Sana Karam, MD, PhD

Radiation Oncologist

Sana Karam

Appointment Options

Whether you’re seeking a new patient appointment or exploring treatment options and looking for a second opinion, our Siteman care coordinators are ready to assist you.

My Locations

Gary C. Werths Building at Siteman Cancer Center

Gary C. Werths Building at Siteman Cancer Center

On WashU Medicine Campus
4500 Forest Park Avenue, Saint Louis, MO 63108
Center for Advanced Medicine

Center for Advanced Medicine

On WashU Medicine Campus
4921 Parkview Place, Saint Louis, MO 63110

Expertise & Training

Clinical Expertise

  • Head & Neck Cancer

Primary Academic Title

Elizabeth H. and James S. McDonnell III Distinguished Professor and Department Chair of Radiation Oncology, WashU Medicine

Training

  • 2001 - 2002: Postdoctoral Fellow, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
  • 2008 - 2009: Intern, WashU Medicine, St. Louis, MO
  • 2009 - 2013: Resident, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
  • 2012 - 2013: Chief Resident, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.

Education

  • 1991: BSN, American University in Beirut, Lebanon
  • 1994: MS, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
  • 2001: PhD, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
  • 2008: MD, Georgetown University, Washington D.C.

Research & Selected Publications

Research Interest

Tumor Immunology, Radiation Oncology, Developmental Therapeutics, Tumor-host interaction

Research Publications

Radiation as an immune modulator: mechanisms and implications for combination with immunotherapy
Authors:

Darragh LB, Karam SD

Journal & Year:

Nat Rev Cancer | 2026

IL15/IL15Rα Complex Induces an Antitumor Immune Response following Radiotherapy only in the Absence of Tregs and Fails to Expand Progenitor TCF1+ CD8 T Cells
Authors:

Piper M, Hodgson CA, Gadwa J, one or more additional authors omitted Karam SD

Journal & Year:

Mol Cancer Ther | 2026

Manipulating the EphB4-ephrinB2 axis to reduce metastasis in HNSCC
Authors:

Abdelazeem KNM, Nguyen D, Corbo S, one or more additional authors omitted Karam SD

Journal & Year:

Oncogene | 2025

Divergent response to radio-immunotherapy is defined by intrinsic features of the tumor microenvironment
Authors:

Gadwa J, Yu J, Piper M, one or more additional authors omitted Karam SD

Journal & Year:

J Immunother Cancer | 2025

MHC class I upregulation contributes to the therapeutic response to radiotherapy in combination with anti-PD-L1/anti-TGF-β in squamous cell carcinomas with enhanced CD8 T cell memo…
Authors:

Lind HT, Hall SC, Strait AA, one or more additional authors omitted Karam SD, one or more additional authors omitted Wang XJ

Journal & Year:

Cancer Lett | 2025