Dr. Luis H. Camacho, MD, MPH

Expert Publications

• Clinical applications of retinoids in cancer medicine.
• Acute myeloid leukemia: a classification and treatment update.
• Pilot study of combination transcriptional modulation therapy with sodium phenylbutyrate and 5-azacytidine in patients with acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplastic syndrome.
• Hepatic resection for metastatic melanoma: distinct patterns of recurrence and prognosis for ocular versus cutaneous disease.
• Biologic and immunomodulatory events after CTLA-4 blockade with ticilimumab in patients with advanced malignant melanoma.
• Retinoic acid-induced CD38 antigen promotes leukemia cells attachment and interferon-gamma/interleukin-1beta-dependent apoptosis of endothelial cells: implications in the etiology of retinoic acid syndrome.
• Improving the institutional submission and approval process for clinical research protocols in oncology.
• Novel therapies targeting the immune system: CTLA4 blockade with tremelimumab (CP-675,206), a fully human monoclonal antibody.
• Prospective assessment of the reliability, validity, and sensitivity to change of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Melanoma questionnaire.
• Spontaneous pneumocephalus associated with recurrent colorectal carcinoma.
• A phase I clinical trial of darinaparsin in patients with refractory solid tumors.
• A phase 1 study of hepatic arterial infusion of oxaliplatin in combination with systemic 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, and bevacizumab in patients with advanced solid tumors metastatic to the liver.
• Phase I Dose Escalation Study of Sodium Stibogluconate (SSG), a Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Inhibitor, Combined with Interferon Alpha for Patients with Solid Tumors.
• A Phase-1b study of tivantinib (ARQ 197) in adult patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and cirrhosis.
• A phase I dose escalation study of oral c-MET inhibitor tivantinib (ARQ 197) in combination with gemcitabine in patients with solid tumors.

Media Releases

Get to know Hematologist-Oncologist Dr. Luis H. Camacho, who serves patients in Houston, Texas.

Practicing general oncology and hematology, Dr. Camacho’s clinical interests include bone marrow aspiration, chemotherapy, and hematologic malignancy. He is the Director of The Center for Oncology & Blood Disorders, a private organization in Houston, Texas devoted to caring for patients diagnosed with cancer or disorders of the blood and blood forming organs.

“My philosophy is to approach patients with hope, with the understanding that cancer can be a fatal disease process. It is therefore critical that patients use their healing process as a spiritual journey with an enormous potential for individual learning and growth. We want cancer to be experienced as a great opportunity to love and receive love. To thank God for our loved ones, for each minute, every smile, any moment… and most importantly, for the life lived” expressed the doctor. 

Licensed to practice medicine in Texas, Dr. Camacho is affiliated with Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston Methodist Cancer Center, HCA Houston Healthcare Medical Center, and Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center.

With a special interest in melanoma, drug development, and immune-oncology, he has served as the principal investigator in more than 100 clinical trials regarding these specialty disciplines. He also serves as an advisor to several drug development groups in novel anti-cancer agents and immunotherapy of solid tumors.

Educated in Colombia, Dr. Camacho graduated with his medical degree from Nueva Granada Military University in 1988. Upon relocating to the United States, he performed his internship and residency in internal medicine at The George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., followed by his fellowship in hematology and medical oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

With a focus on compassionate state-of-the-art cancer care and clinical research, he is board-certified in medical oncology by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM). The ABIM is a physician-led, non-profit, independent evaluation organization driven by doctors who want to achieve higher standards for better care in a rapidly changing world.

Associated with a number of international societies and organizations, Dr. Camacho is a member of the American College of Physicians and the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Hematology is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. A hematologist-oncologist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of cancer, malignant blood diseases such as leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma, and blood disorders such as iron-deficiency anemia, clotting abnormalities, hemophilia, and sickle-cell disease.

In addition to having co-authored over 100 national and international scientific abstracts, Dr. Camacho has published the results of his basic and clinical research experience in journals like The New England Journal of Medicine, The Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer, Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, British Journal of Cancer, Annals of Oncology, and other peer-reviewed medical journals.

On a more personal note, he speaks both English and Spanish.

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