/content/dam/www/people-profile-photos/r/jerald-radich/provider-jerald-radich-directory-1x.jpg
/content/dam/www/people-profile-photos/r/jerald-radich/provider-jerald-radich-directory-2x.jpg
Radich
Jerald P. Radich, MD
Top Doctor icon

Jerald P. Radich, MD

Medical Oncology

  • Physician, Fred Hutch
  • Professor, Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutch
  • Kurt Enslein Endowed Chair, Fred Hutch
  • Professor, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of Washington School of Medicine
Request an Appointment Radich Lab

About

Dr. Jerald P. Radich is a board-certified medical oncologist and researcher at Fred Hutch, specializing in blood and marrow transplantation. He treats patients while leading research focused on the molecular genetics of leukemia and improving its detection and treatment.

Background

Dr. Radich treats patients with blood cancers, such as leukemia, or people undergoing blood and marrow transplant (BMT). He aims to understand why some patients respond well to therapy while others do not.

He leads a research lab that studies how genes and other molecular signals influence treatment response, disease progression and relapse in leukemia. One major area of his work examines how groups of cancer cells with shared genetic mutations, known as clones, evolve over time. Another focus is developing ways to make molecular diagnostic testing more affordable and accessible, an important need in countries with limited resources.

The Radich Lab’s research has resulted in significant advances in leukemia detection and treatment. He was part of the team that developed a highly sensitive test to detect very small amounts of remaining cancer cells in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) after treatment. This test helps clinicians assess relapse risk and make decisions about additional therapy before the disease progresses. Dr. Radich also directs Fred Hutch’s Molecular Oncology Lab, which provides high‑quality molecular testing for cancer researchers at Fred Hutch and around the world.

In addition to his research and patient care roles, Dr. Radich serves on national and international clinical guideline panels for CML, including the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the European LeukemiaNet, helping guide evidence‑based care for patients with leukemia.

Area of Clinical Practice
Adult blood and marrow transplantation, leukemia

“Nothing is more rewarding than seeing patients cured of their disease.”

— Dr. Radich

What drew you to oncology?

I’m the son of a tinkerer — my father loved to invent, build and rebuild. We used to do things like tear apart an old Jeep and put it back together. Early on, I knew I wanted to have a creative career. In college, I studied fiction writing for a while, but then I took a molecular biology class, which spawned my interest in medicine. By the time I started medical school, I knew that I wanted to specialize in cancer; it was the best way to use my molecular biology training to help people who were really sick. Now, instead of tinkering under the hood of a Jeep, I peek inside cancer cells so we can better understand why some patients respond well to treatment and others don’t.

What is the “biology of luck” and why do you study it?

We all know people diagnosed with cancer who were expected to do well but relapsed after treatment, or people who didn’t have a good long-term prognosis but stayed in remission. Why is that? Is it their lifestyle? Their strength of will? What about luck? I define “luck” as the measure of our profound gap in knowledge about the interaction between a person, their cancer and their therapy. By better understanding the molecular underpinnings of therapy response, resistance and relapse, we can help physicians make better treatment decisions. They’ll know what therapies are likely to produce a lasting response or how likely it is a patient’s cancer will return, so they can intervene sooner. Ultimately, we are seeking to improve the odds for all patients, changing bad luck to good.

Diseases Treated

Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Myeloproliferative Neoplasms

Myelodysplastic Syndrome

Conceptually, Dr. Radich studies “the genetics of luck;” i.e. why patients do or don’t respond after therapy. His research focuses on the molecular underpinnings of therapy response, resistance and relapse in hematological malignancies, performing gene expression and mutation analyses on cases that are refractory to therapy versus those that realize long-term remissions. The Radich team uses cutting-edge molecular methods, including microfluidic platforms for very large-scale analysis of rare genetic events and techniques for measuring gene expression and mutations in single cells. They continue developing diagnostic tests to distinguish biologically distinct cancer subtypes and to help identify particular therapies that are most likely to be effective for individual patients.

The Radich laboratory was one of the first to document that monitoring levels of the abnormal, CML-promoting “BCR-ABL” fusion protein can be used to detect “minimal residual disease” and predict relapse before CML cells can be detected by previously standard tests. Based on this expertise, Dr. Radich and colleagues served as the U.S. and Canadian reference lab for several large clinical trials of anti-CML tyrosine kinase inhibitor drugs (imatinib/Gleevec®, dasatinib/Sprycel®, and nilotinib/Tasigna®), all now FDA-approved for CML patients. The team helped establish the International Scale for BCR-ABL testing and worked with the company, Cepheid, to develop the first automated assay for BCR-ABL.

Dr. Radich is a member of the research group Fred Hutch Investigators in Novel Diagnostics for Cancer (FHIND Cancer).

Dr. Radich runs the Molecular Oncology Lab, a certified diagnostics lab performing rapid genetic tests for CML and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients of all ages who are enrolled on national and international clinical trials. He also oversees a research laboratory that is currently focused on multiple scientific areas:

Studies of “outlier responses” in leukemia. These studies focus on CML and AML cases with especially poor versus great clinical responses. The goal is to understand the genetic pathways responsible for response versus refractory disease and relapse. The hope is that the findings will allow doctors to accurately predict which patients will respond (or not) to standard treatments, as well as uncover new molecular targets for drug therapies that could turn a refractory case into a responder.

Deciphering “clonal evolution” in CML and AML. A “clone” is a group of cells that all share one or more distinctive genetic mutation that first occurred in their ancestor cell. Researchers have learned that cancers are usually made up of multiple clones that evolve with a sequence of mutations and other abnormalities, some of which provide a “selective advantage” to the cancer, including when exposed to a particular therapy. The Radich team is using their highly sensitive genetic tests to characterize these time-dependent changes in many different leukemia cases. Understanding clonal evolution will provide important, additional clues as to how best to treat individual patients.

Developing methods to make molecular diagnostic assays inexpensive. These tests are critically needed in poor resource areas. At present the work is with CML patients, in partnership with the Max Foundation and the iCMLf.

Languages

English

Education and Experience

Fellowship, Medical Oncology, University of Washington

Chief Medical Resident, Veterans Administration Medical Center Affiliated Hospitals

Residency, Internal Medicine, University of Washington

Internship, Internal Medicine, University of Washington Affiliated Hospitals

MD, University of California, Davis

MA, MS, Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Harvard University

BA, University of California, San Diego

Board Certifications

Medical Oncology, 1989; Internal Medicine, 1986; American Board of Internal Medicine

Awards

Seattle Magazine's 2025 Top Doctors Award
Dr. Radich has received this peer-nominated award for exceptional patient care for multiple years.

Clinical Trials

We make promising new treatments available to you through studies called clinical trials led by Fred Hutch physicians and researchers. Many of these trials at Fred Hutch have led to FDA-approved treatments and have improved standards of care globally. Together, you and your physician can decide if a study is right for you.

View Clinical Trials

Publications

Many of our Fred Hutch physicians and researchers conduct ongoing research to improve standards of patient care. Their work is evaluated by others in their field and selected for publication to the United States National Library of Medicine, the largest medical library in the world. See scientific papers this Fred Hutch physician has written.

View Dr. Radich's Publications

Your Care Team

At Fred Hutch, you receive care from a team of providers with extensive experience in your disease. Your team includes physicians, a patient care coordinator, a registered nurse, an advanced practice provider and others, based on your needs. You also have access to experts like registered dietitians, social workers, acupuncturists, psychiatrists and more who specialize in supporting people with cancer or blood disorders. 

Meet Other Providers

Insurance

Fred Hutch accepts most national private health insurance plans as well as Medicare. We also accept Medicaid for people from Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. We are working to ensure that everyone, no matter what their financial situation, has access to the care they need.

More About Insurance

Stories

All news
Leukemia researcher Dr. Jerry Radich receives Kurt Enslein Endowed Chair
Leukemia researcher Dr. Jerry Radich receives Kurt Enslein Endowed Chair New chair continues legacy of giving sparked by lifesaving care August 15, 2019
Fred Hutch global health research honored for impact, collaboration
Fred Hutch global health research honored for impact, collaboration Washington Global Health Alliance awardees include Dr. Benjamin O. Anderson and a collaboration between Dr. Jerald Radich and The Max Foundation July 2, 2019
‘Let the cells tell the story’
‘Let the cells tell the story’ New tech is giving scientists unprecedented insights into single cells’ inner workings December 24, 2018

Contact Information

206.667.4118

206.667.2917