Karim Fizazi, MD, PhD

Karim Fizazi, MD, PhD, is a medical oncologist at Institut Gustave Roussy and full professor in Oncology at the University of Paris Saclay in Villejuif, France. After training as a medical student at the University of Poitiers, France, Prof Fizazi completed his residency (Internat) in Paris and attained his medical degree in 1995. In 1997, he completed a fellowship in medical oncology at Gustave Roussy. After a visiting professorship at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, USA from 1999 to 2001 where he was working on preclinical models of bone metastases from prostate cancer, he gained his PhD in Molecular Oncology in 2003. He was head of the Department of Cancer Medicine at Institute Gustave Roussy from 2005 to 2018 and he became full professor at the University of Paris in 2009. He is the president of the French Groupe d’Etude des Tumeurs Genito-Urinaires (GETUG) and head of the GU oncology group at Gustave Roussy. Prof. Fizazi is associate editor of European Journal of Cancer. Furthermore, he has authored numerous abstracts at international congresses and has published more than 500 peer-reviewed articles. His h index is above 100. To date, Prof. Fizazi has chaired six practice-changing trials in the field of GU oncology: - The pivotal denosumab 103 trial randomly established in 2011 the role of this RANK-ligand inhibitor for preventing severe complications of bone metastases from castration-resistant prostate cancer, such as fractures or major pain; - The GETUG 13 trial established in 2014 a new standard of care for young patients with poor-prognosis germ-cell tumors using dose-dense chemotherapy in selected men with an unfavorable tumor marker decline, although no significant progress had been made for these patients in the previous 25 years; - The LATITUDE trial demonstrated in 2017 the impact of abiraterone on survival in men with de novo metastatic prostate cancer; - After leading the development of Darolutamide in phase I, Prof. Fizazi chaired the ARAMIS phase 3 trial which showed in 2020 an overall survival improvement with Darolutamide in men with non-metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC); - The PEACE-1 trial showed in 2021 that overall survival of men with de novo metastatic prostate cancer is improved when three agents (androgen deprivation, docetaxel, and abiraterone-prednisone) are combined, and therefore set a new standard of care for these men. The trial was also the first to demonstrate that early use of radiotherapy dramatically prevents the onset of severe local symptoms in men with mCSPC, regardless of tumor “volume”. - The TRITON-3 trial demonstrated in 2023 the role of rucaparib, a PARP inhibitor in men with metastatic CRPC and BRCA alterations, beating for the first time docetaxel, a 2-decade standard. To push forward clinical research for prostate cancer in Europe, Prof. Fizazi created in 2013 the Prostate Cancer Consortium in Europe (PEACE). He’s currently leading several large PEACE European academic phase III trials: PEACE-1, PEACE-2 (testing cabazitaxel and pelvic radiotherapy in very high-risk localized prostate cancer, which has completed a 750 patients accrual), and the ongoing PEACE-4 trial, which is testing the role of aspirin and that of statins in castrate-resistant prostate cancer. The PEACE-6 platform of four phase 3 trials aims at testing different hypothesis in different subgroups of men with M1 prostate cancer. Prof. Fizazi is chairing two of these trials which are currently enrolling patients: PEACE-6 Vulnerable (testing ADT+darolutamide in frail patients) and PEACE-6 Poor responders (testing early introduction of Lu-PSMA in men with mCSPC and detectable serum PSA at 6-8 months following the initiation of systemic treatment for mCSPC). Finally, Prof. Fizazi is chairing the PEACE-7 phase 3 trial which is testing two hypothesis (systemic treatment intensification with darolutamide and the use of a stereotactic radiotherapy boost) in men with very high-risk localized prostate cancer and no extra-prosatte extension on PSMA Pet who are treated with radiotherapy and ADT. In parallel, Prof. Fizazi is currently chairing several industry-sponsored pivotal phase 3 trials including notably CAPITEllo 281 (testing capivasertib in patients with mCSPC and PTEN loss), PSMAfore (testing Lu-PSMA in mCRPC post-androgen receptor pathway inhibitor), and RADIANT (testing radium-223 in men pretreated with an AR pathway inhibitor and docetaxel).