Marinela Capanu

Office Phone:

646-735-8120

E-mail:

capanum@mskcc.org

Education:

University of Florida

Current Research Interests

Dr. Capanu's current research interests are in the development of hierarchical models for epidemiologic studies to identify genetic variants that increase the risk of cancer. She has an NCI R01 grant to determine the validity of available hierarchical modeling techniques for estimating the relative risks of individual rare genetic variants. The goal of the study is to provide a valid analytic strategy that can distinguish variants that are harmful from those that are harmless, thus facilitating genetic counseling. Dr. Capanu is also involved in the statistical analysis of the WECARE (Women's Environment Cancer and Radiation Exposure) Study. In collaboration with Dr. Bernstein, Dr. Capanu is conducting the analysis of the WECARE GWA Study to discover novel SNPs implicated in the development of contralateral breast cancer. Dr. Capanu is also involved in clinical collaborations with the Gastrointestinal Oncology Service. She has been working with investigators of this group on the design and analysis of prospective and retrospective studies.

Mutations that cause cancer: A Q&A session with Drs. Marinela Capanu and Colin Begg

Publications by Marinela Capanu

Booth J, Capanu M, Heigenhauser L(2005) Exact conditional p-value calculation for the quasi-symmetry model, Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics, 14(3):716-725.

Capanu M, Presnell B (2007) Misspecification Tests for Binomial and Beta-Binomial Models, Statistics in Medicine, 27(14):2536-2554

Capanu M, Orlow I, Berwick M, Hummer AJ, Thomas DC, Begg CB (2008) The Use of Hierarchical Models for Estimating Relative Risks of Individual Genetic Variants: An Application to a Study of Melanoma, Statistics in Medicine, 27(11):1973-1992

Capanu M, Begg CB (2011) Hierarchical Modeling for Estimating Relative Risks of Rare Genetic Variants: Properties of the Pseudo-Likelihood Method, Biometrics, 61:371-380

Capanu M, Concannon P, Haile RW, Bernstein L, Malone KE, Lynch CF, Liang X, Teraoka SN, Diep AT, Thomas DC, Bernstein JL; The WECARE Study Collaborative Group, Begg CB (2011) Assessment of rare BRCA1 and BRCA2 variants of unknown significance using hierarchical modeling, Genetic Epidemiology, 35:389-397

Full List of Publications

Vasconcelos SS, Zarin DY, Capanu M., et al. (2004). Moisture and substrate availability constrain soil trace gas fluxes in an Eastern Amazonian re-growth forest. Global Biogeochemical Cycles Vol 18, GB2009, doi 10, 1029/2003 GB00221
Booth, J., Capanu, M., Heigenhauser, L. (2005) Exact conditional p-value calculation for the quasi-symmetry model, Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics, 14(3):716-725
Karen, K., Wadt, L., Gomes, S., Capanu, M. (2006) Liana loads and their association with Bertholletia excelsa fruit and nut production, diameter growth and crown attributes, Journal of Tropical Ecology, 22:147-154
Shah, M.A., Ramanathan, R.K., Ilson, D., Levnor, A., D'Adamo, D., O'Reilly, E., Tse, A., Trocola, R., Schwartz, L., Capanu, M., Schwartz, G.K., Kelsen, D.P. (2006) A multicenter phase II study of irinotecan, cisplatin, and bevacizumab in patients with metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma, Journal of Clinical Oncology, 24(33):5201-6
Capanu, M., Jones, G. A., Randles, R. H. (2006) Testing for Preference using a Sum of Wilcoxon Signed Rank Statistics, Computational Statistics and Data Analysis, 51(2):793-796
Largent, J. A., Capanu, M., Bernstein, L., Langholz, B., Mellemkjær, L., Malone, K. E., Begg, C. B., Haile, R. W., Lynch, C. F., Anton-Culver, H., Wolitzer, A., Bernstein, J. L. (2007) Reproductive history and risk of second primary breast cancer: the WECARE Study, Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 16(5): 906-911
Capanu, M., Presnell, B. (2007) Misspecification Tests for Binomial and Beta-Binomial Models, Statistics in Medicine, 27(14):2536-2554
Lassmann, S., Tang, L., Capanu, M., Schopflin, A., Zur Hausen, A., Gonen, M., Kemeny, N., Shia, J. R., Klimstrda, D., Werner, M. (2007) Predictive molecular markers for colorectal cancer patients with resected liver metastasis and adjuvant chemotherapy, Gastroenterology, 133(6):1831-9
Bertelsen, L., Bernstein, L., Olsen, J. H., Mellemkjaer, L., Haile, R., Lynch, C. F., Malone, K. E., Anton-Culver, H., Christensen, J., Langholz, B., Thomas, D. C., Begg, C. B., Capanu, M., Ejlertsen, B., Stovall, M., Boice, J. D. Jr., Shore, R. E., The WECARE Study Collaborative Group, Bernstein, J. L. (2007) Effect of systemic adjuvant treatment on risk of contralateral breast cancer in the WECARE Study, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 100(1):32-40
Duffy, A., Kortmansky, J., Schwartz, G. K., Capanu, M., Puleio, S., Minsky, B., Saltz, L., Kelsen, D. P., O'Reilly, E. M. (2007) A Phase I Study of Erlotinib in Combination with Gemcitabine and Radiation in Locally Advanced, Non-Operable Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma, Annals of Oncology, 19(1):86-91
Gallagher D. J., Capanu, M., Raggio, G., Kemeny, N. (2007) Hepatic Arterial Infusion (HAI) plus systemic Irinotecan (CPT-11) in patients with unresectable hepatic metastases from colorectal cancer previously treated with systemic Oxaliplatin: A Retrospective Analysis, Annals of Oncology, 18(12):1995-9
Asmis, T. R., Capanu, M., Kelsen, D. P., Shah, M. A. (2007) Systemic Chemotherapy does not increase the risk of gastric perforation, Journal of Clinical Oncology, 18(12):2006-8
Begg, C. B., Haile, R. W., Borg, A., Malone, K. E., Concannon, P., Thomas, D. C., Langholz, B., Bernstein, L., Olsen, J. H., Lynch, C. F., Anton-Culver, H., Capanu, M., Liang, X., Hummer, A. J., Sima, C., and Bernstein, J. L. (2007) Heterogeneity of breast cancer risk among BRCA1/2 carriers: An investigation by the WECARE Study Group, Journal of the American Medical Association, 299(02):194-201
Mellemkjær, L., Dahl, C., Olsen, J. H., Bertelsen, L., Guldberg, P., Christensen, J., Børresen-Dale A., Stovall M., Langholz, B., Bernstein, L., Lynch, C. F., Malone, K. E., Haile, R., Andersson, M., Thomas, D. C., Concannon, P., Capanu, M., Boice Jr., J. D., The WECARE Study Collaborative Group, Bernstein, J. L. (2008) Risk for contralateral breast cancer among carriers of CHEK2*1100delC: a population-based multi-center case-control study, British Journal of Cancer, 98(4):728-733
Capanu, M., Orlow, I., Berwick, M., Hummer, A. J., Thomas, D. C., Begg, C. B. (2008) The Use of Hierarchical Models for Estimating Relative Risks of Individual Genetic Variants: An Application to a Study of Melanoma, Statistics in Medicine, 27(11):1973-1992
Figueiredo, J. C., Bernstein L., Capanu M., Malone K. E., Lynch C. F., Haile R. W., the WECARE Study Collaborative Group and Bernstein J. L. (2008) Oral contraceptives, post-menopausal hormones and risk of asynchronous bilateral breast cancer: the WECARE Study Group, Journal of Clinical Oncology, 26(9):1411-1418
Ku, G. Y., Ilson, D. H., Schwartz, L. H., Capanu, M., O'Reilley, E., Shah, M. A., Kelsen, D. P., Schwartz, G. K. (2008) Phase II trial of sequential paclitaxel and one hour infusion bryostatin-1 in patients with advanced esophageal cancer, Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology, 62(5):875-880
Stovall M., Smith S. A., Langholz B. M., Boice J. D., Shore R. E., Andersson M., Buchholz T.A., Capanu M., Bernstein L., Lynch C. F., Malone K. E., Anton-Culver H., Haile R. W., Reiner A., Thomas D. C., WECARE Study Collaborative Group, Bernstein J. L. (2008) Dose to the Contralateral Breast from Radiotherapy and Risk of Second Primary Breast Cancer in the WECARE Study, Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics, 72(4):1021-1030
Concannon P., Haile R. W., Børresen-Dale A. L., Rosenstein B. S., Gatti, R. A., Teraoka S. N., Diep A. T., Jansen L., Atencio D. P., Langholz B., Capanu M., Liang X., Begg C. B., Thomas D.C., Bernstein L., Olsen J. H., Malone K. E., Lynch C. F., Anton-Culver H., The WECARE Study Collaborative Group and Bernstein J. L. (2008) Variants in the ATM gene associated with a reduced risk of second primary breast cancer, Cancer Research, 68(16):6486-6491
Duffy A., Capanu M., Abou-Alfa G.K., Huitzil D., Gilman-Rosen L., Jarnagin W., Fong Y., Kelsen D. P., D'Angelica M., DeMatteo R.P., Blumgart L.H , O'Reilly E.M. (2008) Gallbladder Cancer (GBC): 10 year experience at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre (MSKCC), Journal of Surgical Oncology, 98(7):485-489
Power D. G., Schattner M. A., Gerdes H., Brenner B., Markowitz A. J., Capanu M., Coit D. G., Kelsen D. P., Shah M. A. (2009) Endoscopic ultrasound can improve the selection for laparoscopy in patients with localized gastric cancer, Journal of the American College of Surgeons, 208(2):173-178
Kemeny N., Capanu M., D'Angelica M., Jarnagin W., Haviland D., Dematteo R., Fong Y. (2009) Phase I trial of Adjuvant Hepatic Arterial Infusion (HAI) with Floxuridine (FUDR) and Dexamethasone Plus Systemic Oxaliplatin, 5-fluorouracil and Leucovorin in Patients with Resected Liver Metastases from Colorectal Cancer, Annals of Oncology, 20(7):1236-1241
Knight J. A., Bernstein L., Largent J., Capanu M., Begg C. B., Mellemkjær L., Lynch C. F., Malone K. E., Reiner A. S., Liang X., Haile R. W., Boice J.D., WECARE Study Collaborative Group, Bernstein J.L. (2009) Alcohol intake and cigarette smoking and risk of contralateral breast cancer in the Women's Environmental Cancer and Radiation Epidemiology Study, American Journal of Epidemiology, 169(8):962-968
Duffy A., Capanu M., Allen P., Kurtz R., Olson S. H., Ludwig E., Klimstra D. S., O'Reilly E. M. (2009) Pancreatic adenocarcinoma in a young patient population - 12-year experience at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Journal of Surgical Oncology, 100(1):8-12
Kemeny N., Huitzil Melendez F. D., Capanu M., Paty P., Fong Y., Schwartz L., Jarnagin W., Patel D., D'Angelica M. (2009) Conversion to Resectability utilizing Hepatic artery infusion plus systemic chemotherapy for the treatment of unresectable liver metastases from colorectal carcinoma, Journal of Clinical Oncology, 27(21):3465-3471
Gallagher D.J., Zheng J., Capanu M., Haviland D., White R., Paty P., D'Angelica M., Fong Y., Allen P., Kemeny N. (2009) Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Does Not Predict Overall Survival for Patients with Synchronous, Colorectal Hepatic Metastases, Annals of Surgical Oncology, 16(7):1844-1851
Figueiredo JC, Haile RW, Bernstein L, Malone KE, Largent J, Langholz B, Lynch CF, Bertelsen L, Capanu M, Concannon P, Borg A, Børresen-Dale AL, Diep A, Teraoka S, Torngren T, Xue S, Bernstein JL. (2010) Oral contraceptives and postmenopausal hormones and risk of contralateral breast cancer among BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers and noncarriers: the WECARE Study. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 120(1):175-183
Bernstein JL, Haile RW, Stovall M, Boice J, Shore R, Langholz B, Thomas D, Bernstein L, Lynch C, Olsen J, Malone K, Mellemkjaer L, Borrensen-Dale A, Rosenstein B, Teraoka S, Diep A, Smith S, Capanu M, Reiner A, Liang X, Gatti RA, The WECARE Study Collaborative Group, Concannon P. (2010) Radiation exposure, the ATM gene, and contralateral breast cancer in the WECARE Study. J Natl Cancer Inst. 102(7):475-483
Borg A, Haile RW, Capanu M, Malone KE, Diep A, Törngren T, Teraoka S, Begg CB, Thomas DC, Concannon P, Mellemkjaer L, Bernstein L, Tellhed L, Xue S, Olson ER, Liang X, Dolle J, Børresen-Dale A, The WECARE Study Collaborative Group, Bernstein JL. Characterization of BRCA1 and BRCA2 deleterious mutations and variants of unknown clinical significance in unilateral and bilateral breast cancer: The WECARE Study. Hum Mutat. 31(3):E1200-1240
Malone KE, Begg CB, Haile RW, Borg A, Concannon P, Tellhed L, Xue S, Teraoka S, Bernstein L, Capanu M, Reiner A, Riedel ER, Thomas DC, Mellemkjaer L, Lynch CF, Boice JD, Anton-Culver H, Bernstein JL. (2010) Population-based study of the risk of second primary contralateral breast cancer associated with carrying a mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2. J Clin Oncol. 28(14):2404-2410.
Reding KW, Malone KE, Langholz BM, Bernstein L, Haile RW, Begg CB, Lynch CF, Concannon P, Borg A, Teraoka SN, Törngren T, Diep A, Xue S, Bertelsen L, Liang X, Reiner AS, Capanu M, The WECARE Collaborative Study Group, Bernstein JL. (2010) Adjuvant systemic therapy for breast cancer and the risk of contralateral breast cancer in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 123(2):491-498
Poynter JN, Langholz B, Largent J, Mellemkjaer L, Capanu M, Bernstein L, Begg CB, Malone KE, Lynch CF, Borg A, Concannon P, Haile RW, The WECARE Study Collaborative Group, Bernstein JL. (2010) Reproductive factors and risk of contralateral breast cancer by BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation status: results from the WECARE study. Cancer Causes and Control, 21(6):839-846
Huitzil-Melendez FD, Capanu M, O'Reilly EM, Duffy A, Gansukh B, Saltz LL, Abou-Alfa GK. (2010) Advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: which staging systems best predict prognosis? J Clin Oncol. 28(17):2889-2895
Shah MA, Capanu M, Soff G, Asmis T, Kelsen D (2010) Risk factors for developing a new venous thromboembolism in ambulatory patients with non-hematologic malignancies and impact on survival for gastroesophageal malignancies. J Thromb Haemost. 8(8):1702-1709
Shah MA, Power DG, Kindler HL, Holen KD, Kemeny MM, Ilson DH, Tang L, Capanu M, Wright JJ, Kelsen DP (2010) A multicenter, phase II study of Bortezomib (PS-341) in patients with unresectable or metastatic gastric and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. Invest New Drugs. June 25 [EPUB ahead of print]
Abou-Alfa GK, Chapman PB, Feilchenfeldt J, Brennan MF, Capanu M, Gansukh B, Jacobs G, Levin A, Neville D, Kelsen DP, O'Reilly EM (2010) Targeting Mutated K-ras in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Using an Adjuvant Vaccine. Am J Clin Oncol. Aug 3 [EPUB ahead of print]
Capanu M, Begg CB (2010) Hierarchical Modeling for Estimating Relative Risks of Rare Genetic Variants: Properties of the Pseudo-Likelihood Method. Biometrics. Aug 5 [EPUB ahead of print]
Ilson DH, Kelsen DP, Shah M, Schwartz G, Levine DA, Boyd J, Capanu M, Miron B, Klimstra D (2010) A Phase II Trial of Erlotinib in Patients with Previously Treated Squamous Cell and Adenocarcinoma of the Esophagus. Cancer Nov 8 [EPUB ahead of print]
Abou-Alfa GK, Johnson P, Knox JJ, Capanu M, Davidenko I, Lacava J, Leung T, Gansukh B, Saltz LB (2010) Doxorubicin Plus Sorafenib vs Doxorubicin Alone in Patients with Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Randomized Trial. JAMA 304(19):2154-2160
Figueiredo JC, Brooks JD, Conti DV, Poynter JN, Teraoka SN, Malone KE, Bernstein L, Lee WD, Duggan DJ, Siniard A, Concannon P, Capanu M, Lynch CF, Olsen JH, Haile RW, Bernstein JL. Risk of contralateral breast cancer associated with common variants in BRCA1 and BRCA2: potential modifying effect of BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation carrier status. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2010 Dec 15. [Epub ahead of print]PMID: 21161372
Shah MA, Jhawer M, Ilson DH, Lefkowitz RA, Robinson E, Capanu M, Kelsen DP. Phase II Study of Modified Docetaxel, Cisplatin, and Fluorouracil With Bevacizumab in Patients With Metastatic Gastroesophageal Adenocarcinoma. J Clin Oncol. 2010 Dec 28. [Epub ahead of print]PMID: 21189380
Kemeny NE, Jarnagin WR, Capanu M, Fong Y, Gewirtz AN, Dematteo RP, D'Angelica MI. Randomized Phase II Trial of Adjuvant Hepatic Arterial Infusion and Systemic Chemotherapy With or Without Bevacizumab in Patients With Resected Hepatic Metastases From Colorectal Cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2010 Dec 28. [Epub ahead of print]PMID: 21189384.

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