Tanios Bekaii-Saab

Tanios Bekaii-Saab, M.D., F.A.C.P. is a medical oncologist with a specific focus in gastrointestinal cancers.

Dr. Bekaii-Saab serves as the leader of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Program at the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. He is also the medical director of the Cancer Clinical Research Office as well as the Vice Chair and Section Chief for Medical Oncology in the Department of Internal Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

Dr. Bekaii-Saab conducts clinical and translational research focused on developing anti-cancer agents for patients with gastrointestinal cancers. Dr. Bekaii-Saab collaborates extensively with various scientists and industry partners to design and execute innovative clinical trials, including many first-in-human studies.

Dr. Bekaii-Saab’s research includes a large focus on the incorporation of agents that target the multiple facets of cancer, including genetic and epigenetic drivers, as well as the feeding microenvironment and the immune milieu. His work includes two recent discoveries as co-inventor of a molecule that targets cancer-related cachexia (AR-42) and an anti-PD-1 vaccine. His research has also led to the launch of a number of phase II and III clinical trials, including a recent trial with a cancer stem cell inhibitor (napabucasin) in pancreatic cancer, the development of an inhibitor of fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) fusion genes in bile duct cancers, and a contribution to the pivotal study that led to the regulatory approval of nanoliposomal irinotecan for treating pancreatic cancer.

In addition to his clinical activities, Dr. Bekaii-Saab also serves as the chair for the cancer research consortium Academic and Community Cancer Research United (ACCRU) and is one of the leading clinician-scientists in the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-supported cooperative research group.