Beth Helmink, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.S.
Department of Surgical Oncology, Division of Surgery
About Dr. Beth Helmink
Beth Helmink, MD PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her clinical practice focuses on the care of patients with peritoneal surface malignancies. This includes peritoneal mesothelioma, appendiceal neoplasms/cancers, as well as peritoneal metastases from colorectal, ovarian and other advanced cancers. She offers cytoreductive surgery with or without heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) to appropriate patients. Dr. Helmink was born and raised in Illinois. She received both her medical degree and PhD in Immunology from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She completed her General Surgery training at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, followed by both a clinical and research fellowship in Complex General Surgical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her research focuses on the anti-tumor immune response with regards to peritoneal malignancy and the role of microbes in the peritoneal dissemination of cancer.
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Surgical Oncology, Division of Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2012 | Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA, MD, Medicine |
| 2012 | Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA, PHD, Immunology |
| 2000 | Illinois State University, Normal, IL, USA, BS, Biochemistry/Molecular Biology |
Postgraduate Training
| 2018-2019 | Research Fellowship, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX |
| 2017-2020 | Clinical Fellowship, Complex General Surgical Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX |
| 2012-2017 | Clinical Residency, General Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN |
Board Certifications
| 2021 | Complex General Surgical Oncology |
| 2017 | American Board of Surgery |
Experience & Service
Academic Appointments
Assistant Professor, Division of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, 2020 - 2022
Honors & Awards
| 2022 | Faculty Teaching Appreciation Award, Washington University School of Medicine General Surgery Residency |
| 2021 | Scholar in Cancer Immunology, Arthur L. Irving Family Foundation |
| 2020 | APP Fellow of the Year Award, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2020 | Eva Lotzova Memorial Basic/Translational Research Award, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2020 | Bursky Research Scholar, Washington University School of Medicine |
| 2019 | Eva Lotzova Memorial Basic/Translational Research Award, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2019 | Thomas H. and Mayme P. Scott Fellowship in Cancer Research, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2018 | Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Travel Award |
| 2016 | Frist Global Health Leader |
| 2012 | Alpha Omega Alpha, Washington University School of Medicine |
| 2012 | Samson F. Wennerman Prize in Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine |
| 2010 | Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Fellowship, Washington University School of Medicine |
| 2004 | Robert G. Bone Scholar, Illinois State University |
| 2003 | Barry M. Goldwater Scholar |
| 2000 | Presidential Scholar, Illinois State University |
Professional Memberships
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Vellano CP, White MG, Andrews MC, Chelvanambi M, Witt RG, Daniele JR, Titus M, McQuade JL, Conforti F, Burton EM, Lastrapes MJ, Ologun G, Cogdill AP, Morad G, Prieto P, Lazar AJ, Chu Y, Han G, Khan MAW, Helmink B, Davies MA, Amaria RN, Kovacs JJ, Woodman SE, Patel S, Hwu P, Peoples M, Lee JE, Cooper ZA, Zhu H, Gao G, Banerjee H, Lau M, Gershenwald JE, Lucci A, Keung EZ, Ross MI, Pala L, Pagan E, Segura RL, Liu Q, Borthwick MS, Lau E, Yates MS, Westin SN, Wani K, Tetzlaff MT, Haydu LE, Mahendra M, Ma X, Logothetis C, Kulstad Z, Johnson S, Hudgens CW, Feng N, Federico L, Long GV, Futreal PA, Arur S, Tawbi HA, Moran AE, Wang L, Heffernan TP, Marszalek JR, Wargo JA. Androgen receptor blockade promotes response to BRAF/MEK-targeted therapy. Nature 606(7915):797-803, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35705814.
- Helmink BA, Ansstas G, Fields RC. Biomarker-Driven Prognostication in Merkel Cell Carcinoma: A Paradigm for Personalized Therapy. Ann Surg Oncol 29(3):1498-1501, 2022. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34787738.
- Uppal A, Helmink B, Grotz TE, Konishi T, Fournier KF, Nguyen S, Taggart MW, Shen JP, Bednarski BK, You YN, Chang GJ. What is the Risk for Peritoneal Metastases and Survival Afterwards in T4 Colon Cancers?. Ann Surg Oncol. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35307803.
- Zhang N, Kim SH, Gainullina A, Erlich EC, Onufer EJ, Kim J, Czepielewski RS, Helmink BA, Dominguez JR, Saunders BT, Ding J, Williams JW, Jiang JX, Segal BH, Zinselmeyer BH, Randolph GJ, Kim KW. LYVE1+ macrophages of murine peritoneal mesothelium promote omentum-independent ovarian tumor growth. J Exp Med 218(12), 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34714329.
- Woeltje MM, Evanoff AB, Helmink BA, Culbertson DL, Maleta KM, Manary MJ, Trehan I. Community-based management of acute malnutrition for infants under 6 months of age is safe and effective: analysis of operational data. Public Health Nutr:1-10. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34915944.
- Spencer CN, McQuade JL, Gopalakrishnan V, McCulloch JA, Vetizou M, Cogdill AP, Khan MAW, Zhang X, White MG, Peterson CB, Wong MC, Morad G, Rodgers T, Badger JH, Helmink BA, Andrews MC, Rodrigues RR, Morgun A, Kim YS, Roszik J, Hoffman KL, Zheng J, Zhou Y, Medik YB, Kahn LM, Johnson S, Hudgens CW, Wani K, Gaudreau PO, Harris AL, Jamal MA, Baruch EN, Perez-Guijarro E, Day CP, Merlino G, Pazdrak B, Lochmann BS, Szczepaniak-Sloane RA, Arora R, Anderson J, Zobniw CM, Posada E, Sirmans E, Simon J, Haydu LE, Burton EM, Wang L, Dang M, Clise-Dwyer K, Schneider S, Chapman T, Anang NAS, Duncan S, Toker J, Malke JC, Glitza IC, Amaria RN, Tawbi HA, Diab A, Wong MK, Patel SP, Woodman SE, Davies MA, Ross MI, Gershenwald JE, Lee JE, Hwu P, Jensen V, Samuels Y, Straussman R, Ajami NJ, Nelson KC, Nezi L, Petrosino JF, Futreal PA, Lazar AJ, Hu J, Jenq RR, Tetzlaff MT, Yan Y, Garrett WS, Huttenhower C, Sharma P, Watowich SS, Allison JP, Cohen L, Trinchieri G, Daniel CR, Wargo JA. Dietary fiber and probiotics influence the gut microbiome and melanoma immunotherapy response. Science 374(6575):1632-1640, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34941392.
- Alspach E, Chow RD, Demehri S, Guerriero JL, Gujar S, Hartmann FJ, Helmink BA, Hudson WH, Ho WJ, Ma L, Maier BB, Maltez VI, Miller BC, Moran AE, Parry EM, Pillai PS, Rafiq S, Reina-Campos M, Rosato PC, Rudqvist NP, Ruhland MK, Sagiv-Barfi I, Sahu AD, Samstein RM, Schürch CM, Sen DR, Thommen DS, Wolf Y, Zappasodi R. Supporting the Next Generation of Scientists to Lead Cancer Immunology Research. Cancer Immunol Res 9(11):1245-1251, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34544686.
- Lu Y, Ng AHC, Chow FE, Everson RG, Helmink BA, Tetzlaff MT, Thakur R, Wargo JA, Cloughesy TF, Prins RM, Heath JR. Resolution of tissue signatures of therapy response in patients with recurrent GBM treated with neoadjuvant anti-PD1. Nat Commun 12(1):4031, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34188042.
- Helmink BA, Roland CL, Kiernan CM, Wargo JA. Toxicity of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: Considerations for the Surgeon. Ann Surg Oncol 27(5):1533-1545, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 31965370.
- Galvani E, Mundra PA, Valpione S, Garcia-Martinez P, Smith M, Greenall J, Thakur R, Helmink B, Andrews MC, Boon L, Chester C, Gremel G, Hogan K, Mandal A, Zeng K, Banyard A, Ashton G, Cook M, Lorigan P, Wargo JA, Dhomen N, Marais R. Stroma remodeling and reduced cell division define durable response to PD-1 blockade in melanoma. Nat Commun 11(1):853, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32051401.
- Helmink BA, Reddy SM, Gao J, Zhang S, Basar R, Thakur R, Yizhak K, Sade-Feldman M, Blando J, Han G, Gopalakrishnan V, Xi Y, Zhao H, Amaria RN, Tawbi HA, Cogdill AP, Liu W, LeBleu VS, Kugeratski FG, Patel S, Davies MA, Hwu P, Lee JE, Gershenwald JE, Lucci A, Arora R, Woodman S, Keung EZ, Gaudreau PO, Reuben A, Spencer CN, Burton EM, Haydu LE, Lazar AJ, Zapassodi R, Hudgens CW, Ledesma DA, Ong S, Bailey M, Warren S, Rao D, Krijgsman O, Rozeman EA, Peeper D, Blank CU, Schumacher TN, Butterfield LH, Zelazowska MA, McBride KM, Kalluri R, Allison J, Petitprez F, Fridman WH, Sautès-Fridman C, Hacohen N, Rezvani K, Sharma P, Tetzlaff MT, Wang L, Wargo JA. B cells and tertiary lymphoid structures promote immunotherapy response. Nature 577(7791):549-555, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 31942075.
- Innes CL, Hesse JE, Morales AJ, Helmink BA, Schurman SH, Sleckman BP, Paules RS. DNA damage responses in murine Pre-B cells with genetic deficiencies in damage response genes. Cell Cycle 19(1):67-83, 2020. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31757180.
- McAllister F, Khan MAW, Helmink B, Wargo JA. The Tumor Microbiome in Pancreatic Cancer: Bacteria and Beyond. Cancer Cell 36(6):577-579, 2019. PMID: 31951558.
- Helmink BA, Khan MAW, Hermann A, Gopalakrishnan V, Wargo JA. The microbiome, cancer, and cancer therapy. Nat Med 25(3):377-388, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30842679.
- McQuade JL, Daniel CR, Helmink BA, Wargo JA. Modulating the microbiome to improve therapeutic response in cancer. Lancet Oncol 20(2):e77-e91, 2019. PMID: 30712808.
- Wang Y, Wiesnoski DH, Helmink BA, Gopalakrishnan V, Choi K, DuPont HL, Jiang ZD, Abu-Sbeih H, Sanchez CA, Chang CC, Parra ER, Francisco-Cruz A, Raju GS, Stroehlein JR, Campbell MT, Gao J, Subudhi SK, Maru DM, Blando JM, Lazar AJ, Allison JP, Sharma P, Tetzlaff MT, Wargo JA, Jenq RR. Fecal microbiota transplantation for refractory immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated colitis. Nat Med 24(12):1804-1808, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30420754.
- Helmink BA, Gaudreau PO, Wargo JA. Immune Checkpoint Blockade across the Cancer Care Continuum. Immunity 48(6):1077-1080, 2018. PMID: 29924973.
- Gopalakrishnan V, Helmink BA, Spencer CN, Reuben A, Wargo JA. The Influence of the Gut Microbiome on Cancer, Immunity, and Cancer Immunotherapy. Cancer Cell 33(4):570-580, 2018. PMID: 29634945.
- Tubbs AT, Dorsett Y, Chan E, Helmink B, Lee BS, Hung P, George R, Bredemeyer AL, Mittal A, Pappu RV, Chowdhury D, Mosammaparast N, Krangel MS, Sleckman BP. KAP-1 promotes resection of broken DNA ends not protected by γ-H2AX and 53BP1 in G1-phase lymphocytes. Mol Cell Biol 34(15):2811-21, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 24842905.
- Innes CL, Hesse JE, Palii SS, Helmink BA, Holub AJ, Sleckman BP, Paules RS. DNA damage activates a complex transcriptional response in murine lymphocytes that includes both physiological and cancer-predisposition programs. BMC Genomics 14:163, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23496831.
- Helmink BA, Sleckman BP. The response to and repair of RAG-mediated DNA double-strand breaks. Annu Rev Immunol 30:175-202, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22224778.
- Helmink BA, Tubbs AT, Dorsett Y, Bednarski JJ, Walker LM, Feng Z, Sharma GG, McKinnon PJ, Zhang J, Bassing CH, Sleckman BP. H2AX prevents CtIP-mediated DNA end resection and aberrant repair in G1-phase lymphocytes. Nature 469(7329):245-9, 2011. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 21160476.
- Reavie L, Della Gatta G, Crusio K, Aranda-Orgilles B, Buckley SM, Thompson B, Lee E, Gao J, Bredemeyer AL, Helmink BA, Zavadil J, Sleckman BP, Palomero T, Ferrando A, Aifantis I. Regulation of hematopoietic stem cell differentiation by a single ubiquitin ligase-substrate complex. Nat Immunol 11(3):207-15, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20081848.
- Yin B, Savic V, Juntilla MM, Bredemeyer AL, Yang-Iott KS, Helmink BA, Koretzky GA, Sleckman BP, Bassing CH. Histone H2AX stabilizes broken DNA strands to suppress chromosome breaks and translocations during V(D)J recombination. J Exp Med 206(12):2625-39, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19887394.
- Savic V, Yin B, Maas NL, Bredemeyer AL, Carpenter AC, Helmink BA, Yang-Iott KS, Sleckman BP, Bassing CH. Formation of dynamic gamma-H2AX domains along broken DNA strands is distinctly regulated by ATM and MDC1 and dependent upon H2AX densities in chromatin. Mol Cell 34(3):298-310, 2009. PMID: 19450528.
- Helmink BA, Bredemeyer AL, Lee BS, Huang CY, Sharma GG, Walker LM, Bednarski JJ, Lee WL, Pandita TK, Bassing CH, Sleckman BP. MRN complex function in the repair of chromosomal Rag-mediated DNA double-strand breaks. J Exp Med 206(3):669-79, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19221393.
- Bredemeyer AL, Helmink BA, Innes CL, Calderon B, McGinnis LM, Mahowald GK, Gapud EJ, Walker LM, Collins JB, Weaver BK, Mandik-Nayak L, Schreiber RD, Allen PM, May MJ, Paules RS, Bassing CH, Sleckman BP. DNA double-strand breaks activate a multi-functional genetic program in developing lymphocytes. Nature 456(7223):819-23, 2008. e-Pub 2008. PMID: 18849970.
- Bredemeyer AL, Sharma GG, Huang CY, Helmink BA, Walker LM, Khor KC, Nuskey B, Sullivan KE, Pandita TK, Bassing CH, Sleckman BP. ATM stabilizes DNA double-strand-break complexes during V(D)J recombination. Nature 442(7101):466-70, 2006. e-Pub 2006. PMID: 16799570.
- Helmink BA, Friesen JA. Characterization of a lipid activated CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase from Drosophila melanogaster. Biochim Biophys Acta 1683(1-3):78-88, 2004. PMID: 15238222.
- Helmink BA, Braker JD, Kent C, Friesen JA. Identification of lysine 122 and arginine 196 as important functional residues of rat CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase alpha. Biochemistry 42(17):5043-51, 2003. PMID: 12718547.
Invited Articles
- Lee A, Fields RC, Helmink BA. Applications of Genomics in the Care of Melanoma Patients. ACS Bulletin, 2022.
- Helmink BA, Boughey JC, Roland CL. Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy—Results in Melanoma Show Promise and Pave the Way for Other Solid Tumors. ACS Bulletin, 2021.
- Helmink B, Wargo JA. Neoadjuvant therapy for melanoma: is it ready for prime time?. Lancet Oncol 20(7):892-894, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31171445.
Abstracts
- Helmink BA, Reddy SM, Ong S, Bailey MD, Bahrami AS, . . . Wargo JA, Tetzlaff MT. NanoString GeoMxTM digital spatial profiling further defines the role of B-cells in the response to immune checkpoint blockade. American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), 2019.
- Reddy S, Helmink BA, Gao J, Zhang S, Yizhak K, Sade-Feldman M, . . . Fridman WH, Sautes- Fridman C, Hacohen N, Allison J, Sharma P, Wang L, Wargo JA. B-cells and tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) predict response to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), 2018.
- Gopalakrishnan V, Spencer C, McQuade J, Andrews MC, Helmink BA, . . . Daniel-MacDougall CR, Cohen L, Wargo JA. The gut microbiome of metastatic melanoma patients initiating systemic therapy is influenced by host factors including diet, probiotic and antibiotic use. Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), 2018.
- Helmink BA, Gopalakrishnan V, . . . Davies MA, Hwu P, Tawbi H, Glitza IC, Wargo JA. Variation of the gut microbiome of complete responders to immune checkpoint blockade and healthy individuals – implications for clinical trial design. Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), 2018.
Book Chapters
- Ahmad SA, Xia BT, Bailey CE, Abbott DE, Helmink BA, Daly MC, Thota R, Schlegal C, Winer LK, Ahmad SA, Al Humaidi AH, Parikh AA. An update on gastric cancer. In: Curr Probl Surg. 10, 449-90, 2016.
- Helmink BA, Snyder RA, Idrees K, Merchant NB, Parikh AA. Advances in the Surgical Management of Resectable and Borderline Resectable Pancreas Cancer. In: Surg Oncol Clin N Am. 2, 287-310, 2016.
- Helmink BA, Bailey CE, & Tarpley JL. Small Bowel Tumors. In: Current Surgical Therapy. 12th, 2016.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified September 19, 2024