The internationally renowned experts of the OSUCCC – James Melanoma Research Program are dedicated to developing and conducting meaningful research that advances innovative breakthroughs and treatments for patients with malignant melanoma.
Working collaboratively, the OSUCCC – James melanoma research team reaches across many disciplines — medical oncologists, surgical oncologists, radiation oncologists, dermatologists, molecular and biological pathologists, genetic scientists, researchers and more — to share knowledge, expertise and world-class skills that move research and discoveries from the bench to the bedside.
The goal: to deliver the most effective skin cancer research and treatment by identifying and understanding cancer at the biologic and genetic levels, unlocking the molecular code of a patient’s disease and pinpointing what makes each cancer grow — then discovering how best to treat it.
These specialists, sub-specialists and super sub-specialists are leading research in high-tech, state-of-the-art laboratories not available anywhere else in central Ohio (and one of only a handful in the country), all specializing in skin cancer research, prevention, detection, treatment and, yes, cures.
It’s that singular focus that enables the melanoma research team to discover, develop and deliver the most targeted therapies for each individual skin cancer patient in an effort to continue improving outcomes, response times and more hope for cancer patients everywhere.
Melanoma Research Program
To achieve the highest levels of accomplishment, the OSUCCC – James melanoma research team works collaboratively to create and conduct impactful, groundbreaking clinical research that, when combined with innovative translational science, leads to advanced treatment strategies that are tailored to each patient’s individual cancer and, ultimately, further improve outcomes. Research strengths include:
- Developing and evaluating novel immunotherapy approaches
- Developing a vaccine to slow or stop the growth of malignant melanomas
- Evaluating the use of new agents to inhibit growth of malignant melanoma
Using a multidisciplinary, multi-institutional approach to cancer research enables these world-class investigators to extend beyond the lab to promote collaboration and cooperation across a network of research programs, centers and institutions at the OSUCCC – James, The Ohio State University and beyond. Collaborations and affiliations include:
- Multidisciplinary Melanoma Clinic
- William E. Carson, III, MD, Research Lab
- Cancer Biology (CB) Program
- Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology (PIIO)
- Translational Therapeutics (TT) Program
- Oncology Research Information Exchange Network (ORIEN)
Clinical Trials: Powered by Research and Collaboration
The OSUCCC – James has hundreds of open clinical trials at any given time, with some of the world’s latest discoveries available to clinical trial patients right here in Columbus, Ohio. Melanoma clinical trials provide a full spectrum of opportunities for patients regardless of cancer type, stage or location. Trials range from national, multi-institutional trials that are looking for new standards of care to early clinical trials in which a patient may be one of only a few in the world receiving a certain therapy. In fact, the OSUCCC – James patients have access to more of this nation’s leading-edge, targeted treatments and drugs than virtually anywhere else in the region.
The nationally and internationally renowned specialists within the Melanoma Research Program have numerous examples of demonstrated clinical research leadership. One of the most compelling offers renewed hope for patients diagnosed with desmoplastic melanoma, a rare type of skin cancer that develops in the pigment cells. The OSUCCC – James serves as a coordinating site for “Pembrolizumab in Treating Patients With Desmoplastic Melanoma That Can or Cannot Be Removed by Surgery,” an ongoing, phase II, nationwide cooperative-group trial. Led by internationally recognized Principal Investigator Kari L. Kendra, MD, PhD, the melanoma research team is at the forefront of evaluating the efficacy of pembrolizumab (a type of immunotherapy) and how it may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, potentially interfering with the tumor cells’ growth and spread in patients diagnosed with this rare disease.
A few of the many burgeoning scientific opportunities that this research team of experts is exploring include:
- Immunotherapy – Treatment that helps the immune system fight cancer.
- Targeted Drug Therapy – Treatment that targets the changes in cancer cells that help them grow, divide and spread.
- Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) – Highly targeted treatment designed to eliminate cancer cells and to spare healthy cells.
- Anti-vascular medicine – Using medications that block cancer cells’ ability to form new blood supply.
- Tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy – Specialized immune cells called lymphocytes or T cells are taken from a patient's tumor and infused back into the patient to attack the tumor.
- Robotic Surgery – This advanced method of surgery enables highly trained surgical experts using leading-edge technology (called the da Vinci® system) to perform minimally invasive procedures. The system is a sophisticated medical device that combines state-of-the-art, 3D imaging with a robotic wrist, giving these surgical subspecialists maximum visibility inside the body while operating with precise movements through tiny incisions.
As one of only a few institutions approved by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to conduct phase I and II clinical trials on NCI-sponsored anticancer agents, the OSUCCC – James has access to more leading-edge, targeted cancer therapies than most hospitals across America. That translates to better outcomes, fewer side effects and even more hope.
Translational Research, Scientific Presentations and Publications
Experts from the OSUCCC – James Melanoma Research Program often present their findings and accomplishments to medical experts from around the world through presentations, publications, and the numerous national and international meetings and conferences that they attend each year.
This includes giving scientific presentations annually, as well as earning coverage in esteemed medical journal publications. Recent publications include:
1. Marie KL, Sassano A, Yang HH, Michalowski AM, Michael HT, Guo T, Tsai YC, Weissman AM, Lee MP, Jenkins LM, Zaidi MR, Pérez-Guijarro E, Day CP, Ylaya K, Hewitt SM, Patel NL, Arnheiter H, Davis S, Meltzer PS, Merlino G, Mishra PJ. Melanoblast Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Pathways Promoting Melanoma Metastasis. Nature Communications. 2020 December 1; 11(1):333.
Cutaneous malignant melanoma is an aggressive cancer of melanocytes with a strong propensity to metastasize. We posit that melanoma cells acquire metastatic capability by adopting an embryonic-like phenotype and that a lineage approach would uncover metastatic melanoma biology. Read more.
2. He H, Li W, Comiskey DF Jr, Liyanarachchi S, Nieminen TT, Wang Y, DeLap KE, Brock P, de la Chapelle A. A Truncating Germline Mutation of TINF2 in Individuals With Thyroid Cancer or Melanoma Results in Longer Telomeres. Thyroid. 2020 February; 30(2):204-213.
Our genome sequencing analysis revealed a frameshift mutation in the shelterin gene TINF2 in a large family with individuals affected with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and melanoma. Here, we further characterized the mutation and screened for coding variants in the 6 shelterin genes in 24 families. Read more.
3. Regan-Fendt KE, Xu J, DiVincenzo M, Duggan MC, Shakya R, Na R, Carson WE 3rd, Payne PRO, Li F. Synergy From Gene Expression and Network Mining (SynGeNet) Method Predicts Synergistic Drug Combinations for Diverse Melanoma Genomic Subtypes. nbj Systems Biology and Applications. 2019 December 1; 5(1):6.
Systems biology perspectives are crucial for understanding the pathophysiology of complex diseases, and therefore hold great promise for the discovery of novel treatment strategies. Drug combinations have been shown to improve durability and reduce resistance to available first-line therapies in a variety of cancers; however, traditional drug discovery approaches are prohibitively cost and labor-intensive to evaluate large-scale matrices of potential drug combinations. Read more.
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