Roberto Diaz, MD, PhD

Cancer Focus:
Breast Cancer, Ductal Carcinoma In Situ, Inflammatory Breast Cancer, Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Dr. Roberto Diaz is a tenured senior member and a professor in the Oncologic Sciences Department at the University of South Florida. He also serves as the Senior Medical Director of Network sites for the Department of Radiation Oncology at Moffitt and as Physician Advisor for International Initiatives. Dr. Diaz earned his MS, PhD, and MD degrees from New York University School of Medicine, specializing in molecular oncology as part of the medical scientist training program. He completed his training in radiation oncology at Vanderbilt University, serving as chief resident in his final year. Dr. Diaz is board-certified in Radiation Oncology and focuses his research on translational and clinical breast cancer, particularly bioinformatics and genomics-based analysis of gene expression and recurrence in breast cancers. Additionally, he is fluent in both English and Spanish and has mentored numerous students and resident physicians who have gone on to successful careers in medicine and research.

Education & Training

Residency:

• Vaderbilt University Medical Center - Radiation Oncology
• Griffin Hospital, Yale University - Internal Medicine

Medical School:

• New York University School of Medicine - MD

Clinical Trial 23513
Assessing the DCIS Test Effect on Treatment Strategies in Patients with Ductal Carcinoma in Situ After Breast-Conserving Surgery
Condition: Breast
Status: Open

If you believe you are eligible for one of these trials or studies, please call
813-745-6100 or toll-free 1-800-679-0775.

• Robinson TJ, Liveringhouse CL, Wilson C, Friedman S, Nakashima J, Mills MN, Purcell JD, Figura NB, Dongliang D, Thapa R, Welsh E, Ahmed KA, Grass GD, Fridley BL, Diaz R. Association between transcriptomic metrics of exogenous antigen presentation and adaptive immunity with locoregional recurrence in localized estrogen receptor negative breast cancer: retrospective review of multi-institutional datasets. Breast Cancer Res. 2025 May.27(1):77. Pubmedid: 40361136. Pmcid: PMC12070507.
• Ahmed KA, Kim Y, Armaghani AJ, Arrington JA, Costa RL, Czerniecki BJ, Diaz R, Dowell RA, Extermann M, Forsyth PA, Lee KT, Loftus L, Mills MN, Phuoc VH, Rosa M, Soliman HH, Sam CS, Washington IR, Soyano AE, Han HS. Phase II trial of brain MRI surveillance in stage IV breast cancer. Neurooncol. 2025 Jul.27(6):1550-1558. Pubmedid: 39851040. Pmcid: PMC12309701.
• Mattes MD, Kaya EA, Thomas RJ, Chaurasia AR, Ponce SEB, Vidal G, Franco I, Longo JM, Pardo DAD, Vega RBM, Mohindra P, Diaz R, Patel S, Deville C. Assessment of Approaches Promoting Virtual Radiation Oncology Educational Content to Medical Students. Adv Radiat Oncol. 2025 Apr.10(4):101734. Pubmedid: 40092575. Pmcid: PMC11904482.
• Ahmed KA, Kim Y, Kim S, Wang MH, DeJesus M, Arrington JA, Soyano AE, Armaghani AJ, Costa RLB, Loftus LS, Rosa M, Caudell JJ, Diaz R, Etame AB, Tran ND, Soliman H, Czerniecki BJ, Forsyth PA, Yu HM, Han HS. Nivolumab and stereotactic radiosurgery for patients with breast cancer brain metastases: long-term results and biomarker analysis from a non-randomized, open-label, phase Ib study. J Immunother Cancer. 2025 Apr.13(4). Pubmedid: 40295143. Pmcid: PMC12039042.
• Pasetto S, Montejo M, Zahid MU, Rosa M, Gatenby R, Schlicke P, Diaz R, Enderling H. Calibrating tumor growth and invasion parameters with spectral spatial analysis of cancer biopsy tissues. NPJ Syst Biol Appl. 2024 Oct.10(1):112. Pubmedid: 39358360. Pmcid: PMC11447233.
• Liveringhouse CL, Mills MN, Ahmed KA, Washington IR, Lee MC, Khakpour N, Laronga C, Czerniecki B, Soliman H, Weinfurtner RJ, Rosa M, Kim Y, Stringfield O, Abdalah M, Diaz R, Montejo M. Phase 2 Study of Preoperative SABR for Early-Stage Breast Cancer: Introduction of a Novel Form of Accelerated Partial Breast Radiation Therapy. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2023 Jul.116(3):611-616. Pubmedid: 36796498.
• Weinfurtner RJ, Abdalah M, Stringfield O, Ataya D, Williams A, Mooney B, Rosa M, Lee MC, Khakpour N, Laronga C, Czerniecki B, Diaz R, Ahmed K, Washington I, Latifi K, Niell B, Montejo M, Raghunand N. Quantitative Changes in Intratumoral Habitats on MRI Correlate With Pathologic Response in Early-stage ER/PR+ HER2− Breast Cancer Treated With Preoperative Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiotherapy. J Breast Imaging. 2022 May.4(3):273-284. Pubmedid: 36686407. Pmcid: PMC9851176.
• Mills MN, Potluri TK, Kawahara Y, Fahey M, Figura NB, Soyano AE, Washington IR, Diaz R, Oliver DE, Yu HM, Etame AB, Vogelbaum MA, Czerniecki BJ, Arrington JA, Sahebjam S, Forsyth PA, Soliman HH, Han HS, Ahmed KA. The presentation of brain metastases in melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, and breast cancer and potential implications for screening brain MRIs. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2022 Jan.191(1):209-217. Pubmedid: 34669082.
• Weinfurtner RJ, Raghunand N, Stringfield O, Abdalah M, Niell BL, Ataya D, Williams A, Mooney B, Rosa M, Lee MC, Khakpour N, Laronga C, Czerniecki B, Diaz R, Ahmed K, Washington I, Montejo M. MRI Response to Pre-operative Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiotherapy (SABR) in Early Stage ER/PR+ HER2- Breast Cancer correlates with Surgical Pathology Tumor Bed Cellularity. Clin Breast Cancer. 2022 Feb.22(2):e214-e223. Pubmedid: 34384695.
• Agha A, Wang X, Wang M, Lehrer EJ, Horn SR, Rosenberg JC, Trifiletti DM, Diaz R, Louie AV, Zaorsky NG. Long-Term Risk of Death From Heart Disease Among Breast Cancer Patients. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2022 Apr.9:784409. Pubmedid: 35498020. Pmcid: PMC9043135.
• Ahmed KA, Kim Y, Arrington JA, Kim S, DeJesus M, Soyano AE, Armaghani AJ, Costa RLB, Khong HT, Loftus LS, Rosa M, Caudell JJ, Diaz R, Robinson TJ, Etame AB, Tran ND, Sahebjam S, Soliman HH, Czerniecki BJ, Forsyth PA, Yu HM, Han HS. Nivolumab and Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Patients With Breast Cancer Brain Metastases: A Nonrandomized, Open-Label Phase 1b Study. Adv Radiat Oncol. 2021 Sep.6(6):100798. Pubmedid: 34934864. Pmcid: PMC8655428.
• Mills MN, Russo NW, Fahey M, Nanda RH, Raiker S, Jastrzebski J, Stout LL, Wilson JP, Altoos TA, Allen KG, Blumencranz PW, Diaz R. Increased Risk for Ipsilateral Breast Tumor Recurrence in Invasive Lobular Carcinoma after Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation Brachytherapy. Oncologist. 2021 Nov.26(11):e1931-e1938. Pubmedid: 34516030. Pmcid: PMC8571753.
• Mills M, Liveringhouse C, Lee F, Nanda RH, Ahmed KA, Washington IR, Thapa R, Fridley BL, Blumencranz P, Extermann M, Loftus L, Balducci L, Diaz R. The prevalence of luminal B subtype is higher in older postmenopausal women with ER+/HER2- breast cancer and is associated with inferior outcomes. Geriatr Oncol. 2021 Mar.12(2):219-226. Pubmedid: 32859560. Pmcid: PMC7907245.
• Liveringhouse CL, Washington IR, Diaz R, Jimenez RB, Harris EE, Rabinovitch R, Woodward WA, Torres-Roca JF, Ahmed KA. Genomically Guided Breast Radiation Therapy: A Review of the Current Data and Future Directions. Adv Radiat Oncol. 2021 Jul.6(4):100731. Pubmedid: 34409215. Pmcid: PMC8361058.
• Koo J, Nardella L, Degnan M, Andreozzi J, Yu HM, Penagaricano J, Johnstone PAS, Oliver D, Ahmed K, Rosenberg SA, Wuthrick E, Diaz R, Feygelman V, Latifi K, Moros EG, Redler G. Triggered kV Imaging During Spine SBRT for Intrafraction Motion Management. Technol Cancer Res Treat. 2021 Jan.20. Pubmedid: 34855577. Pmcid: PMC8649431.
• Dohm A, Diaz R, Nanda RH. The Role of Radiation Therapy in the Older Patient. Curr Oncol Rep. 2021 Jan.23(1):11. Pubmedid: 33387104.
• Yu JB, Brock KK, Campbell AM, Chen AL, Diaz R, Escorcia F, Gupta G, Hrinivich WT, Joseph S, Korpics M, Onderdonk BE, Pandit-Taskar N, Wood B, Woodward WA. Proceedings of the ASTRO-RSNA Oligometastatic Disease Research Workshop. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2020 Nov.108(3):539-545. Pubmedid: 32434040.
• Mills MN, Russo NW, Nanda RH, Wilson JP, Altoos TA, Caldwell DL, Stout LL, Dube S, Blumencranz PW, Allen KG, Diaz R. Management of ductal carcinoma in situ with accelerated partial breast irradiation brachytherapy: Implications for guideline expansion. Brachytherapy. 2020 Dec.20(2):345-352. Pubmedid: 33317964.
• Broman K, Sun W, Zhou JM, Fridley B, Diaz R, Laronga C. Outcomes of selective whole breast irradiation following lumpectomy with intraoperative radiation therapy for hormone receptor positive breast cancer. Am J Surg. 2019 Oct.218(4):749-754. Pubmedid: 31345502. Pmcid: PMC7810130.
• Figura NB, Rizk VT, Mohammadi H, Evernden B, Mokhtari S, Yu HM, Robinson TJ, Etame AB, Tran ND, Liu J, Washington I, Diaz R, Czerniecki BJ, Soliman H, Han HS, Sahebjam S, Forsyth PA, Ahmed KA. Clinical outcomes of breast leptomeningeal disease treated with intrathecal trastuzumab, intrathecal chemotherapy, or whole brain radiation therapy. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2019 Jun.175(3):781-788. Pubmedid: 30859348.
• Chowdhary M, Lee A, Gao S, Wang D, Barry PN, Diaz R, Bagadiya NR, Park HS, Yu JB, Wilson LD, Moran MS, Higgins SA, Knowlton CA, Patel KR. Is Proton Therapy a "Pro" for Breast Cancer? A Comparison of Proton vs. Non-proton Radiotherapy Using the National Cancer Database. Front Oncol. 2019 Jan.8:678. Pubmedid: 30693271. Pmcid: PMC6339938.
• Ahmed KA, Liveringhouse CL, Mills MN, Figura NB, Grass GD, Washington IR, Harris EE, Czerniecki BJ, Blumencranz PW, Eschrich SA, Scott JG, Diaz R, Torres-Roca JF. Utilizing the genomically adjusted radiation dose (GARD) to personalize adjuvant radiotherapy in triple negative breast cancer management. EBioMedicine. 2019 Aug.47:163-169. Pubmedid: 31416721. Pmcid: PMC6796536.
• Small W, Thomas TO, Alvarado M, Baum M, Bulsara M, Diaz R, Donnelly E, Feldman S, Grobmyer S, Hoefer R, Joseph D, Kang S, Laronga C, McKee A, Rosen B, Tobias J, Uhl V, Vaidya JS, Wenz F, Holmes D. Commentary on "Accelerated partial breast irradiation consensus statement: Update of an ASTRO Evidence-Based Consensus Statement". Pract Radiat Oncol. 2018 Mar.7(3):e159-e163. Pubmedid: 28363492.
• Ahmed KA, Grass GD, Orman AG, Liveringhouse C, Montejo ME, Soliman HH, Han HS, Czerniecki BJ, Torres-Roca JF, Diaz R. Personalizing Radiation Treatment Delivery in the Management of Breast Cancer. Int J Breast Cancer. 2018 Jun.2018:6729802. Pubmedid: 29984003. Pmcid: PMC6015692.
• B Figura N, Long W, Yu M, Robinson TJ, Mokhtari S, Etame AB, Tran ND, Diaz R, Soliman H, S Han H, Sahebjam S, Forsyth PA, Ahmed KA. Intrathecal trastuzumab in the management of HER2+ breast leptomeningeal disease: a single institution experience. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2018 Jun.169(2):391-396. Pubmedid: 29392582.
• Mills MN, Yang GQ, Oliver DE, Liveringhouse CL, Ahmed KA, Orman AG, Laronga C, Hoover SJ, Khakpour N, Costa RLB, Diaz R. Histologic heterogeneity of triple negative breast cancer: A National Cancer Centre Database analysis. Eur J Cancer. 2018 Jul.98:48-58. Pubmedid: 29870876.
• Yun JH, Diaz R, Orman AG. Breast Reconstruction and Radiation Therapy. Cancer Control. 2018 Jan.25(1). Pubmedid: 30132338. Pmcid: PMC6108018.
• Ryckman JM, Shelton JW, Waller AF, Schreibmann E, Latifi K, Diaz R. Anatomic structure-based deformable image registration of brachytherapy implants in the treatment of locally advanced cervix cancer. Brachytherapy. 2017 Jul.15(5):584-592. Pubmedid: 27263057.
• Mellon EA, Orman A, Joya LE, Montejo ME, Laronga C, Hoover SJ, Lee MC, Khakpour N, Kubal PF, Diaz R. Frequency of whole breast radiation therapy after intraoperative radiation therapy due to criteria identified by lumpectomy. Brachytherapy. 2017 Jul.16(1):174-180. Pubmedid: 27816540.
• Dossett LA, Abbott AM, Sun W, Loftus L, Lee MC, Diaz R, Laronga C. Factors predictive of failure to complete planned intraoperative breast radiation using the intrabeam® system. J Surg Oncol. 2016 Dec.114(8):930-932. Pubmedid: 27861907.
• Nagaraju GP, Alese OB, Landry J, Diaz R, El-Rayes BF. HSP90 inhibition downregulates thymidylate synthase and sensitizes colorectal cancer cell lines to the effect of 5FU-based chemotherapy. Oncotarget. 2014 Oct.5(20):9980-9991. Pubmedid: 25296971. Pmcid: PMC4259452.
• Patel K, Wen J, Magliocca K, Muller S, Liu Y, Chen ZG, Saba N, Diaz R. Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) is overexpressed in p16-negative oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, and its inhibition in vitro potentiates the effects of chemoradiation. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 2014 Nov.74(5):1015-1022. Pubmedid: 25205430.
• Vlacich G, Spratt DE, Diaz R, Phillips JG, Crass J, Li CI, Shyr Y, Cmelak AJ. Dose to the inferior pharyngeal constrictor predicts prolonged gastrostomy tube dependence with concurrent intensity-modulated radiation therapy and chemotherapy for locally-advanced head and neck cancer. Radiother Oncol. 2014 Mar.110(3):435-440. Pubmedid: 24440043.
• Corso CD, Jarrio C, Nunnery EW, Ali AN, Ghavidel S, Rossi PJ, Diaz R. Dosimetric and cost comparison of first fraction imaging versus fractional re-imaging on critical organ dose in vaginal cuff brachytherapy. Pract Radiat Oncol. 2014 Mar.3(4):256-262. Pubmedid: 24674395.
• Nagaraju GP, Ganji PN, Park W, Wen J, Mahaseth H, Landry J, Farris AB, Willingham F, Sullivan PS, Proia DA, El-Hariry I, Taliaferro-Smith L, Diaz R, El-Rayes BF. Antiangiogenic effects of ganetespib in colorectal cancer mediated through inhibition of HIF-1α and STAT-3. Angiogenesis. 2013 Oct.16(4):903-917. Pubmedid: 23838996.
• Vlacich G, Diaz R, Thorpe SW, Murphy BA, Kirby W, Sinard RJ, Shakhtour B, Shyr Y, Murphy P, Netterville JL, Yarbrough WG, Cmelak AJ. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy with concurrent carboplatin and paclitaxel for locally advanced head and neck cancer: toxicities and efficacy. Oncologist. 2013 Jan.17(5):673-681. Pubmedid: 22550060. Pmcid: PMC3360907.
• Okwan-Duodu D, Umpierrez GE, Brawley OW, Diaz R. Obesity-driven inflammation and cancer risk: role of myeloid derived suppressor cells and alternately activated macrophages. Am J Cancer Res. 2013 Jan.3(1):21-33. Pubmedid: 23359288. Pmcid: PMC3555202.
• Nagaraju GP, Zhu S, Wen J, Farris AB, Adsay VN, Diaz R, Snyder JP, Mamoru S, El-Rayes BF. Novel synthetic curcumin analogues EF31 and UBS109 are potent DNA hypomethylating agents in pancreatic cancer. Cancer Lett. 2013 Dec.341(2):195-203. Pubmedid: 23933177.
• Okwan-Duodu D, Landry J, Shen XZ, Diaz R. Angiotensin-converting enzyme and the tumor microenvironment: mechanisms beyond angiogenesis. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2013 Aug.305(3):R205-R215. Pubmedid: 23739345.
• Nagaraju GP, Aliya S, Zafar SF, Basha R, Diaz R, El-Rayes BF. The impact of curcumin on breast cancer. Integr Biol (Camb). 2012 Sep.4(9):996-1007. Pubmedid: 22772921.
• Ali AN, Diaz R, Shu HK, Paulino AC, Esiashvili N. A Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program comparison of adult and pediatric Wilms' tumor. Cancer. 2012 May.118(9):2541-2551. Pubmedid: 21918969.
• Amin M, Gabram S, Bumpers H, Landry J, Jani AB, Diaz R, Rizzo M. Feasibility of accelerated partial breast irradiation in a large inner-city public hospital. Ann Surg Oncol. 2012 Dec.19(13):4094-4098. Pubmedid: 22732836.
• Corso CD, Ali AN, Diaz R. Radiation-induced tumor neoantigens: imaging and therapeutic implications. Am J Cancer Res. 2011 Oct.1(3):390-412. Pubmedid: 21969260. Pmcid: PMC3180059.
• Lopez-Barcons LA, Ali AN, Diaz R. Application of recombinant and non-recombinant peptides in the determination of tumor response to cancer therapy. Curr Pharm Biotechnol. 2011 Feb.12(2):320-335. Pubmedid: 21050162.
• Diaz R, Jaboin JJ, Morales-Paliza M, Koehler E, Phillips JG, Stinson S, Gilbert J, Chung CH, Murphy BA, Yarbrough WG, Murphy PB, Shyr Y, Cmelak AJ. Hypothyroidism as a consequence of intensity-modulated radiotherapy with concurrent taxane-based chemotherapy for locally advanced head-and-neck cancer. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2010 Jun.77(2):468-476. Pubmedid: 19577867.
• Passarella RJ, Spratt DE, van der Ende AE, Phillips JG, Wu H, Sathiyakumar V, Zhou L, Hallahan DE, Harth E, Diaz R. Targeted nanoparticles that deliver a sustained, specific release of Paclitaxel to irradiated tumors. Cancer Res. 2010 Jun.70(11):4550-4559. Pubmedid: 20484031. Pmcid: PMC2880200.
• Spratt DE, Diaz R, McElmurray J, Csiki I, Duggan D, Lu B, Delbeke D. Impact of FDG PET/CT on delineation of the gross tumor volume for radiation planning in non-small-cell lung cancer. Clin Nucl Med. 2010 Apr.35(4):237-243. Pubmedid: 20305410.
• Passarella RJ, Zhou L, Phillips JG, Wu H, Hallahan DE, Diaz R. Recombinant peptides as biomarkers for tumor response to molecular targeted therapy. Clin Cancer Res. 2009 Oct.15(20):6421-6429. Pubmedid: 19825959. Pmcid: PMC2763341.
• Diaz R, Blakey MD, Murphy PB, Cryar AK, Cmelak AJ. Thyroid storm after intensity-modulated radiation therapy: a case report and discussion. Oncologist. 2009 Mar.14(3):233-239. Pubmedid: 19286762.
• Diaz R, Passarella RJ, Hallahan DE. Determining glioma response to radiation therapy using recombinant peptides. Expert Rev Anticancer Ther. 2008 Nov.8(11):1787-1796. Pubmedid: 18983239.
• Han Z, Fu A, Wang H, Diaz R, Geng L, Onishko H, Hallahan DE. Noninvasive assessment of cancer response to therapy. Nat Med. 2008 Mar.14(3):343-349. Pubmedid: 18297085.
• Albert JM, Gonzalez A, Massion PP, Chen H, Olson SJ, Shyr Y, Diaz R, Lambright ES, Sandler A, Carbone DP, Putnam JB, Johnson DH, Lu B. Cytoplasmic clusterin expression is associated with longer survival in patients with resected non small cell lung cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2007 Sep.16(9):1845-1851. Pubmedid: 17855704.
• Diaz R, Lue J, Mathews J, Yoon A, Ahn D, Garcia-España A, Leonardi P, Vargas MP, Pellicer A. Inhibition of Ras oncogenic activity by Ras protooncogenes. Int J Cancer. 2005 Jan.113(2):241-248. Pubmedid: 15386411.
• Diaz R, Lopez-Barcons L, Ahn D, Garcia-Espana A, Yoon A, Matthews J, Mangues R, Perez-Soler R, Pellicer A. Complex effects of Ras proto-oncogenes in tumorigenesis. Carcinogenesis. 2004 Apr.25(4):535-539. Pubmedid: 14633661.
• Hernández-Muñoz I, Benet M, Calero M, Jiménez M, Díaz R, Pellicer A. rgr oncogene: activation by elimination of translational controls and mislocalization. Cancer Res. 2003 Jul.63(14):4188-4195. Pubmedid: 12874025.
• Pérez de Castro I, Diaz R, Malumbres M, Hernández MI, Jagirdar J, Jiménez M, Ahn D, Pellicer A. Mice deficient for N-ras: impaired antiviral immune response and T-cell function. Cancer Res. 2003 Apr.63(7):1615-1622. Pubmedid: 12670913.
• Leonardi P, Kassin E, Hernandez-Muñoz I, Diaz R, Inghirami G, Pellicer A. Human rgr: transforming activity and alteration in T-cell malignancies. Oncogene. 2002 Aug.21(33):5108-5116. Pubmedid: 12140761.
• Diaz R, Ahn D, Lopez-Barcons L, Malumbres M, Perez de Castro I, Lue J, Ferrer-Miralles N, Mangues R, Tsong J, Garcia R, Perez-Soler R, Pellicer A. The N-ras proto-oncogene can suppress the malignant phenotype in the presence or absence of its oncogene. Cancer Res. 2002 Aug.62(15):4514-4518. Pubmedid: 12154063.

• Title: Assessing the DCIS Test Effect on Treatment Strategies in Patients with Ductal Carcinoma in Situ After Breast-Conserving Surgery
  Award Number: NA
  Sponsor: Prelude Corporation
  Diaz, R. (PD/PI)

Voted top doctor in Radiation Oncology in Tampa Magazine's Top Doctors 2025.

Appointed to the Health Care Innovation Council in September 2024.

Voted top doctor in Radiation Oncology in Tampa Magazine's Top Doctors 2024.