UW Medicine Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Directory >> Corey Casper, MD, MPH

Faculty

Corey Casper, MD, MPH

  • Associate Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology and Global Health, University of Washington
  • Associate Member, Vaccine and Infectious Disease, Public Health Sciences, and Clinical Research Divisions, and Director, UCI/Hutchinson Center Cancer Alliance, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
  • Medical Director, Infection Control at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance
  • Assistant Director, CFAR Director, Scientific Program on AIDS-Associated Malignancies and Infections (AAIMs)

Dr. Casper divides his time between engaging in research, teaching and clinical care. His research efforts focus on the transmission, acquisition, natural history, pathophysiology and treatment of infection-associated cancers with a special focus on human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8). His immunology work described the first comprehensively-validated serologic assay for detection of antibodies to HHV-8, the original description of neutralizing antibodies to HHV-8 and their role in development of Kaposi Sarcoma (KS), and the characterization of gamma-delta T-cell activity in persons with chronic HHV-infection. He then made the first descriptions of the symptoms and viral replication patterns of HHV-8-infected persons without KS. As part of this work, he studied HHV-8 transmission among couples discordant for HHV-8 infection, and also collaborated with researchers in HIV prevention studies to describe epidemiologic risk factors for acquiring HHV-8 in many different cohorts.

As part of his research into HHV-8, Dr. Casper described the successful use of antiviral therapy for the treatment of multicentric Castleman disease (MCD) and followed this by the first randomized trial of an antiviral against HHV-8. He also utilized information from a large primary HIV clinic to show that the majority of patients with KS in the highly active antiretroviral therapy era have persistent disease, despite the receipt of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and chemotherapy. This work has informed current and future studies evaluating the role of antiviral drugs in the treatment and prevention of infection-associated cancers.

In 2004, Dr. Casper initiated collaboration with physician-scientists at the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) and the Kampala Cancer Registry resulting in the formation of the Uganda Program in Cancer and Infectious Diseases (UPCID), now known as the UCI/Hutchinson Center Cancer Alliance. As Director of this alliance, based at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, he established a translational clinical research site in Kampala. This site currently has 23 ongoing studies examining the control of HHV-8 replication, biomarkers for the prediction of KS development and successful treatment, the immunogenetics of infection-associated cancers, treatment of KS and Burkitt lymphoma, the role of nutrition in the development and treatment of infection-related cancers, and the discovery of novel pathogens associated with cancer. Under Dr. Casper's direction, research is being bolstered with the addition of a new cancer clinic and hospital, a quickly expanding training program, and a state-of-the-art molecular diagnostics laboratory.

Selected Publications

Yokoe D, Casper C, Dubberke E, Lee G, Munoz P, Palmore T, Sepkowitz K, Young JA and Donnelly JP (2009). "Safe living after hematopoietic cell transplantation." Bone Marrow Transplant 44(8): 509-19.
[The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

Yokoe D, Casper C, Dubberke E, Lee G, Munoz P, Palmore T, Sepkowitz K, Young JA and Donnelly JP (2009). "Infection prevention and control in health-care facilities in which hematopoietic cell transplant recipients are treated." Bone Marrow Transplant 44(8): 495-507.
[ The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

Amon L, Gross J, Orem J, Mutyaba I, Phipps W, Diem K, Huang M-L, Corey L, McIntosh M and Casper C (2010). "Integrative proteomics and genomics supports a role for interferon gamma in the pathogenesis of Kaposi sarcoma and finds multiple candidate diagnostic proteins for early detection or prevention." Infectious Agents and Cancer 5(Suppl 1): A42.
[ The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

Casper C, Englund J and Boeckh M (2010). "How I treat influenza in patients with hematologic malignancies." Blood 115(7): 1331-42.
[The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

Gantt S, Kakuru A, Wald A, Walusansa V, Corey L, Casper C and Orem J (2010). "Clinical presentation and outcome of epidemic Kaposi sarcoma in Ugandan children." Pediatr Blood Cancer 54(5): 670-674.
[The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

Phipps W, Ssewankambo F, Nguyen H, Saracino M, Wald A, Corey L, Orem J, Kambugu A and Casper C (2010). "Gender Differences in Clinical Presentation and Outcomes of Epidemic Kaposi Sarcoma in Uganda." PLoS ONE 5(11): e13936.
[The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

van Rhee F, Fayad L, Voorhees P, Furman R, Lonial S, Borghaei H, Sokol L, Crawford J, Cornfeld M, Qi M, Qin X, Herring J, Casper C and Kurzrock R (2010). "Siltuximab, a Novel Anti-Interleukin-6 Monoclonal Antibody, for Castleman's Disease." J Clin Oncol: JCO.2009.27.2377.
[The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

Achenbach CJ, Cole SR, Kitahata MM, Casper C, Willig JH, Mugavero MJ and Saag MS (2011). "Mortality after cancer diagnosis in HIV-infected individuals treated with antiretroviral therapy." Aids 25(5): 691-700.
[The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

Bateganya MH, Stanaway J, Brentlinger PE, Magaret AS, Wald A, Orem J and Casper C (2011). "Predictors of Survival After a Diagnosis of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in a Resource-Limited Setting: A Retrospective Study on the Impact of HIV Infection and Its Treatment." J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 56(4): 312-9.
[The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

Gantt S, Carlsson J, Ikoma M, Gachelet E, Gray M, Geballe AP, Corey L, Casper C, Lagunoff M and Vieira J (2011). "The HIV protease inhibitor nelfinavir inhibits Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus replication in vitro." Antimicrob. Agents Chemother.: AAC.01295-10.
[The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

Chapuis AG, Casper C, Kuntz S, Zhu J, Tjernlund A, Diem K, Turtle CJ, Cigal ML, Velez R, Riddell S, Corey L and Greenberg PD (2011). "HIV-specific CD8+ T cells from HIV+ individuals receiving HAART can be expanded ex vivo to augment systemic and mucosal immunity in vivo." Blood (in press).
[The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

Phipps W, Saracino M, Magaret A, Selke S, Remington M, Huang ML, Warren T, Casper C, Corey L and Wald A (2011). "Persistent genital herpes simplex virus-2 shedding years following the first clinical episode." J Infect Dis 203(2): 180-7.
[The following link will open in a new window. PubMed Abstract ]

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