Jorge Cortes, MD

Director, Georgia Cancer Center Augusta University

  • Augusta GA

Jorge Cortes is a clinical investigator who has helped research and develop multiple treatment options for chronic myeloid leukemia.

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Biography

Jorge Cortes comes to the Georgia Cancer Center after spending the last 23 years at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he has taken on many roles in the Department of Leukemia, Division of Cancer Medicine; including his roles as the Deputy Department Chair, the Chair of AML and CML Sections, Professor of Medicine and Internist. In addition, Cortes held the title of Jane and John Justin Distinguished Chair in Leukemia Research and was the Leukemia Fellowship Program Director. He was also the Deputy Division Head for the Cancer Network, and Chair of the Executive IRB at MD Anderson.

Cortes obtained his undergraduate and post-graduate training in Mexico City before completing his fellowship in Houston, TX. He has over 230 grants and contracts where he was principal investigator. He has authored nearly 1,000 peer-review original research articles with numerous other accolades towards his name and practice.

The Cortes family, Jorge, his wife and two children, will be transferring to the Augusta area from Houston. They are excited to experience all the beauty and culture our area has to offer and will enjoy the cooler weather.

Areas of Expertise

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia
Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Blood and Bone Marrow Transplants
Cancer
Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia
Chronic Myeloid Leukemia
Hemtaologic Oncology
Hematology
Leukemia and Lymphoma
Myelodysplastic Syndromes
Myeloproliferative Neoplasms
Oncology

Accomplishments

John Goldman Prize, International CML Foundation

2018

Samuel J. Hassenbush III, M.D., Ph.D., Physicians Referral Service Leadership and Institutional Service Award (LISA), MDACC,

2018

Institutional Service Award (LISA), MDACC

2018

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Education

Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico,

M.D.

1986

Centro Universitario Mexico

B.S.

Biological Sciences

1979

Instituto Nacional de la Nutricion Salvador Zubiran

1986−1989

Residency in Internal Medicine

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Media Appearances

Don’t Delay Bringing Up CML Concerns, a Doctor Says

CURE  online

2024-06-15

Patients should not wait until their next appointment — which may be months away — to discuss complications from chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) treatment, as their clinical team may be able to address any issues sooner, explained Dr. Jorge E. Cortes.

Cortes, who is is the director of the Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University, spoke with CURE® at the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting. He emphasized that patients should be active participants in their CML care by having goals of care and open lines of communication with their health care team.

“Always express everything that you're feeling. Certainly not everything that happens is from the disease or from the treatment, but at least bring it up,” he said.

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Paceline announces Georgia Cancer Center research grants

The Augusta Press  online

2024-05-25

Paceline, the fundraising arm for cancer research of the Georgia Cancer Center, announced grants to six university researchers at a Friday ceremony.

“The work our scientists do in their labs relies on the passion, determination, and generosity of each team and individual who took part in Pace Day Weekend 2023,” said Jorge C. Cortes, director of the Georgia Cancer Center at the Medical College of Georgia.

MCG cancer researcher Yukai He said Paceline’s fundraising serves as an inspiration for his work.

“As a cancer researcher at the Georgia Cancer Center, I really feel excited about the huge potential of this Paceline campaign,” he said.

“This is the reason I support this event year after year. Paceline not only provided the seed money for my research to jump-start the work, but it also is a collective effort to make a team. That is the spirit we should have in research.”

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Rigel Announces Publication of Data on REZLIDHIA® (Olutasidenib) in Post-Venetoclax Patients with Mutant IDH1 AML in Leukemia & Lymphoma

Associated Press  online

2024-04-04

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: RIGL) today announced a peer-reviewed publication in Leukemia & Lymphoma on data from an analysis of the Phase 2 study evaluating REZLIDHIA® (olutasidenib), a potent, selective, oral, small-molecule inhibitor of mutant isocitrate dehydrogenase-1 (mIDH1)1, in patients with mIDH1 acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who were relapsed/refractory (R/R) to prior venetoclax-based regimens.

“Venetoclax in combination with a hypomethylating agent is currently standard treatment for patients with newly diagnosed AML who are unfit for intensive chemotherapy, including those with mIDH1. When this therapy fails, patients historically have had limited treatment options and poor prognoses,” said Jorge E. Cortes, M.D., Director, Georgia Cancer Center, Cecil F. Whitaker Jr., GRA Eminent Scholar Chair in Cancer, and Phase 2 trial investigator. “The findings from these analyses suggest that REZLIDHIA may provide an effective treatment for patients with AML following failure of venetoclax combination therapy. REZLIDHIA induced durable remissions consistent with those observed in the pivotal trial and had a favorable tolerability profile in this challenging to treat patient population, representing a valuable treatment option.”

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Answers

Why is it important to be screened for cancer on a regular basis? 
Jorge Cortes, MD

Being proactive when it comes to cancer screenings is another main factor in determining whether the patient will experience a remission or a recovery, rather than be forced into a treatment program that attempts to slow the spread of the disease and prolong life.

Does family history matter when it comes to cancer?
Jorge Cortes, MD

“We know that many forms of cancer are inherited in human genes; therefore, a person’s family medical history is a major indicator of what cancer might be hiding under the surface."

Why is cancer treatment so expensive?
Jorge Cortes, MD

"The biggest reason that cancer treatment becomes so expensive for most people is because they wait to seek treatment and do not practice prevention. It costs far more money to keep someone alive for six months at a time using drug therapy because the cancer was not detected in time."

Articles

Analysis of cardiovascular and arteriothrombotic adverse events in chronic-phase CML patients after frontline TKIs.

Blood Advances

Jain P, Kantarjian H, Boddu PC, et al.

2019-03-26

Cardiovascular or arteriothrombotic adverse events (CV- or AT-AEs) are reported in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). The incidence and characteristics across different TKI have not been systematically analyzed. We analyzed 531 patients treated with frontline TKIs in different prospective trials: imatinib 400 mg (n = 71) and 800 mg (n = 203), nilotinib (n = 108), dasatinib (n = 106), and ponatinib (n = 43).

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Treatment-free remission with first- and second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

American Journal of Hematology

Cortes J, Rea D, Lipton JH.

2018-11-05

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) has become a chronic disease, for which the chronic phase is manageable with tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy. Patients with optimal responses to TKIs have achieved long‐term survival, and treatment‐free remission (TFR) has since become an additional treatment goal in CML. In this review, we discuss important factors to consider prior to stopping treatment. In addition, published and presented data with the first‐generation TKI imatinib, as well as current clinical trials evaluating TFR with the second‐generation TKIs dasatinib and nilotinib, are examined.

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Ponatinib efficacy and safety in Philadelphia chromosome-positive leukemia: final 5-year results of the phase 2 PACE trial.

Blood

Cortes JE, Kim DW, Pinilla-Ibarz J, et al.

2018-07-26

Ponatinib has potent activity against native and mutant BCR-ABL1, including BCR-ABL1T315I. The pivotal phase 2 Ponatinib Ph+ ALL and CML Evaluation (PACE) trial evaluated efficacy and safety of ponatinib at a starting dose of 45 mg once daily in 449 patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) or Philadelphia chromosome–positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) resistant/intolerant to dasatinib or nilotinib, or with BCR-ABL1T315I. This analysis focuses on chronic-phase CML (CP-CML) patients (n = 270) with 56.8-month median follow-up.

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