Omar Castaneda Puglianini, MD

Cancer Focus:
Multiple Myeloma-Plasma Cell Tumor

Dr. Castaneda Puglianini earned his MD from Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, Peru, and completed an Internal Medicine residency at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. He completed a Hematology/Oncology fellowship at Virginia Commonwealth University/Massey Cancer Center followed by a Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Immunotherapy fellowship at Moffitt Cancer Center. Dr. Castaneda Puglianini joins us from Virginia Commonwealth University where he was an Assistant Professor of Medicine and served as Director, CAR T-Cell Therapy Program in the Division of Hematology/Oncology and Palliative Care at VCU Massey Cancer Center. Dr. Castaneda Puglianini’s clinical interests are in the treatment of hematological malignancies with a focus on plasma cell neoplasms using modalities such as autologous and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation as well as adoptive cellular immunotherapy. His research areas of interest include prognostic factors associated with progression, the role of minimal residual disease (MRD) and clinical trials investigating novel cellular immunotherapeutic approaches for multiple myeloma and various hematologic malignancies.

Education & Training

Board Certification:

• Internal Medicine - Hematology
• Internal Medicine - Medical Oncology

Fellowship:

• Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center - Hematology and Oncology
• H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute - Blood and Marrow Transplantation

Residency:

• Albert Einstein College of Medicine Jacobi Medical Center - Internal Medicine

Medical School:

• Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia Alberto Hurtado School of Medicine - MD

• Akhtar OS, Modi K, Kim J, Skellson L, Smith E, Al-Jumayli MA, Extermann M, De Avila G, Parker N, Castaneda-Puglianini O, Grajales-Cruz A, Baz R, Blue B, Shain K, Alsina M, Liu H, Nishihori T, Jain MD, Locke FL, Hansen DK, Freeman CL. Simple Score of Albumin and CRP Predicts High-Grade Toxicity in Patients with Multiple Myeloma Receiving CAR-T Therapy. Transplant Cell Ther. 2024 Mar.30(3):283.e1-283.e10. Pubmedid: 38123069.
• Akhtar OS, Sheeba BA, Azad F, Alessi L, Hansen D, Alsina M, Baz R, Shain K, Grajales Cruz A, Castaneda Puglianini O, Liu H, Blue B, Nishihori T, Al Jumayli M, Extermann M, Locke FL, Mhaskar R, Freeman CL. Safety and efficacy of anti-BCMA CAR-T cell therapy in older adults with multiple myeloma: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Geriatr Oncol. 2024 Mar.15(2):101628. Pubmedid: 37723045.
• Peres LC, Oswald LB, Dillard CM, De Avila G, Nishihori T, Blue BJ, Freeman CL, Locke FL, Alsina M, Castaneda Puglianini OA, Shune L, Sborov DW, Wagner C, Dima D, Hashmi H, Davis JA, Kocoglu MH, Badros AZ, Atrash S, Simmons G, Kalariya N, Ferreri CJ, Anderson LD, Afrough A, Kaur G, Lin Y, Liu L, Nadeem O, Voorhees PM, Khouri J, McGuirk JP, Sidana S, Hansen DK, Patel KK. Racial and ethnic differences in clinical outcomes among patients with multiple myeloma treated with CAR T-cell therapy. Blood Adv. 2024 Jan.8(1):251-259. Pubmedid: 37855718.
• Oswald LB, Gudenkauf LM, Li X, De Avila G, Peres LC, Kirtane K, Gonzalez BD, Hoogland AI, Nguyen O, Rodriguez Y, Baz RC, Shain KH, Alsina M, Locke FL, Freeman C, Castaneda Puglianini O, Nishihori T, Liu H, Blue B, Grajales-Cruz A, Jim HSL, Hansen DK. Patient-Reported Outcomes among Multiple Myeloma Patients Treated with Standard of Care Idecabtagene Vicleucel. Cancers (Basel). 2023 Sep.15(19). Pubmedid: 37835405. Pmcid: PMC10571575.
• Hashmi H, Hansen DK, Peres LC, Puglianini OC, Freeman C, De Avila G, Sidana S, Shune L, Sborov DW, Davis J, Wagner C, Kocoglu MH, Atrash S, Voorhees P, Simmons G, Ferreri C, Kalariya N, Anderson LD, Afrough A, Dima D, Khouri J, McGuirk J, Locke F, Baz R, Patel KK, Alsina M. Factors associated with refractoriness or early progression after idecabtagene vicleucel in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma: U.S. Myeloma Immunotherapy Consortium real world experience. Haematologica. 2023 Oct. Pubmedid: 37855036.
• Freeman CL, Atkins R, Varadarajan I, Menges M, Edelman J, Baz R, Brayer J, Castaneda Puglianini O, Ochoa-Bayona JL, Nishihori T, Shain KH, Shah B, Chen DT, Kelley L, Coppola D, Alsina M, Antonia S, Anasetti C, Locke FL. Survivin Dendritic Cell Vaccine Safely Induces Immune Responses and Is Associated with Durable Disease Control after Autologous Transplant in Patients with Myeloma. Clin Cancer Res. 2023 Nov.29(22):4575-4585. Pubmedid: 37735756.
• Puglianini OC, Peker D, Zhang L, Papadantonakis N. Essential Thrombocythemia and Post-Essential Thrombocythemia Myelofibrosis: Updates on Diagnosis, Clinical Aspects, and Management. Lab Med. 2023 Jan.54(1):13-22. Pubmedid: 35960786.
• Lee DH, Kumar A, Mohammed T, Peres LC, Alsina M, Bachmeier CA, Blue B, Brayer J, Chandrasekhar S, Grajales-Cruz AF, De Avila G, Elmariah H, Faramand RG, Freeman CL, Jain MD, Khadka S, Khimani F, Liu H, Nishihori T, Oswald LB, Castaneda Puglianini OA, Shain KH, Smith E, Baz RC, Locke FL, Oliveira GH, Alomar M, Hansen DK. Cardiac events after standard of care idecabtagene vicleucel for relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma. Blood Adv. 2023 Aug.7(16):4247-4257. Pubmedid: 37307173. Pmcid: PMC10424134.
• Ferreri CJ, Hildebrandt MAT, Hashmi H, Shune LO, McGuirk JP, Sborov DW, Wagner CB, Kocoglu MH, Rapoport A, Atrash S, Voorhees PM, Khouri J, Dima D, Afrough A, Kaur G, Anderson LD, Simmons G, Davis JA, Kalariya N, Peres LC, Lin Y, Janakiram M, Nadeem O, Alsina M, Locke FL, Sidana S, Hansen DK, Patel KK, Castaneda Puglianini OA. Real-world experience of patients with multiple myeloma receiving ide-cel after a prior BCMA-targeted therapy. Blood Cancer J. 2023 Aug.13(1):117. Pubmedid: 37558706. Pmcid: PMC10412575.
• Lazaryan A, Lee SJ, Arora M, Kim J, Betts BC, Khimani F, Nishihori T, Bejanyan N, Liu H, Kharfan-Dabaja MA, Locke FL, Gonzalez R, Jain MD, Davila ML, Perez LE, Mishra A, Perez Perez A, Balke K, Ayala E, Ochoa L, Castaneda Puglianini O, Faramand RG, Alsina M, Elmariah H, Nieder M, Fernandez H, Anasetti C, Pidala J. A phase 2 multicenter trial of ofatumumab and prednisone as initial therapy for chronic graft-versus-host disease. Blood Adv. 2022 Jan.6(1):259-269. Pubmedid: 34649279. Pmcid: PMC8753213.
• Logue JM, Peres LC, Hashmi H, Colin-Leitzinger C, Shrewsbury AM, Hosoya H, Gonzalez R, Copponex C, Kottra KH, Hovanky V, Sahaf B, Patil S, Lazaryan A, Jain MD, Baluch A, Klinkova O, Bejanyan N, Faramand RG, Elmariah H, Khimani F, Davila ML, Mishra A, Blue B, Grajales-Cruz AF, Castaneda Puglianini O, Liu H, Nishihori T, Freeman CL, Brayer J, Shain KH, Baz R, Locke FL, Alsina M, Sidana S, Hansen DK. Early cytopenias and infections after standard of care idecabtagene vicleucel in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. Blood Adv. 2022 Dec.6(24):6109-6119. Pubmedid: 35939783. Pmcid: PMC9768247.
• Simmons GL, Castaneda Puglianini O. T-Cell-Based Cellular Immunotherapy of Multiple Myeloma: Current Developments. Cancers (Basel). 2022 Aug.14(17). Pubmedid: 36077787. Pmcid: PMC9455067.
• Crombie JL, Nastoupil LJ, Redd R, Tang K, Shouse G, Herrera AF, Chow VA, Shadman M, Castaneda Puglianini O, Saucier A, Jacobson CA, Armand P, Simmons G. Real-world outcomes of axicabtagene ciloleucel in adult patients with primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma. Blood Adv. 2021 Sep.5(18):3563-3567. Pubmedid: 34474474. Pmcid: PMC8945592.
• Castaneda-Puglianini O, Chavez JC. Bispecific antibodies for non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and multiple myeloma. Drugs Context. 2021 Sep.10. Pubmedid: 34603459. Pmcid: PMC8462994.
• Simmons GL, Satta T, Castaneda Puglianini O. Clinical experience of CAR T cells for multiple myeloma. Best Pract Res Clin Haematol. 2021 Sep.34(3):101306. Pubmedid: 34625232.
• Castaneda-Puglianini O, Chavez JC. Assessing and Management of Neurotoxicity After CAR-T Therapy in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma. J Blood Med. 2021 Aug.12:775-783. Pubmedid: 34466048. Pmcid: PMC8403007.
• Castaneda Puglianini O, Papadantonakis N. Early precursor T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia: current paradigms and evolving concepts. Ther Adv Hematol. 2020.11. Pubmedid: 32733662. Pmcid: PMC7370557.
• Castaneda O, Baz R. Multiple Myeloma Genomics - A Concise Review. Acta Med Acad. 2019 Apr.48(1):57-67. Pubmedid: 31264433.
• Casas J, Castañeda O, Prezza P, Castillo M, Llosa L. [An unusual presentation of liver involvement in hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia biliary disease]. Rev Gastroenterol Peru. 2009 Jul.29(3):266-271. Pubmedid: 19898600.