Cancer Therapeutics

The mission of the Cancer Therapeutics Program is to optimize therapies through the generation, integration and translation of scientific information between the bench and the bedside, the patient and the population.

Specific Aims: The overarching goal of the Cancer Therapeutics Program is the development of novel therapeutics and biomarkers to improve cancer treatment. To achieve this goal, research in the Cancer Therapeutics Program has the following aims:

• Aim 1: Facilitate the discovery, delivery and preclinical evaluation of therapeutics to molecular targets identified by cancer center members.
• Aim 2: Identify, validate and test biomarkers and informatics approaches for the preclinical development of novel therapeutics.
• Aim 3: Support the design and conduct of innovative clinical trials in support of local therapeutic development.

Ahn JH, Davis ES, Daugird TA, Zhao S, Quiroga IY, Uryu H, Li J, Storey AJ, Tsai YH, Keeley DP, Mackintosh SG, Edmondson RD, Byrum SD, Cai L, Tackett AJ, Zheng D, Legant WR, Phanstiel DH, Wang GG. Phase separation drives aberrant chromatin looping and cancer development. Nature. 2021 Jul;595(7868):591-595. doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03662-5. PMID: 34163069; PMCID: PMC8647409.

Al Hadidi S, Ababneh O, Schinke C, Thanendrarajan S, Bailey C, Smith RT, Panozzo S, Alapat D MD, Tricot GJ, Shaughnessy JD Jr, Zhan F, Sawyer JR, Siegel ER, Barlogie B, van Rhee F, Zangari M. Long-term follow-up of Total Therapy IV: a phase 3 clinical trial for standard-risk multiple myeloma. Blood advances. 2025 Feb;9(4):950-953. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2024014889. PMID: 39786380; PMCID: PMC11934280.

Deveson IW, Gong B, Lai K, LoCoco JS, Richmond TA, Schageman J, Zhang Z, Novoradovskaya N, Willey JC, Jones W, Kusko R, Chen G, Madala BS, Blackburn J, Stevanovski I, Bhandari A, Close D, Conroy J, Hubank M, Marella N, Mieczkowski PA, Qiu F, Sebra R, Stetson D, Sun L, Szankasi P, Tan H, Tang LY, Arib H, Best H, Burgher B, Bushel PR, Casey F, Cawley S, Chang CJ, Choi J, Dinis J, Duncan D, Eterovic AK, Feng L, Ghosal A, Giorda K, Glenn S, Happe S, Haseley N, Horvath K, Hung LY, Jarosz M, Kushwaha G, Li D, Li QZ, Li Z, Liu LC, Liu Z, Ma C, Mason CE, Megherbi DB, Morrison T, Pabón-Peña C, Pirooznia M, Proszek PZ, Raymond A, Rindler P, Ringler R, Scherer A, Shaknovich R, Shi T, Smith M, Song P, Strahl M, Thodima VJ, Tom N, Verma S, Wu L, Xiao W, Xu C, Yang M, Zhang G, Zhang S, Zhang Y, Shi L, Tong W, Johann DJ Jr, Mercer TR, Xu J, Johann Jr D. Evaluating the analytical validity of circulating tumor DNA sequencing assays for precision oncology. Nature biotechnology. 2021 Sep;39(9):1115-1128. doi: 10.1038/s41587-021-00857-z. PMID: 33846644; PMCID: PMC8434938.

Rasche L, Schinke C, Maura F, Bauer MA, Ashby C, Deshpande S, Poos AM, Zangari M, Thanendrarajan S, Davies FE, Walker BA, Barlogie B, Landgren O, Morgan GJ, van Rhee F, Weinhold N. The spatio-temporal evolution of multiple myeloma from baseline to relapse-refractory states. Nature communications. 2022 Aug;13(1):4517. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-32145-y. PMID: 35922426; PMCID: PMC9349320.

Rühl S, Li Z, Srivastava S, Mari L, Guy CS, Yang M, Moldoveanu T, Green DR. Inhibition of BAK-mediated apoptosis by the BH3-only protein BNIP5. Cell death and differentiation. 2025 Feb;32(2):320-336. doi: 10.1038/s41418-024-01386-3. PMID: 39406920; PMCID: PMC11803101.

Al Hadidi S, Ababneh OE, Schinke CD, Thanendrarajan S, Siegel ER, Bailey C, Smith R, Panozzo SB, Zangari M, Tricot G, Shaughnessy JD Jr, Zhan F, Sawyer J, Barlogie B, van Rhee F. Long-Term Follow-Up of Patients With Multiple Myeloma Treated on Earlier Total Therapy Protocols: A Secondary Analysis of 3 Clinical Trials. JAMA oncology. 2025 Aug;11(8):910-915. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2025.1394. PMID: 40471585; PMCID: PMC12142471.

Pierson SK, Brandstadter JD, Torigian D, Bagg A, Lechowicz MJ, Alapat D MD, Casper C, Chadburn A, Chandrakasan S, Dispenzieri A, Fosså A, Hoffmann C, Ide M, Kurzrock R, Mukherjee S, Nasta SD, Navarro JT, Noy A, Oksenhendler E, Sarmiento Bustamante M, Shyamsundar S, Streetly MJ, Wong RSM, Zhang L, Lim MS, Srkalovic G, van Rhee F, Fajgenbaum DC. Characterizing the heterogeneity of Castleman disease and oligocentric subtype: findings from the ACCELERATE registry. Blood advances. 2025 Apr;9(8):1952-1965. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2024014391. PMID: 39951615; PMCID: PMC12018988.

Srivastava S, Sekar G, Ojoawo A, Aggarwal A, Ferreira E, Uchikawa E, Yang M, Grace CR, Dey R, Lin YL, Guibao CD, Jayaraman S, Mukherjee S, Kossiakoff AA, Dong B, Myasnikov A, Moldoveanu T. Structural basis of BAK sequestration by MCL-1 in apoptosis. Molecular cell. 2025 Apr;85(8):1606-1623.e10. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2025.03.013. PMID: 40187349; PMCID: PMC12086701.

Al Hadidi S, Ababneh O, Schinke C, Thanendrarajan S, Bailey C, Smith RT, Panozzo S, Alapat D MD, Tricot GJ, Shaughnessy JD Jr, Zhan F, Sawyer JR, Siegel ER, Barlogie B, van Rhee F, Zangari M. Long-term follow-up of Total Therapy IV: a phase 3 clinical trial for standard-risk multiple myeloma. Blood advances. 2025 Feb;9(4):950-953. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2024014889. PMID: 39786380; PMCID: PMC11934280.

Shrestha A, Thanendrarajan S, Bag A, Dhakal B, Zangari M, Al-Hadidi S, van Rhee F, D’Souza A, Shah N, Shah MR, Mohan M, Schinke C. The efficacy of teclistamab in patients with multiple myeloma and secondary plasma cell leukemia. Blood advances. 2025 Oct;9(19):4806-4809. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2025016695. PMID: 40674710; PMCID: PMC12494909.

Edmondson JL, Reed MR, Fil D, Heflin B, McKinnon A, Bauer MA, Morehead LC, Avaritt NL, Phillips M, Taverna SD, Tackett AJ, Koss B. EZH2 loss during metabolic stress drives restoration of MHC class I machinery in melanoma. iScience. 2025 Jun;28(6):112750. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.112750. PMID: 40546964; PMCID: PMC12182326.

Chari A, Touzeau C, Schinke C, Minnema MC, Berdeja JG, Oriol A, van de Donk NWCJ, Rodríguez-Otero P, Morillo D, Martinez-Chamorro C, Mateos MV, Costa LJ, Caers J, Rasche L, Krishnan A, Ye JC, Karlin L, Lipe B, Vishwamitra D, Skerget S, Verona R, Ma X, Qin X, Ludlage H, Campagna M, Masterson T, Hilder B, Tolbert J, Renaud T, Goldberg JD, Kane C, Heuck C, San-Miguel J, Moreau P. Safety and activity of talquetamab in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (MonumenTAL-1): a multicentre, open-label, phase 1-2 study. Lancet Haematol. 2025 Apr;12(4):e269-e281. doi: 10.1016/S2352-3026(24)00385-5. Epub 2025 Mar 13. PMID: 40090350.