Levis, M. A pharmacodynamic study of the FLT3 inhibitor KW-2449 yields insight into the basis for clinical response. Blood. 2009 Apr 23;113(17):3938-3946.

Smith, B.D.; Karp, J.E. What are the endpoints of therapy for acute leukemias? Old definitions and new challenges. Clin Lymphoma Myeloma. 2009;9 Suppl 3:S296-301.

Ye, Y.; McDevitt, M.A.; Guo, M.; Zhang, W.; Galm, O.; Gore, S.D.; Karp, J.E.; Maciejewski, J.P.; Kowalski, J.; Tsai, H.L.; Gondek, L.P.; Tsai, H.C.; Wang, X.; Hooker, C.; Smith, B.D.; Carraway, H.E.; Herman, J.G. Progressive chromatin repression and promoter methylation of CTNNA1 associated with advanced myeloid malignancies. Cancer Res. 2009 Nov 1;69(21):8482-8490.

Fathi, A.T.; Grant, S.; Karp, J.E. Exploiting cellular pathways to develop new treatment strategies for AML. Cancer Treat Rev. 2010 Apr;36(2):142-150.

Griffiths, E.A.; Gore, S.D.; Hooker, C.; McDevitt, M.A.; Karp, J.E.; Smith, B.D.; Mohammad, H.P.; Ye, Y.; Herman, J.G.; Carraway, H.E. Acute myeloid leukemia is characterized by Wnt pathway inhibitor promoter hypermethylation. Leuk Lymphoma. 2010 Sep;51(9):1711-1719

Griffiths, E.A.; Gore, S.D.; Hooker, C.M.; Mohammad, H.P.; McDevitt, M.A.; Smith, B.D.; Karp, J.E.; Herman, J.G.; Carraway, H.E. Epigenetic differences in cytogenetically normal versus abnormal acute myeloid leukemia. Epigenetics. 2010 Oct 3;5(7 ).

Hafez, M.; Ye, F.; Jackson, K.; Yang, Z.; Karp, J.E.; Labourier, E.; Gocke, C.D. Performance and clinical evaluation of a sensitive multiplex assay for the rapid detection of common NPM1 mutations. J Mol Diagn. 2010 Sep;12(5):629-635.

Hourigan, C.S.; Karp, J.E. Development of therapeutic agents for older patients with acute myelogenous leukemia. Curr Opin Investig Drugs. 2010 Jun;11(6):669-677.

Kanakry, C.G.; Hess, A.D.; Gocke, C.D.; Thoburn, C.; Kos, F.; Meyer, C.; Briel, J.; Luznik, L.; Smith, B.D.; Levitsky, H.; Karp, J.E. Early lymphocyte recovery following intensive timed sequential chemotherapy for acute myelogenous leukemia: peripheral oligoclonal expansion of regulatory T cells. Blood. 2010 Dec 16.

Karp, J.E.; Blackford, A.; Smith, B.D.; Alino, K.; Seung, A.H.; Bolanos-Meade, J.; Greer, J.M.; Carraway, H.E.; Gore, S.D.; Jones, R.J.; Levis, M.J.; McDevitt, M.A.; Doyle, L.A.; Wright, J.J. Clinical activity of sequential flavopiridol, cytosine arabinoside, and mitoxantrone for adults with newly diagnosed, poor-risk acute myelogenous leukemia. Leuk Res. 2010 Jul;34(7):877-882.

Karp, J.K.; Akpek, E.K.; Anders, R.A. Autoimmune hepatitis in patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome: a series of two-hundred and two patients. Int J Clin Exp Pathol. 2010;3(6):582-586.

Pratz, K.W.; Cho, E.; Levis, M.J.; Karp, J.E.; Gore, S.D.; McDevitt, M.; Stine, A.; Zhao, M.; Baker, S.D.; Carducci, M.A.; Wright, J.J.; Rudek, M.A.; Smith, B.D. A pharmacodynamic study of sorafenib in patients with relapsed and refractory acute leukemias. Leukemia. 2010 Aug;24(8):1437-1444.

Reinhardt, S.; Zhao, M.; Mnatsakanyan, A.; Xu, L.; Ricklis, R.M.; Chen, A.; Karp, J.E.; Rudek, M.A. A rapid and sensitive method for determination of veliparib (ABT-888), in human plasma, bone marrow cells and supernatant by using LC/MS/MS. J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2010 May 1;52(1):122-128.

Karp, J.E.; Smith, B.D.; Resar, L.S.; Greer, J.M.; Blackford, A.; Zhao, M.; Moton-Nelson, D.; Alino, K.; Levis, M.J.; Gore, S.D.; Joseph, B.; Carraway, H.; McDevitt, M.A.; Bagain, L.; Mackey, K.; Briel, J.; Doyle, L.A.; Wright, J.J.; Rudek, M.A. Phase I and pharmacokinetic study of bolus-infusion flavopiridol followed by cytosine arabinoside and mitoxantrone for acute leukemias. Blood. 2011 Jan 14;Epub 1/18/11.

Smith, B.D.; Jones, R.J.; Cho, E.; Kowalski, J.; Karp, J.E.; Gore, S.D.; Vala, M.; Meade, B.; Baker, S.D.; Zhao, M.; Piantadosi, S.; Zhang, Z.; Blumenthal, G.; Warlick, E.D.; Brodsky, R.A.; Murgo, A.; Rudek, M.A.; Matsui, W.H. Differentiation therapy in poor risk myeloid malignancies: Results of a dose finding study of the combination bryostatin-1 and GM-CSF. Leuk Res. 2011 Jan;35(1):87-94.