Mark Friedman, MD

Cancer Focus:
Colorectal Cancer

Dr. Friedman earned his MD degree at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center. He completed an Internal Medicine Residency at George Washington University Medical Center and a Gastroenterology Fellowship at Albany Medical Center. After completing training, Dr. Friedman worked with Gastrohealth in Miami, Florida for 3 years. He currently is an Associate Member in the department of GI Oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center. He also holds an academic appointment as an Assistant Professor in the department of Oncological Sciences at the University of South Florida. Dr. Friedman’s clinical interests are in 1) Colorectal cancer screening 2) Genetic Colorectal Cancer Syndromes 3) Surveillance of pre-malignant Intestinal Conditions. He also treats a wide variety of liver associated diseases such as hepatitis C, hepatitis B, autoimmune hepatitis, hereditary hemochromatosis and fatty liver disease. His research interests include hepatocellular disease, colorectal cancer screening trends, guidelines, and immunotherapy related gel toxicities.

Education & Training

Board Certification:

• Internal Medicine - Gastroenterology

Fellowship:

• Albany Medical College - Gastroenterology

Residency:

• George Washington University Medical Center - Internal Medicine

Medical School:

• SUNY Downstate Medical Center - MD

• Montoya SM, Olaore P, Bastardo-Acosta J, Abdulla R, Schell MJ, Hidalgo A, Turner B, Rider M, Kishun-Jit N, Pollard J, Friedman M, Byrne MM, Christy SM, Meade CD, Gwede CK. Protocol paper for an implementation science approach to promoting colorectal cancer screening in Federally Qualified Health Center Clinics: A stepped-wedge, multilevel intervention trial. Contemp Clin Trials. 2026 May.164:108274. Pubmedid: 41780746. Pmcid: PMC13034654.
• Abdulla R, Boxtha C, Courtney EP, Anyanwu OA, Sutton SK, Chung-Bridges K, Kassaye HG, Philippe E, Mudon KA, Frias E, Parras D, Avrilien N, Friedman M, Turner K, Coronado GD, Champion VL, Tobin JN, Vadaparampil ST, Gwede CK, Christy SM. Multilevel Action Toward Colorectal Cancer and Hepatitis C Education and Screening (MATCHES): Study protocol for a hybrid 1 stepped-wedge multibehavioral randomized trial. Contemp Clin Trials. 2026 Apr.163:108256. Pubmedid: 41692274. Pmcid: PMC13094859.
• Radosavljevic I, Dam A, Luthra AK, Pena L, Cappelle S, Permuth JB, Felder S, Sanchez J, Stefanou A, Friedman M, Mok SR. Assessing outcomes of full-thickness resection in piecemeal polypectomy scar consolidation of colon adenomas containing cancer. Endosc Int Open. 2025 Sep.13:a26372047. Pubmedid: 40932816. Pmcid: PMC12417760.
• Bolla R, Mok S, Friedman M, Dam A, Luthra AK, Cappelle S, Peña LR. Self-Assembling Hemostatic Peptide Gel Used to Successfully Treat Rectal Ulcer in Radiation-Associated Vascular Ectasia: A Case Report. Am J Case Rep. 2025 Mar.26:e946886. Pubmedid: 40091537. Pmcid: PMC11927923.
• Morales MFG, Hogue SR, Pitcher S, Jeong D, Radosavljevic I, Stefanou A, Felder SI, Burns JR, Dowd SE, Vogtmann E, Sinha R, Wang L, Wang X, Permuth JB, Sears CL, Andersen SW, Greathouse KL, Kresovich JK, Friedman MS, Siegel EM, Byrd DA. Survival implications of the age-associated tumor and normal adjacent tissue microbiome among colorectal cancer patients. Gut Pathog. 2025 Dec.17(1):109. Pubmedid: 41437389. Pmcid: PMC12739855.
• Ness RM, Llor X, Abbass MA, Bishu S, Chen CT, Cooper G, Early DS, Friedman M, Fudman D, Giardiello FM, Glaser K, Gurudu S, Hall M, Huang LC, Issaka R, Katona B, Kidambi T, Lazenby AJ, Maratt J, Markowitz AJ, Marsano J, May FP, Mayer RJ, Olortegui K, Patel S, Peter S, Porter LD, Shafi M, Stanich PP, Terdiman J, Vu P, Weiss JM, Wood E, Cassara CJ, Sambandam V. NCCN Guidelines® Insights: Colorectal Cancer Screening, Version 1.2024. J Natl Compr Canc Ne. 2024 Sep.22(7):438-446. Pubmedid: 39236750.
• Makovich Z, Radosavljevic I, Chapyala S, Handley G, Pena L, Mok S, Friedman M. Rationale for Hepatitis C Virus Treatment During Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant in the Era of Novel Direct-Acting Antivirals. Digest Dis Sci. 2024 Sep.69(9):3488-3500. Pubmedid: 38990268.
• Rodriguez VI, Mammadova J, Permuth JB, Luthra A, Pena L, Friedman M, Dam A, Cappelle S, Malafa MP, Hallmon C, Miranda C, Mok SRS. Elevated Urinary Levels of Fungal and Environmental Toxins in Patients with Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. J Gastrointest Cancer. 2024 Oct.56(1):4. Pubmedid: 39419859. Pmcid: PMC11486816.
• Shaikh DH, Park M, Chen J, Huang J, Friedman MS, Dam AN, Luthra AK, Cappelle S, Pena LR, Permuth JB, Mok SRS. Differences in Gender and Overall Survival for Temperature-Sensitive TP53 Mutations in Gastroesophageal Cancer. Medicina (Kaunas). 2024 Nov.60(11). Pubmedid: 39597086. Pmcid: PMC11597060.
• Montoya SM, Olaore P, Bastardo-Acosta J, Abdulla R, Schell MJ, Hidalgo A, Turner B, Rider M, Kishun-Jit N, Joshua A, Pollard J, Friedman M, Christy SM, Meade CD, Gwede CK. Protocol paper for an implementation science approach to promoting colorectal cancer screening in Federally Qualified Health Center clinics: A stepped-wedge, multilevel intervention trial. Res Sq. 2024 Jul. Pubmedid: 39070625. Pmcid: PMC11275978.
• Cavalaris CP, Okon SO, Pena LR, Friedman MS. Primary Malignant Melanoma of the Esophagus. Digest Dis Sci. 2023 Aug.68(8):3203-3204. Pubmedid: 37245192.
• Schell MJ, Gwede CK, Friedman M. Physician Adenoma Detection Rates and Colorectal Cancer. Jama. 2022 Oct.328(14):1462. Pubmedid: 36219411.
• Christy SM, Reich RR, Rathwell JA, Vadaparampil ST, Isaacs-Soriano KA, Friedman MS, Roetzheim RG, Giuliano AR. Using the Electronic Health Record to Characterize the Hepatitis C Virus Care Cascade. Public Health Rep. 2022 May.137(3):498-505. Pubmedid: 33831316. Pmcid: PMC9109542.
• Kővári B, Báthori Á, Friedman MS, Lauwers GY. Histologic Diagnosis of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. Adv Anat Pathol. 2022 Jan.29(1):48-61. Pubmedid: 34879038.
• Naffouje SA, Lauwers G, Klapman J, Dam A, Pena L, Friedman M, Sanchez J, Dessureault S, Felder S. Malignant colon polyps: predicting lymph node metastasis following endoscopic excision. Int J Colorectal Dis. 2022 Feb.37(2):393-402. Pubmedid: 35001147.
• Saha A, Dreyfuss I, Sarfraz H, Friedman M, Markowitz J. Dietary Considerations for Inflammatory Bowel Disease Are Useful for Treatment of Checkpoint Inhibitor-Induced Colitis. Cancers (Basel). 2022 Dec.15(1). Pubmedid: 36612082. Pmcid: PMC9817715.
• Zhang Y, Friedman M, Nakanishi Y. A Case of Osseous Metaplasia in a Gastric Hyperplastic Polyp. ACG Case Rep J. 2021 Sep.8(9):e00667. Pubmedid: 34611529. Pmcid: PMC8487774.
• Pai RK, Pai RK, Brown I, Choi WT, Schaeffer DF, Farnell D, Kumarasinghe MP, Gunawardena D, Kim BH, Friedman M, Ghayouri M, Lauwers GY. The significance of histological activity measurements in immune checkpoint inhibitor colitis. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2021 Jan.53(1):150-159. Pubmedid: 33146440.
• Provenzale D, Ness RM, Llor X, Weiss JM, Abbadessa B, Cooper G, Early DS, Friedman M, Giardiello FM, Glaser K, Gurudu S, Halverson AL, Issaka R, Jain R, Kanth P, Kidambi T, Lazenby AJ, Maguire L, Markowitz AJ, May FP, Mayer RJ, Mehta S, Patel S, Peter S, P Stanich P, Terdiman J, Keller J, Dwyer MA, Ogba N. NCCN Guidelines Insights: Colorectal Cancer Screening, Version 2.2020. J Natl Compr Canc Ne. 2020 Oct.18(10):1312-1320. Pubmedid: 33022639. Pmcid: PMC8311627.
• Mohammadi H, Abuodeh Y, Jin W, Frakes J, Friedman M, Biebel B, Choi J, El-Haddad G, Kis B, Sweeney J, Hoffe S. Using the Albumin-Bilirubin (ALBI) grade as a prognostic marker for radioembolization of hepatocellular carcinoma. J Gastrointest Oncol. 2018 Oct.9(5):840-846. Pubmedid: 30505583. Pmcid: PMC6219966.
• Luu C, Thapa R, Rose T, Woo K, Jeong D, Thomas K, Chen DT, Friedman M, Malafa MP, Hodul PJ. Identification of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease following pancreatectomy for noninvasive intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm. Int J Surg. 2018 Oct.58:46-49. Pubmedid: 30218781. Pmcid: PMC7771269.
• Frakes JM, Abuodeh YA, Naghavi AO, Echevarria MI, Shridhar R, Friedman M, Kim R, El-Haddad G, Kis B, Biebel B, Sweeney J, Choi J, Anaya D, Giuliano AR, Hoffe SE. Viral hepatitis associated hepatocellular carcinoma outcomes with yttrium-90 radioembolization. J Gastrointest Oncol. 2018 Jun.9(3):546-552. Pubmedid: 29998020. Pmcid: PMC6006034.
• Saligram S, Lim D, Pena L, Friedman M, Harris C, Klapman J. Safety and feasibility of esophageal self- expandable metal stent placement without the aid of fluoroscopy. Dis Esophagus. 2017 Aug.30(8):1-6. Pubmedid: 28575246.
• Friedman MS, Manini AF. Validation of Criteria to Guide Prehospital Naloxone Administration for Drug-Related Altered Mental Status. J Med Toxicol. 2016 Sep.12(3):270-275. Pubmedid: 27083903. Pmcid: PMC4996789.
• Mohammadi H, Abuodeh YA, Jin W, Frakes JM, Friedman M, Biebel B, Choi J, El-Haddad GE, Kis B, Sweeney J, Kim R, Pimiento JM, Malafa MP, Anaya D, Hoffe SE. Using the ALBI Grade as a Prognostic Marker for Radioembolization of Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2016 Oct.96(2S):E194-E195.
• Hanna C, Mullinax J, Friedman MS, Sanchez J. Jejunal diverticulosis found in a patient with long-standing pneumoperitoneum and pseudo-obstruction on imaging: a case report. Gastroenterol Rep (Oxf). 2016 Nov.4(4):337-340. Pubmedid: 26220890. Pmcid: PMC5193057.
• Huang H, Taylor DC, Carson RT, Sarocco P, Friedman M, Munsell M, Blum SI, Menzin J. Economic Evaluation of Linaclotide for the Treatment of Adult Patients With Chronic Idiopathic Constipation in the United States. Manag Care. 2016 Feb.25(2):41-48. Pubmedid: 27008836.
• Tan E, Shao H, Friedman M. Mycosis Fungoides of the Rectum: Case Report and Review of the Literature. J Gastrointest Cancer. 2016 Dec.47(4):417-419. Pubmedid: 26195195.
• Khalpey Z, Marsh KM, Ferng A, Riaz IB, Hemphill C, Penick K, Oliva I, Friedman M. First in Man: Sternal Reconstruction with Autologous Stem Cells. Asaio J. 2015 Sep.61(5):e31-e32. Pubmedid: 25914951.
• Tan E, Friedman M, Coppola D. Occurrence of Multiple Tumors in a Patient. Cancer Control. 2015 Oct.22(4):505-507. Pubmedid: 26678978.
• Bucur O, Almasan A, Zubarev R, Friedman M, Nicolson GL, Sumazin P, Leabu M, Nikolajczyk BS, Avram D, Kunej T, Calin GA, Godwin AK, Adami HO, Zaphiropoulos PG, Richardson DR, Schmitt-Ulms G, Westerblad H, Keniry M, Grau GE, Carbonetto S, Stan RV, Popa-Wagner A, Takhar K, Baron BW, Galardy PJ, Yang F, Data D, Fadare O, Yeo KJ, Gabreanu GR, Andrei S, Soare GR, Nelson MA, Liehn EA. An updated h-index measures both the primary and total scientific output of a researcher. Discoveries (Craiova). 2015 Oct.3(3). Pubmedid: 26504901. Pmcid: PMC4617786.
• Torres HA, Chong PP, De Lima M, Friedman MS, Giralt S, Hammond SP, Kiel PJ, Masur H, McDonald GB, Wingard JR, Gambarin-Gelwan M. Hepatitis C Virus Infection among Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Donors and Recipients: American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation Task Force Recommendations. Biol Blood Marrow Tr. 2015 Nov.21(11):1870-1882. Pubmedid: 26256943.
• Huang H, Taylor DC, Carson RT, Sarocco P, Friedman M, Munsell M, Blum SI, Menzin J. Economic evaluation of linaclotide for the treatment of adult patients with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation in the United States. J Med Econ. 2015 Apr.18(4):283-294. Pubmedid: 25333331.
• Menzin J, Preblick R, Friedman M, Menzin J, Frean M, Jacqueline Kwong W. Treatment patterns and outcomes among hospitalized patients with venous thromboembolism in the United States: an analysis of electronic health records data. Hosp Pract (1995). 2014 Oct.42(4):59-74. Pubmedid: 25502130.
• Myakishev-Rempel M, Stadler I, Brondon P, Axe DR, Friedman M, Nardia FB, Lanzafame R. A preliminary study of the safety of red light phototherapy of tissues harboring cancer. Photomed Laser Surg. 2012 Sep.30(9):551-558. Pubmedid: 22853435. Pmcid: PMC3423866.
• Friedman M, Arja W, Batra R, Daniel S, Hoehn D, Paniz AM, Selegean S, Slova D, Srivastava S, Vergara N. Informed consent for blood transfusion: what do medicine residents tell? What do patients understand?. Am J Clin Pathol. 2012 Oct.138(4):559-565. Pubmedid: 23010711.
• Friedman M, Arora G, Green J. Fellow involvement during colonoscopy does not reduce adenoma detection rate. Digest Dis Sci. 2011 Mar.56(3):919. Pubmedid: 20721628.
• Patel AV, Friedman M, MacDermott RP. Crohn's disease patient with right lower quadrant abdominal pain for 20 years due to an appendiceal neuroma (Fibrous obliteration of the appendix). Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2010 Jul.16(7):1093-1094. Pubmedid: 19824068.
• Arora G, Friedman M, Macdermott RP. Disseminated Nocardia nova infection. South Med J. 2010 Dec.103(12):1269-1271. Pubmedid: 21037519.
• Friedman M, Borum ML. Colorectal cancer screening of African Americans by internal medicine resident physicians can be improved with focused educational efforts. J Natl Med Assoc. 2007 Sep.99(9):1010-1012. Pubmedid: 17913110. Pmcid: PMC2575865.
• Friedman M, Borum ML. Colon cancer screening consultations may identify racial disparity in hypertension diagnosis and management. J Natl Med Assoc. 2007 May.99(5):525-526. Pubmedid: 17534010. Pmcid: PMC2576062.
• Friedman M, Ali MA, Borum ML. Gastric sarcoidosis: a case report and review of the literature. South Med J. 2007 Mar.100(3):301-303. Pubmedid: 17396736.
• Friedman M, Ramsay DB, Borum ML. An unusual case report of small bowel Candida overgrowth as a cause of diarrhea and review of the literature. Digest Dis Sci. 2007 Mar.52(3):679-680. Pubmedid: 17277989.
• Ramsay DB, Friedman M, Borum ML. Does the race or gender of hepatitis C infected patients influence physicians' assessment of hepatitis A and hepatitis B serologic status?. South Med J. 2007 Jul.100(7):683-685. Pubmedid: 17639747.
• Friedman SG, Kerner BA, Friedman MS, Moccio CG. Limb salvage in elderly patients. Is aggressive surgical therapy warranted?. J Cardiovasc Surg (Torino). 1989 Sep.30(5):848-851. Pubmedid: 2808509.
• Shiani A, Narayanan S, Pena L, Friedman M. The Role of Diagnosis and Treatment of Underlying Liver Disease for the Prognosis of Primary Liver Cancer. Cancer Control. 24(3):1073274817729240. Pubmedid: 28975833. Pmcid: PMC5937237.

Voted top doctor in Gastroenterology in Tampa Magazine’s Top Doctors 2025.

Voted top doctor in Gastroenterology in Tampa Magazine's Top Doctors 2024.