Manish Kohli, M.D.

The research of Manish Kohli, M.D., is focused on identifying biomarkers with predictive and prognostic impact in patients with advanced prostate cancer, advanced kidney cancer, advanced bladder cancer and all stages of testicular cancer.

In the Division of Medical Oncology at Mayo Clinic, Dr. Kohli also conducts and oversees phase I, II and III clinical trials in the advanced stages of these malignancies.

Focus areas

• Biomarker discovery. Dr. Kohli is working to identify predictive and prognostic biomarkers for advanced-stage prostate cancer, kidney cancer and bladder cancer, and all stages of testicular cancer.
• Cancer biorepositories. Dr. Kohli directs and oversees several cancer biorepositories in the Division of Medical Oncology and the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. These biorepositories enable the collection of high-quality, clinically annotated blood and urine specimens from Mayo Clinic patients with advanced prostate cancer, advanced kidney cancer and testicular tumors.

  The purpose of these biorepositories is to access germline DNA, cell-free nucleic acids (RNA and DNA), and proteomic and metabolomic specimen sets for biomarker development in the above-listed genitourinary tumors. They also contribute to multi-institutional nationwide networks for biomarker discovery, development and validation, which will expedite the use of validated cancer biomarkers in these malignancies.

Significance to patient care

The goal of Dr. Kohli's clinical research in genitourinary cancers is to devise strategies of individualizing cancer care to patients. Rather than provide group statistics to patients while administering cancer medicines, the hope of being able to tailor individual drugs for individual patients is in keeping with Mayo Clinic's primary value: The needs of the patient come first.

While this is clearly a voluminous challenge, Dr. Kohli and his colleagues have taken it on and hope to meet it in the future.

Professional highlights

• Core Member, Genitourinary Correlative Science Committee, Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology
• Employee MD of the Year, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, 2003
• Member, Selection Committee, Prostate Cancer Research Program, Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, 2007 and 2008
• Section Editor, Oncology, Mayo Clinic Proceedings