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Gregory A. Lizee, Ph.D.

Present Title & Affiliation

Primary Appointment

Associate Professor, Department of Melanoma Medical Oncology - Research, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment

Associate Professor, Department of Immunology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Research Interests

Tumor immunology; cytotoxic T lymphocytes; dendritic cells; antigen presentation; immunosuppression in cancer.

My research focuses on 2 distinct aspects of tumor immunology. The first involves characterizing regulatory immune cells and mechanisms that are predominant in melanoma tumors and in the draining lymph node microenvironment at various stages of disease. These studies aim to identify the types of immune regulation that are most predominant in melanoma, with an eye towards attenuating or eliminating these mechanisms in future clinical endeavors. We are particularly interested in characterizing the downstream immunoregulatory consequences of constitutive MAP kinase activation in tumors using BRAF(V600E) as a model, an oncogene which is mutated in approximately half of human melanomas.

My laboratory is also studying the process of antigen presentation by MHC class I (MHC-I) molecules expressed on dendritic cells (DC) and tumor cells. Specifically, we are examining the role of the MHC-I cytoplasmic domain in modulating antigenic peptide acquisition, presentation, and subsequent activation of tumor-specific cytotoxic T cells. In addition, we are currently using mass spectrophotometric techniques to identify and analyze MHC-I associated peptides eluted directly from tumors derived from melanoma and lung cancer patients. The ultimate goal of these studies is to generate patient-specific cancer vaccines that can be used in the adjuvant setting to effectively prevent disease recurrence.

Office Address

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
7455 Fannin Street
Unit Number: 904
Houston, TX 77054
Room Number: SCR2.3030
Email: glizee@mdanderson.org

Education & Training

Degree-Granting Education

2000 University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, PhD, Immunology
1991 Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada, BS, Biological Sciences

Postgraduate Training

11/2003-10/2005 Research Scientist, MD Anderson Cancer Center - Melanoma Medical Oncology, Houston, TX
11/2001-11/2003 Research Fellowship, Tumor Immunology, Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, Dr. Steven A. Rosenberg
5/2000-10/2001 Research Fellowship, Immunology, Biomedical Research Centre, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, Dr. Wilfred A. Jeffries

Experience/Service

Academic Appointments

Assistant Professor, Department of Immunology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 11/2007-10/2012
Assistant Professor, Department of Melanoma Medical Oncology - Research, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 9/2005-10/2012

Selected Publications

Peer-Reviewed Original Research Articles
1. Frederick DT, Piris A, Cogdill AP, Cooper ZA, Lezcano C, Ferrone CR, Mitra D, Boni A, Newton LP, Liu C, Peng W, Sullivan RJ, Lawrence DP, Hodi FS, Overwijk WW, Lizee G, Murphy GF, Hwu P, Flaherty KT, Fisher DE, Wargo JA. BRAF Inhibition Is Associated with Enhanced Melanoma Antigen Expression and a More Favorable Tumor Microenvironment in Patients with Metastatic Melanoma. Clin Cancer Res 19(5):1225-31, 3/2013. e-Pub 1/2013. PMID: 23307859.
2. Liu C, Peng W, Xu C, Lou Y, Zhang M, Wargo JA, Chen JQ, Li HS, Watowich SS, Yang Y, Tompers Frederick D, Cooper ZA, Mbofung RM, Whittington M, Flaherty KT, Woodman SE, Davies MA, Radvanyi LG, Overwijk WW, Lizee G, Hwu P. BRAF inhibition increases tumor infiltration by T cells and enhances the antitumor activity of adoptive immunotherapy in mice. Clin Cancer Res 19(2):393-403, 1/2013. e-Pub 11/2012. PMID: 23204132.
3. Lizee G, Overwijk WW, Radvanyi L, Gao J, Sharma P, Hwu P. Harnessing the Power of the Immune System to Target Cancer. Annu Rev Med 64:71-90, 2013. e-Pub 10/2012. PMID: 23092383.
4. Radvanyi LG, Bernatchez C, Zhang M, Fox PS, Miller P, Chacon J, Wu R, Lizee G, Mahoney S, Alvarado G, Glass M, Johnson VE, McMannis JD, Shpall E, Prieto V, Papadopoulos N, Kim K, Homsi J, Bedikian A, Hwu WJ, Patel S, Ross MI, Lee JE, Gershenwald JE, Lucci A, Royal R, Cormier JN, Davies MA, Mansaray R, Fulbright OJ, Toth C, Ramachandran R, Wardell S, Gonzalez A, Hwu P. Specific lymphocyte subsets predict response to adoptive cell therapy using expanded autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in metastatic melanoma patients. Clin Cancer Res 18(24):6758-70, 12/2012. e-Pub 10/2012. PMCID: PMC3525747.
5. Zhang M, Sukhumalchandra P, Enyenihi A, St John LS, Hunsucker SA, Mittendorf EA, Sergeeva A, Ruisaard K, Al-Atrache Z, Ropp PA, Jakher H, Rodriguez-Cruz T, Lizee G, Clise-Dwyer K, Lu S, Molldrem JJ, Glish GL, Armistead PM, Alatrash G. A Novel HLA-A*0201 Restricted Peptide Derived From Cathepsin G Is An Effective Immunotherapeutic Target in Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Clin Cancer Res. e-Pub 11/2012. PMID: 23147993.
6. Yang Y, Liu C, Peng W, Lizee G, Overwijk WW, Liu Y, Woodman SE, Hwu P. Anti-tumor T cell responses contribute to the effects of dasatinib on c-KIT mutant murine mastocytoma and are potentiated by anti-OX40. Blood 120(23):4533-43, 11/2012. e-Pub 8/2012. PMID: 22936666.
7. Khalili JS, Liu S, Rodriguez-Cruz TG, Whittington M, Wardell S, Liu C, Zhang M, Cooper ZA, Frederick DT, Li Y, Zhang M, Joseph RW, Bernatchez C, Ekmekcioglu S, Grimm E, Radvanyi LG, Davis RE, Davies MA, Wargo JA, Hwu P, Lizee G. Oncogenic BRAF(V600E) promotes stromal cell-mediated immunosuppression via induction of interleukin-1 in melanoma. Clin Cancer Res 18(19):5329-40, 10/2012. e-Pub 7/2012. PMCID: PMC3463754.
8. Peng W, Liu C, Xu C, Lou Y, Chen J, Yang Y, Yagita H, Overwijk WW, Lizee G, Radvanyi L, Hwu P. PD-1 blockade enhances T cell migration to tumors by elevating IFN-y inducible chemokines. Cancer Res 72(20):5209-18, 10/2012. e-Pub 8/2012. PMCID: PMC3476734.
9. Khalili JS, Yu X, Wang J, Hayes BC, Davies MA,Lizee G, Esmaeli B, Woodman SE. Combination Small Molecule MEK and PI3K Inhibition Enhances Uveal Melanoma Cell Death in a Mutant GNAQ- and GNA11-Dependent Manner. Clin Cancer Res 18(16):4345-55, 8/2012. e-Pub 6/2012. PMID: 22733540.
10. Wu RC, Liu S, Chacon JA, Wu S, Li Y, Sukhumalchandra P, Murray JL, Molldrem JJ, Hwu P, Pircher H, Lizee G, Radvanyi LG. Detection and characterization of a novel subset of CD8+CD57+ T-cells in metastatic melanoma with an incompletely-differentiated phenotype. Clin Cancer Res 18(9):2465-77, 5/2012. e-Pub 2/2012. PMID: 22307139.
11. Alatrash G, Ono Y, Sergeeva A, Sukhumalchandra P, Zhang M, St John LS, Yang TH, Ruisaard K, Armistead PM, Mittendorf EA, He H, Qiao N, Rodriguez-Cruz T, Liang S, Clise-Dwyer K, Wieder ED, Lizee G, Lu S, Molldrem JJ. The role of antigen cross-presentation from leukemia blasts on immunity to the leukemia-associated antigen PR1. J Immunother 35(4):309-320, 5/2012. PMCID: PMC3326226.
12. Hong DS, Vence LM, Falchook GS, Radvanyi LG, Liu C, Goodman VL, Legos JJ, Blackman SC, Scamardo AT, Kurzrock R, Hwu P, Lizee G. BRAF (V600) inhibitor GSK2118436 targeted inhibition of mutant BRAF in cancer patients does not impair overall immune competency. Clin Cancer Res 18(8):2326-35, 4/2012. e-Pub 2/2012. PMID: 22355009.
13. Qin Y, Ekmekcioglu S, Liu P, Duncan LM, Lizee G, Poindexter N, Grimm EA. Constitutive aberrant endogenous interleukin-1 facilitates inflammation and growth in human melanoma. Mol Cancer Res 9(11):1537-50, 11/2011. e-Pub 9/2011. PMID: 21954434.
14. Lou Y, Liu C,Lizee G, Peng W, Xu C, Ye Y, Rabinovich BA, Hailemichael Y, Gelbard A, Zhou D, Overwijk WW, Hwu P. Antitumor activity mediated by CpG: the route of administration is critical. J Immunother 34(3):279-88, 4/2011. PMID: 21389870.
15. Rodriguez-Cruz TG, Liu S, Khalili JS, Whittington M, Zhang M, Overwijk W, Lizee G. Natural splice variant of MHC class I cytoplasmic tail enhances dendritic cell-induced CD8 T-cell responses and boosts anti-tumor immunity. PLoS One 6(8):e22939, 2011. e-Pub 8/2011. PMCID: PMC3157908.
16. Peng W, Ye Y, Rabinovich BA, Liu C, Lou Y, Zhang M, Whittington M, Yang Y, Overwijk WW, Lizee G, Hwu P. Transduction of tumor-specific T cells with CXCR2 chemokine receptor improves migration to tumor and antitumor immune responses. Clin Cancer Res 16(22):5458-68, 11/2010. e-Pub 10/2010. PMID: 20889916.
17. Liu S, Etto T, Rodríguez-Cruz T, Li Y, Wu C, Fulbright OJ, Hwu P, Radvanyi L, Lizee G. TGF-beta1 induces preferential rapid expansion and persistence of tumor antigen-specific CD8+ T cells for adoptive immunotherapy. J Immunother 33(4):371-81, 5/2010. PMID: 20386469.
18. Liu C, Lou Y, Lizee G, Qin H, Liu S, Rabinovich B, Kim GJ, Wang YH, Ye Y, Sikora AG, Overwijk WW, Liu YJ, Wang G, Hwu P. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells induce NK cell-dependent, tumor antigen-specific T cell cross-priming and tumor regression in mice. J Clin Invest 118(3):1165-75, 3/2008. e-Pub 2/2008. PMID: 18259609.
19. Lee ST, Liu S, Radvanyi L, Sukhumalchandra P, Molldrem JJ, Wieder ED, Hwu P, Liu YJ, Kwak LW, Neelapu SS, Lizee G. A novel strategy for rapid and efficient isolation of human tumor-specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-cell clones. J Immunol Methods 331(1-2):13-26, 2/2008. e-Pub 10/2007. PMID: 17959194.
20. Basha G, Lizee G, Reinicke AT, Seipp RP, Omilusik KD, Jefferies WA. MHC class I endosomal and lysosomal trafficking coincides with exogenous antigen loading in dendritic cells. PLoS One 3(9):e3247, 2008. PMCID: PMC2532750.
21. Liu S, Lizee G, Lou Y, Liu C, Overwijk WW, Wang G, Hwu P. IL-21 synergizes with IL-7 to augment expansion and anti-tumor function of cytotoxic T cells. Int Immunol 19(10):1213-21, 10/2007. PMID: 17898044.
22. Lizee G, Cantu MA, Hwu P. Less Yin, More Yang: Confronting the barriers to cancer immunotherapy. Clin Cancer Res 13(18)(18 Pt 1):5250-5, 9/2007. PMID: 17875752.
23. Grover A, Kim GJ, Lizee G, Tschoi M, Wang G, Wunderlich JR, Rosenberg SA, Hwang ST, Hwu P. Intralymphatic dendritic cell vaccination induces tumor antigen-specific, skin-homing T lymphocytes. Clin Cancer Res 12(19)(19):5801-8, 10/2006. PMID: 17020987.
24. Lizee G, Radvanyi LG, Overwijk WW, Hwu P. Improving antitumor immune responses by circumventing immunoregulatory cells and mechanisms. Clin Cancer Res 12(16)(16):4794-803, 8/2006. PMID: 16914564.
25. Lizee G, Radvanyi LG, Overwijk WW, Hwu P. Immunosuppression in melanoma immunotherapy: potential opportunities for intervention. Clin Cancer Res 12(7 Pt 2)(7 Pt 2):2359s-2365s, 4/2006. PMID: 16609059.
26. Lizee G, Basha G, Jefferies WA. Tails of wonder: endocytic-sorting motifs key for exogenous antigen presentation. Trends Immunol 26(3):141-9, 3/2005. PMID: 15745856.
27. Lou Y, Wang G, Lizee G, Kim GJ, Finkelstein SE, Feng C, Restifo NP, Hwu P. Dendritic cells strongly boost the antitumor activity of adoptively transferred T cells in vivo. Cancer Res 64(18)(18):6783-90, 9/2004. PMID: 15374997.
28. Lizee G, Gonzales MI, Topalian SL. Lentivirus vector-mediated expression of tumor-associated epitopes by human antigen presenting cells. Hum Gene Ther 15(4):393-404, 4/2004. PMID: 15053864.
29. Lizee G, Sharkey MS, Gonzales MI, Patel S, Topalian SL. CD4(+) T-cell recognition of mutated B-RAF in melanoma patients harboring the V599E mutation. Cancer Res 64(5)(5):1595-9, 3/2004. PMID: 14996715.
30. Lizee G, Basha G, Tiong J, Julien JP, Tian M, Biron KE, Jefferies WA. Control of dendritic cell cross-presentation by the major histocompatibility complex class I cytoplasmic domain. Nat Immunol 4(11)(11):1065-73, 11/2003. PMID: 14566337.
31. Lizee G, Aerts JL, Gonzales MI, Chinnasamy N, Morgan RA, Topalian SL. Real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction as a method for determining lentiviral vector titers and measuring transgene expression. Hum Gene Ther 14(6):497-507, 4/2003. PMID: 12718761.

Last updated: 12/14/2012