Kasey Joanne Leger, MD, MSc

Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Leukemia and Lymphoma Program, Apheresis

On staff since August 2014

Children's Title: Attending Physician, Cancer and Blood Disorders Center

Academic Title: Associate Professor, Hematology/Oncology

Research Center: Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research

"Its an honor to partner with my patients and their families in their life changing battle against cancer. I am inspired to help my patients and those who will face this disease in the future to not only overcome cancer, but to experience healthy and fulfilling lives after cancer."

• Biography

  Kasey Leger, MD, is an attending physician at Seattle Childrens Hospital and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Her clinical interests focus on management of leukemia, lymphoma, and cardiovascular health during cancer therapy.

  My research focus on cardiotoxicity centers largely on early biomarkers of anthracycline-induced cardiac injury and cardiomyopathy risk prediction. Additionally, I am committed to optimizing strategies of cardioprotection, primary and ultimately secondary wherein validated risk prediction models are critical. I lead the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) Myeloid Cardiotoxicity Working Group and am the cardiac chair of the ongoing COG Phase III randomized trial for patients with de novo AML comparing standard therapy to CPX-351 (AAML1831). This large, multi-institutional trial will assess strategies to mitigate cardiotoxicity and leverage a large, high-risk cohort to capture detailed cardiac phenotyping by echocardiographic measures of cardiac function and mechanics and circulating biomarkers of cardiac injury and stress. Additionally, I am the principal investigator of a cardiotoxicity biomarker cohort study at Seattle Children’s in which we are studying circulating microRNAs, high sensitivity troponin, myocardial deformation imaging (strain), and other novel blood and imaging based markers of cardiotoxicity.

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• Awards and Honors

  Award Name	Award Description	Awarded By	Award Date
  Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Clinic Research Scholar		Leuekmia & Lymphoma Society	July 2019
  Clinical Research Scholar		Seattle Children's Center for Clinical and Translational Research	May 2015
  American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Young Investigator Award		American Society of Clinical Oncology	2012 - 2013
  Selected participant in AACR/ASCO Workshop: Methods in Clinical Cancer Research			2012
  Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society			2005

• Publications

  Manuscripts in Refereed Journals

  • Leger KJ, Cushing-Haugen K, Hansen JA, Fan W, Leisenring WM, Martin PJ, Zhao LP, Chow EJ
    Clinical and Genetic Determinants of Cardiomyopathy Risk among Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Survivors.
    26968791 Biology of blood and marrow transplantation : journal of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, 2016 Mar 8
  • Leger K, Slone T, Lemler M, Leonard D, Cochran C, Bowman WP, Bashore L, Winick N
    Subclinical cardiotoxicity in childhood cancer survivors exposed to very low dose anthracycline therapy.
    25176022 Pediatric blood and cancer, 2015 Jan. : 62(1)123-7
  • Lipshultz SE, Diamond MB, Franco VI, Aggarwal S, Leger K, Santos MV, Sallan SE, Chow EJ
    Managing chemotherapy-related cardiotoxicity in survivors of childhood cancers.
    25134924 Paediatric drugs, 2014 Oct. : 16(5)373-89 PMCID:PMC4417358

  Published Abstracts

  • Leger K, Singh S1, Canseco D, Collins S, Karim-Ud-Din S, Drazner MH, Mammen PP
    Identification of novel circulating microRNAs in ischemic cardiomyopathy utilizing whole blood microRNA profiling
    American Heart Association 2013 Scientific Sessions, 2013 : Vol 128(Issue 22 S)

  Other Publications

  • Menig S, Dinh A, Angus J, Tucker S, Leger KJ, Rushing T, Orgel E
    Lack of benefit from premedication for pegylated asparaginase during pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia/lymphoma therapy: A side-by-side comparison.
    37856184 Pediatric blood & cancer, 2023 Oct 19 : e30716
  • Border WL, Effinger KE, Leger KJ
    Predicting Left Ventricular Dysfunction in Childhood Cancer Survivors: In Search of the Echocardiography Holy Grail.
    37614572 JACC. CardioOncology, 2023 Aug. : 5(4)486-488 PMCID:PMC10443194
  • Forlenza CJ, Rosenzweig J, Mauguen A, Buhtoiarov I, Cuglievan B, Dave H, Deyell RJ, Flerlage JE, Franklin AK, Krajewski J, Leger KJ, Marks LJ, Norris RE, Pacheco M, Willen F, Yan AP, Harker-Murray PD, Giulino-Roth L
    Brentuximab vedotin after autologous transplantation in pediatric patients with relapsed/refractory Hodgkin lymphoma.
    36897253 Blood advances, 2023 Jul 11 : 7(13)3225-3231 PMCID:PMC10338202
  • Lee BM, Summers C, Chisholm KM, Bohling SD, Leger KJ, Gardner R, Annesley C, Lamble AJ
    Plasticity of lineage switch in B-ALL allows for successful rechallenge with CD19-directed immunotherapy.
    36763522 Blood advances, 2023 Jun 27 : 7(12)2825-2830 PMCID:PMC10279539
  • Harker-Murray P, Mauz-Körholz C, Leblanc T, Mascarin M, Michel G, Cooper S, Beishuizen A, Leger KJ, Amoroso L, Buffardi S, Rigaud C, Hoppe BS, Lisano J, Francis S, Sacchi M, Cole PD, Drachtman RA, Kelly KM, Daw S
    Nivolumab and brentuximab vedotin with or without bendamustine for R/R Hodgkin lymphoma in children, adolescents, and young adults.
    36564047 Blood, 2023 Apr 27 : 141(17)2075-2084
  • Narayan HK, Sheline K, Wong V, Kuo D, Choo S, Yoon J, Leger K, Kutty S, Fradley M, Tremoulet A, Ky B, Armenian S, Guha A
    Cardiovascular toxicities with pediatric tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy: An analysis of adverse events reported to the Food and Drug Administration.
    36385736 Pediatric blood & cancer, 2023 Feb. : 70(2)e30059
  • Zaha VG, Hayek SS, Alexander KM, Beckie TM, Hundley WG, Kondapalli L, Ky B, Leger KJ, Meijers WC, Moslehi JJ, Shah SH
    Future Perspectives of Cardiovascular Biomarker Utilization in Cancer Survivors: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.
    34753300 Circulation, 2021 Dec 21 : 144(25)e551-e563
  • Narayan HK, Getz KD, Leger KJ
    Minimizing cardiac toxicity in children with acute myeloid leukemia.
    34889355 Hematology. American Society of Hematology. Education Program, 2021 Dec 10 : 2021(1)368-375 PMCID:PMC8791101
  • Du J, Chisholm KM, Tsuchiya K, Leger K, Lee BM, Rutledge JC, Paschal CR, Summers C, Xu M
    Lineage Switch in an Infant B-Lymphoblastic Leukemia With t(1;11)(p32;q23); KMT2A/EPS15, Following Blinatumomab Therapy.
    33749383 Pediatric and developmental pathology : the official journal of the Society for Pediatric Pathology and the Paediatric Pathology Society, 2021 July : 24(4)378-382
  • Sachdeva R, Stratton KL, Cox DE, Armenian SH, Bhat A, Border WL, Leger KJ, Leisenring WM, Meacham LR, Sadak KT, Narasimhan S, Chow EJ, Nathan PC
    Challenges associated with retrospective analysis of left ventricular function using clinical echocardiograms from a multicenter research study.
    33486820 Echocardiography (Mount Kisco, N.Y.), 2021 Feb. : 38(2)296-303 PMCID:PMC8917905
  • Getz KD, Sung L, Alonzo TA, Leger KJ, Gerbing RB, Pollard JA, Cooper T, Kolb EA, Gamis AS, Ky B, Aplenc R
    Effect of Dexrazoxane on Left Ventricular Systolic Function and Treatment Outcomes in Patients With Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Report From the Children's Oncology Group.
    32343641 Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2020 Jul 20 : 38(21)2398-2406 PMCID:PMC7367546
  • Cooper TM, Absalon MJ, Alonzo TA, Gerbing RB, Leger KJ, Hirsch BA, Pollard J, Razzouk BI, Aplenc R, Kolb EA
    Phase I/II Study of CPX-351 Followed by Fludarabine, Cytarabine, and Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor for Children With Relapsed Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Report From the Children's Oncology Group.
    32401633 Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2020 Jul 1 : 38(19)2170-2177 PMCID:PMC7325367
  • Border WL, Sachdeva R, Stratton KL, Armenian SH, Bhat A, Cox DE, Leger KJ, Leisenring WM, Meacham LR, Sadak KT, Sivanandam S, Nathan PC, Chow EJ
    Longitudinal Changes in Echocardiographic Parameters of Cardiac Function in Pediatric Cancer Survivors.
    32719829 JACC. CardioOncology, 2020 March : 2(1)26-37 PMCID:PMC7384713
  • Gardner RA, Ceppi F, Rivers J, Annesley C, Summers C, Taraseviciute A, Gust J, Leger KJ, Tarlock K, Cooper TM, Finney OC, Brakke H, Li DH, Park JR, Jensen MC
    Preemptive mitigation of CD19 CAR T-cell cytokine release syndrome without attenuation of antileukemic efficacy.
    31697826 Blood, 2019 Dec 12 : 134(24)2149-2158 PMCID:PMC6908832
  • Chow EJ, Leger KJ, Bhatt NS, Mulrooney DA, Ross CJ, Aggarwal S, Bansal N, Ehrhardt MJ, Armenian SH, Scott JM, Hong B
    Paediatric cardio-oncology: epidemiology, screening, prevention, and treatment.
    30768157 Cardiovascular research, 2019 Apr 15 : 115(5)922-934 PMCID:PMC6452306
  • Elzembely MM, Dahlberg AE, Pinto N, Leger KJ, Chow EJ, Park JR, Carpenter PA, Baker KS
    Late effects in high-risk neuroblastoma survivors treated with high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell rescue.
    30151986 Pediatric blood & cancer, 2019 Jan. : 66(1)e27421
  • Getz KD, Sung L, Ky B, Gerbing RB, Leger KJ, Leahy AB, Sack L, Woods WG, Alonzo T, Gamis A, Aplenc R
    Occurrence of Treatment-Related Cardiotoxicity and Its Impact on Outcomes Among Children Treated in the AAML0531 Clinical Trial: A Report From the Children's Oncology Group.
    30379624 Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2019 Jan 1 : 37(1)12-21 PMCID:PMC6354770
  • Schuh AM, Leger KJ, Summers C, Uspal NG
    Lactic Acidosis in a Critically Ill Patient: Not Always Sepsis.
    30180106 Pediatric emergency care, 2018 Sept. : 34(9)e165-e167
  • Leger KJ, Baker KS, Cushing-Haugen KL, Flowers MED, Leisenring WM, Martin PJ, Mendoza JA, Reding KW, Syrjala KL, Lee SJ, Chow EJ
    Lifestyle factors and subsequent ischemic heart disease risk after hematopoietic cell transplantation.
    29315507 Cancer, 2018 Apr 1 : 124(7)1507-1515 PMCID:PMC5867247
  • Yoshida H, Leger KJ, Xu M, Migita RT, Rutledge JC, Pollard JA, Kroon L, Mazor SS, Moon A, Rutman LE
    Improving Time to Antibiotics for Pediatric Oncology Patients With Suspected Infections: An Emergency Department-Based Quality Improvement Intervention.
    29293201 Pediatric emergency care, 2018 Jan. : 34(1)47-52
  • Zhang P, Sun F, Hung HC, Jain P, Leger KJ, Jiang S
    Sensitive and Quantitative Detection of Anti-Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) Antibodies by Methoxy-PEG-Coated Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensors.
    28727918 Analytical chemistry, 2017 Aug 15 : 89(16)8217-8222 PMCID:PMC5750323
  • Gardner RA, Finney O, Annesley C, Brakke H, Summers C, Leger K, Bleakley M, Brown C, Mgebroff S, Kelly-Spratt KS, Hoglund V, Lindgren C, Oron AP, Li D, Riddell SR, Park JR, Jensen MC
    Intent-to-treat leukemia remission by CD19 CAR T cells of defined formulation and dose in children and young adults.
    28408462 Blood, 2017 Jun 22 : 129(25)3322-3331 PMCID:PMC5482103
  • Leger KJ, Leonard D, Nielson D, de Lemos JA, Mammen PP, Winick NJ
    Circulating microRNAs: Potential Markers of Cardiotoxicity in Children and Young Adults Treated With Anthracycline Chemotherapy.
    28377429 Journal of the American Heart Association, 2017 Apr 4 : 6(4) PMCID:PMC5532993
  • Leger K
    The Potential Role of Plasma MicroRNAs as Novel Markers of Hypertrophy and Fibrosis in Patients with HCM
    http:/Biomarkers.Cardiosource.org, 2014
    http://biomarkers.cardiosource.org/Article-of-the-Month/2014/06/The-Potential-Role-of-Plasma-MicroRNAs.aspx.

• Presentations

  Presentation Title	Event	Location	Date
  Detection of Bone Marrow Involvement in Hodgkins Lymphoma	Childrens Medical Center Tumor Board		2010
  Prospective Evaluation of Early Markers of Cardiotoxicity in Children Undergoing Anthracycline Chemotherapy	UT Southwestern Clinical Science Forum		2013
  The use of Rituximab in Treatment of Burkitts Lymphoma	Childrens Medical Center Tumor Board		2011
  Acute Alterations in Plasma microRNA Expression Following Anthracycline Therapy	UT Southwestern Translational Science Forum Works in Progress		2013
  Cardiovascular Disease in Childhood Cancer Survivors: Case Presentations. Cardiovascular Disease in Survivors of Childhood Cancer: Novel Insights into Pathophysiology, Screening, and Prevention Workshop	American Society of Pediatric Hematology/ Oncology Annual Meeting		April 2013
  Intrachromosomal amplification of chromosome 21 (iAMP21) in childhood preB ALL	Seattle Childrens Hematopathology Conference		2015
  Anthracycline Related Cardiotoxicity: An Evaluation of Doxorubicin Pharmacokinetics and Cardiac Troponins	UT Southwestern Department of Pediatrics Research Conference		2011
  General Principals in Leukemia	UT Southwestern Resident Board Review Conference		2011
  Evaluation of microRNAs as novel markers of cardiotoxicity in children treated with anthracycline chemotherapy	UT Southwestern Pediatrics Department Fellows Core Curriculum Conference		2012
  Treatment of childhood and adolescent T-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia	Seattle Childrens Clinical Standard Practice		2015
  Cardiotoxicity in Childhood Cancer Survivors	Childrens Medical Center Nursing Education Curriculum Lecture Series		2012

• Research Funding

  Grant Title	Grantor	Amount	Award Date
  Cardiotoxicity Prediction in Children with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)	National Cancer Institute: Biomarker, Imaging and Quality of Life Studies Funding Program (BIQSFP)	$257,000	2020 - 2025
  Cardioprotective Strategies and Cardiotoxicity Prediction in Children with Acute Myeloid Leukemia	Leukemia & Lymphoma Society	$625,000	July 2019 - July 2024
  Clinical Research Scholar Program		$90,000	2016 - 2018
  Hyundai Hope on Wheels Senior Research Award	Hyundai Hope on Wheels	$250,000	2015 - 2018
  Childrens Cancer Fund Dallas		$28,000	2012 - 2014
  T32HL007360-35 NIH Training in Cardiovascular Research Grant			2012 - 2014