Driven by His Patients, a Veteran Oncologist Pushes for Innovation in Blood Cancer

Few would guess that Michael Styler, MD, a distinguished hematologist-oncologist, is also a master chess player. But the two titles have more similarities than one might expect. Dr. Styler thrives in environments that demand strategic thinking, pattern recognition, and the ability to make high-stakes decisions under pressure.

In the halls of Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Dr. Styler is known as a beacon of hope for his patients as he weighs the best treatment options and stays several steps ahead of potential outcomes.

Dr. Styler was drawn to medicine—and hematology in particular—by a fascination with genetics and molecular biology and the ways in which they are interconnected.

Recognized this year by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) with its 2025 Outstanding Contributor Awards, Dr. Styler was honored for his commitment to improving cancer care, which he has been passionate about for more than 40 years. He serves as a member of the NCCN Guidelines Panel for Chronic Myeloid Leukemia and has served as a volunteer member of the NCCN Chemotherapy Order Templates Committee. Dr. Styler’s contributions and thoughtful insight have helped to significantly expand the library of blood cancer templates, according to an NCCN press release.

Patient-Centered Care

Born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, he earned his medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee in 1984. He then headed back east, where he interned for a year at Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Styler stayed at the institution for his fellowship in hematology/oncology from 1988 to 1991.

“Prior to hematology, I was debating being a cardiologist based on family history,” Dr. Styler said in an interview with Blood Cancers Today. “But then I fell in love with hematologic malignancies, such as leukemia and lymphoma. At the time I started out, we had our best successes in these areas, and they also tied in with my interest in the molecular science.”

Dr. Styler, an associate professor in the Department of Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapies, spends most of his days caring for patients, whom he described as the driving force that keeps him inspired.

“I consider myself primarily a clinician. I like to take care of patients,” Dr. Styler said. “To see success with my individual patients and to allow them to return to living a normal life are some of my most meaningful contributions to hematology.”

In addition to day-to-day patient care, Dr. Styler has dedicated himself to advancing cutting-edge research over the span of his career. He participated in some of the earliest studies exploring haploidentical transplants. “Prior to joining Fox Chase, he was leading the Bone Marrow Transplant program at Hahnemann, which had pioneered bone marrow transplants in Philadelphia,” said Asya Nina Varshavsky-Yanovsky, MD, PhD, who works alongside Dr. Styler in the Department of Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapies. “Not only has he been an immense source of mentorship and expertise, but also a very kind person who’s always willing to help.”

His clinical trial work also expands into multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that develops in plasma cells in the bone marrow. One study that he is particularly proud of explores the use of an antibody after autologous transplant to see whether it results in better and longer remissions for patients.

Despite the slow pace of advancement in acute leukemia, Dr. Styler is drawn to the disease’s complexity and has contributed to several clinical trials investigating new treatment approaches for this challenging disease. One ongoing trial, still in its early stages, is evaluating the use of a targeted therapy to treat a specific subtype of acute leukemia.

Revolutionizing the Field

Over the years, Dr. Styler has had a front row seat for the evolution of hematologic malignancy treatment. He pointed out the remarkable progress in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), for which bone marrow transplant was once the standard of care and often came with significant toxicities for patients. Today, because of oral targeted therapies, many patients with CML can lead normal lives—and in some cases be cured—with less disruption to their quality of life.

As treatments have become less toxic, they have become available to a broader group of patients.

“When I first started out, if someone was much over 50 years old, we wouldn’t consider an allogeneic transplant,” Dr. Styler said. “Nowadays, we will do them for patients in their 70s and, in select patients, even their 80s.”

Dr. Styler envisions a future in which gene therapy, bispecific antibodies, and cellular therapies such as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy (CAR-T) play significant roles in treating blood cancers.

“CAR-T is an exciting area that will further revolutionize our field in the near future,” Dr. Styler said. “We’re hopeful for longer, durable remissions and less toxic therapy.”

Looking ahead, he believes that gene therapy may eventually replace bone marrow transplantation altogether, offering a more precise treatment option for many patients with blood cancers.