Back to Authors

Tarhini, Ali

https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6477-5286

Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic

Citations 3

Toxicity Attribution During Enfortumab Vedotin Plus Pembrolizumab Therapy in Urothelial Carcinoma: A Practical Framework
Zarka, Jabra, Childs, Daniel S. , Rincón, Miguel Muñiz, Tarhini, Ali , Jang, Albert , Kottschade, Lisa A. , Markovic, Svetomir N, Spychalla, Megan, Sitenga, Morgan, NGUYEN, GIANG, Pagliaro, Lance, Costello, Brian A, Orme, Jacob J., Zarka, Jabra G , Muniz Rincon, Miguel, Tarhini, Ali , Muniz, Miguel , Jang, Albert , Zarka, Jabra , Jang, Albert , Spychalla, Megan, Pagliaro, Lance C. , Costello, Brian A. , Orme, Jacob J.

The Oncologist | September 18, 2026 | Volume: No volume available | Issue: No issue available | Pages: No page available

10.1093/oncolo/oyag371 Get It

Abstract Enfortumab vedotin (EV), pembrolizumab, and EV plus pembrolizumab (EV/P) have rapidly reshaped the treatment landscape of advanced urothelial carcinoma, but toxicity increasingly determines treatment delivery, treatment continuity, and real-world benefit. As EV/P moves into broader clinical use, clinicians must distinguish adverse events related to antibody-drug conjugate exposure from immune-mediated toxicities and recognize syndromes in which both mechanisms may contribute. In this practical, mechanism-informed review, we synthesize pivotal trials, mature follow-up reports, and representative real-world cohorts describing the safety of EV monotherapy, pembrolizumab monotherapy, and EV/P in urothelial carcinoma. Because adverse-event reporting and ascertainment are heterogeneous across studies, including differences in preferred terms, composite categories, grading frameworks, and treatment-related versus all-cause reporting, we emphasize clinically interpretable patterns rather than pooled estimates. EV monotherapy is characterized by cutaneous toxicity, peripheral neuropathy, hyperglycemia, dysgeusia, and ocular events, including early epithelial/metabolic events and cumulative neuropathy. Pembrolizumab monotherapy has a lower overall high-grade toxicity burden but is defined by immune-mediated endocrinopathies, pneumonitis, hepatitis, colitis, and nephritis. Combination therapy produces a predictable overlap of these toxicity domains, creating diagnostic and management challenges for syndromes such as skin toxicity, diarrhea, fatigue, and pulmonary symptoms. We provide comparative visual toxicity signatures, regimen-specific summary tables, temporal toxicity mapping, and a pragmatic attribution framework that classifies events as EV-predominant, immune-predominant, overlap/indeterminate, or high-risk requiring initial interruption of both agents. This review aims to support bedside recognition, provisional attribution, early management, and safer implementation of EV/P in contemporary urothelial carcinoma practice.
Menin Inhibition in Acute Myeloid Leukemia: Rewiring Leukemic Transcriptional Networks
Tarhini, Ali , Romanos, Michael, Al‐Kali, Aref , Saliba, Antoine N. , Saliba, Antoine N. , Al-Kali, Aref , Saliba, Antoine N , Saliba, Antoine N , Tarhini, Ali , Romanos, Michael

International Journal of Molecular Sciences | June 2, 2026 | Volume: 27 | Issue: 11 | Pages: 4886

10.3390/ijms27114886 Get It

Among the transcriptional dependencies that sustain leukemic identity in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the menin–KMT2A chromatin complex has emerged as a central regulatory node. The scaffold protein menin, encoded by MEN1, facilitates transcriptional activation of HOX and MEIS family genes during normal hematopoietic development. In AML, this physiologic and developmentally regulated role is co-opted to sustain constitutive HOX/MEIS-driven programs that block differentiation and maintain leukemic potential. Although dependency on menin is most clearly established in KMT2A-rearranged and NPM1-mutated AML, this vulnerability appears to arise from a shared transcriptional state characterized by persistent HOX activation rather than from any single genetic alteration. Pharmacologic disruption of the menin-KMT2A interaction collapses stemness-associated transcriptional networks, promotes myeloid differentiation, and attenuates leukemic self-renewal. Clinical activity observed with menin inhibitors provides translational validation of this dependency and establishes menin inhibition as a differentiation-based therapeutic strategy. In this review, we examine the molecular basis of menin-dependent transcriptional regulation in AML and its implications for therapeutic targeting with menin inhibitors and resistance to therapy.
Evolution of symptom burden across prostate cancer disease states in the EHR-facilitated Cancer Symptom Control (E2C2) trial.
Tarhini, Ali , Muniz, Miguel, Grzegorczyk, Veronica , Pachman, Deirdre R. , Orme, Jacob, Heath, Elisabeth I. , Ruddy, Kathryn Jean, Cheville, Andrea L., Orme, Jacob J. , Ruddy, Kathryn J. , Cheville, Andrea L., Childs, Daniel S.

Journal of Clinical Oncology | May 28, 2026 | Volume: 44 | Issue: 16_suppl | Pages: No page available

10.1200/jco.2026.44.16_suppl.e23276 Get It

e23276 Background: More than 50,000 patients with cancers of all stages were enrolled in the E2C2 trial, which captured patient-reported data across 6 symptom domains (SPPADE): sleep, pain, impaired physical function, anxiety, depression, and energy deficit or fatigue. This trial offers a unique opportunity to evaluate the evolution of symptom burden as prostate cancer (PCa) advances and the association of symptom burden with prognosis in the various disease states. Methods: The cohort was derived by cross-referencing participants in the E2C2 study with the Mayo Clinic Cancer Registry for more granular data on disease state and treatment characteristics, focusing on PCa. Symptoms were patient-reported on a 0-10 numerical rating scale, categorized as none/mild (0-3), moderate (4-6), and severe (7-10). We compared the prevalence of symptom burden across disease states, using the first survey completed by patients, in 3 groups: (1) non-metastatic (localized, locally advanced, and biochemically recurrent), (2) metastatic hormone sensitive (mHSPC), and (3) castration resistant (CRPC), using chi square tests. We then used log-rank tests to compare survival distributions based on symptom severity within each disease state. Results: A total of 1,011 patients were included. The distribution of moderate to severe symptoms by disease state is shown in Table 1. Fatigue, impaired physical function, and pain were more prevalent in patients with advanced disease, whereas the prevalence of depression and anxiety was not statistically different by disease state. Greater fatigue and physical impairment were consistently associated with poorer OS across all disease states, including patients with non-metastatic disease (p < 0.001). Pain was most strongly associated with inferior outcomes in the more advanced disease states of mHSPC (p < 0.001) and CRPC (p < 0.001). Anxiety (p < 0.001) and depression (p = 0.001) were only prognostic in CRPC patients. Conclusions: SPPADE symptoms are common in PCa. Physical symptoms are greater in more advanced disease, yet the high burden of unmet psychologic needs is similar across the disease states. Notably, severe patient-reported fatigue and physical dysfunction are strongly prognostic even in early disease, suggesting they are markers of physiologic vulnerability. Structured symptom monitoring may improve the identification of high-risk patients. Clinical trial information: NCT03892967 . Moderate to severe symptoms by disease state. Non-Metastatic (N= 243) mHSPC (N= 479) CRPC (N= 289) P-value Pain, n (%) 51 (21.3) 121 (25.5) 100 (35.1) 0.001 Fatigue, n (%) 92 (38.3) 230 (48.6) 163 (57.2) <0.001 Impaired Physical Function, n (%) 79 (32.5) 180 (37.7) 146 (50.7) <0.001 Sleep Disturbance, n (%) 72 (30.1) 167 (35.2) 104 (36.1) 0.3 Depression, n (%) 47 (19.6) 92 (19.4) 63 (22.0) 0.67 Anxiety, n (%) 56 (23.4) 93 (19.6) 68 (23.9) 0.3