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John V. Heymach, M.D., Ph.D.

Department of Thoracic-Head & Neck Med Onc, Division of Cancer Medicine

About Dr. Heymach

Dr. Heymach is the Chair of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center. He holds the David Bruton Endowed Chair in Cancer Research. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and his MD/PhD from Stanford. He completed his Internship and Residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and his fellowship in Medical Oncology from the Dana Farber/Mass General Brigham program. As a physician-scientist, Dr. Heymach’s research focuses on investigating mechanisms of therapeutic resistance to targeted agents, understanding the regulation of angiogenesis in lung cancer, and the development of biomarkers for targeted agents and immunotherapy. His research has led to new therapeutic approaches for KRAS mutant lung cancer, small cell lung cancer (SCLC), EGFR mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), adenoid cystic carcinoma, and oligometastatic NSCLC, many of which are now considered standard of care regimens or undergoing clinical testing. He serves as PI on 4 R01 awards investigating molecular subsets of lung cancer, and on an U01 focused on SCLC. He serves as the MDACC PI for the SU2C-ACS Lung Cancer Dream Team targeting KRAS mutant lung cancers, as the leader of the Lung CCSG Program, and the co-leader of the Lung Cancer Moon Shot. He is also the co-PI and project leader of the Lung SPORE. As a clinical investigator, he leads a number of biomarker-directed clinical trials using targeted and immunotherapy agents in lung cancer. He has directly mentored numerous fellows, including physician-scientists, and serves as chair of the NCI Molecular Cancer Therapeutics-1 study section.

Meet John Heymach, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Heymach discusses Lung Cancer Moon Shot®

In the News

Poziotinib is active in EGFR exon 20 mutant non-small cell lung cancer with efficacy highly dependent on insertion location

Study identifies key factor in non-small cell lung cancer resistance and potential therapeutic targets

Targeted therapy tepotinib for non-small cell lung cancer with MET exon 14 skipping mutation shows durable response

HER2 protein structure showing the location of the drug binding pocket. Exon 19, 20 and 21 domains are colored in blue, pink and orange, respectively, with sites for common mutations labeled.

Lung cancer targeted therapy hits common HER2 variants across cancers

Poziotinib sustains high response rates against intractable lung cancer mutation

MD Anderson, Spectrum Pharmaceuticals complete poziotinib licensing deal

Size, structure help poziotinib pose threat to deadly exon 20 lung cancer

Chronic stress hormones may promote resistance to EGFR inhibitors in lung cancer patients

Present Title & Affiliation

Primary Appointment

Chair, Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Professor, Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston

David Bruton, Jr Chair in Cancer Research, Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment

Professor, Department of Cancer Biology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Education & Training

Degree-Granting Education

1998	Stanford University Medical School, Stanford, CA, USA, MD, Medicine
1996	Stanford University Medical School, Stanford, CA, USA, PHD, Neuroscience
1989	Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA, BA, Chemistry

Postgraduate Training

2000-2003	Clinical Fellowship, Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber/Partners CancerCare Medical Oncology Fellowship Program, Boston, MA
1999-2000	Clinical Residency, Internal Medicine, Brigham and Women′s Hospital, Boston, MA
1998-1999	Clinical Internship, Internal Medicine, Brigham and Women′s Hospital, Boston, MA

Board Certifications

2005	Medical Oncology, American Board of Internal Medicine
2002	Internal Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine

Honors & Awards

2020	Potu N. Rao Award: Excellence in Basic Science Award, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Selected Publications

Peer-Reviewed Articles

Patel SA, Nilsson MB, Le X, Cascone T, Jain RK, Heymach JV. Molecular Mechanisms and Future Implications of VEGF/VEGFR in Cancer Therapy. Clin Cancer Res 29(1):30-39, 2023. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35969170.
Khan TM, Verbus EA, Gandhi S, Heymach JV, Hernandez JM, Elamin YY. Osimertinib, Surgery, and Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients with Stage IIIB or IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer with EGFR Mutations (NORTHSTAR). Ann Surg Oncol 29(8):4688-4689, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35527328.
Lam VK, Zhang J, Wu CC, Tran HT, Li L, Diao L, Wang J, Rinsurongkawong W, Raymond VM, Lanman RB, Lewis J, Roarty EB, Roth J, Swisher S, Lee JJ, Gibbons DL, Papadimitrakopoulou VA, Heymach JV. Genotype-specific differences in circulating tumor DNA levels in advanced NSCLC. J Thorac Oncol 16(4):601-609, 2021. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33388476.
Le X, Negrao MV, Reuben A, Federico L, Diao L, McGrail D, Nilsson M, Robichaux J, Munoz IG, Patel S, Elamin Y, Fan YH, Lee WC, Parra E, Solis Soto LM, Chen R, Li J, Karpinets T, Khairullah R, Kadara H, Behrens C, Sepesi B, Wang R, Zhu M, Wang L, Vaporciyan A, Roth J, Swisher S, Haymaker C, Zhang J, Wang J, Wong KK, Byers LA, Bernatchez C, Zhang J, Wistuba II, Gibbons DL, Akbay EA, Heymach JV. Characterization of the immune landscape of EGFR-mutant NSCLC identifies CD73/adenosine pathway as a potential therapeutic target. J Thorac Oncol 16(4):583-600, 2021. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33388477.
Nilsson MB, Robichaux J, Herynk MH, Cascone T, Le X, Elamin Y, Patel S, Zhang F, Xu L, Hu L, Diao L, Shen L, He J, Yu X, Nikolinakos P, Saintigny P, Fang B, Girard L, Wang J, Minna JD, Wistuba II, Heymach JV. Altered regulation of HIF-1α in naïve- and drug-resistant EGFR mutant NSCLC: implications for a VEGF-dependent phenotype. J Thorac Oncol 16(3):439-451, 2021. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33309987.
Sitthideatphaiboon P, Galan-Cobo A, Negrao MV, Qu X, Poteete A, Zhang F, Liu DD, Lewis WE, Kemp HN, Lewis J, Rinsurongkawong W, Giri U, Lee JJ, Zhang J, Roth JA, Swisher S, Heymach JV. LKB1 mutations in NSCLC are associated with KEAP1/NRF2-dependent radiotherapy resistance targetable by glutaminase inhibition. Clin Cancer Res 27(6):1720-1733, 2021. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33323404.
Gay CM, Stewart CA, Park EM, Diao L, Groves SM, Heeke S, Nabet BY, Fujimoto J, Solis LM, Lu W, Xi Y, Cardnell RJ, Wang Q, Fabbri G, Cargill KR, Vokes NI, Ramkumar K, Zhang B, Della Corte CM, Robson P, Swisher SG, Roth JA, Glisson BS, Shames DS, Wistuba II, Wang J, Quaranta V, Minna J, Heymach JV, Byers LA. Patterns of transcription factor programs and immune pathway activation define four major subtypes of SCLC with distinct therapeutic vulnerabilities. Cancer Cell 39(3):346-360.e7, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33482121.
Paik PK, Felip E, Veillon R, Sakai H, Cortot AB, Garassino MC, Mazieres J, Viteri S, Senellart H, Van Meerbeeck J, Raskin J, Reinmuth N, Conte P, Kowalski D, Cho BC, Patel JD, Horn L, Griesinger F, Han JY, Kim YC, Chang GC, Tsai CL, Yang JC, Chen YM, Smit EF, van der Wekken AJ, Kato T, Juraeva D, Stroh C, Bruns R, Straub J, Johne A, Scheele J, Heymach JV, Le X. Tepotinib in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer with MET Exon 14 Skipping Mutations. N Engl J Med 383(10):931-943, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32469185.
Nilsson MB, Sun H, Robichaux J, Pfeifer M, McDermott U, Travers J, Diao L, Xi Y, Tong P, Shen L, Hofstad M, Kawakami M, Le X, Liu X, Fan Y, Poteete A, Hu L, Negrao MV, Tran H, Dmitrovsky E, Peng D, Gibbons DL, Wang J, Heymach JV. A YAP/FOXM1 axis mediates EMT-associated EGFR inhibitor resistance and increased expression of spindle assembly checkpoint components. Sci Transl Med 12(559), 2020. PMID: 32878980.
Cascone T, Sepesi B, Lin HY, Kalhor N, Parra ER, Jiang M, Godoy MCB, Zhang J, Fossella FV, Tsao AS, Lam VK, Lu C, Mott FE, Simon GR, Antonoff MB, Mehran RJ, Rice DC, Behrens C, Weissferdt A, Moran C, Vaporciyan AA, Lee JJ, Swisher SG, Gibbons DL, Wistuba II, William WN, Heymach JV. A Phase I/II Study of Neoadjuvant Cisplatin, Docetaxel and Nintedanib for Resectable Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Clin Cancer Res 26(14):3525-3536, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32193228.
Stewart CA, Gay CM, Ramkumar K, Cargill KR, Cardnell RJ, Nilsson MB, Heeke S, Park EM, Kundu ST, Diao L, Wang Q, Shen L, Xi Y, Maria Della Corte C, Fan Y, Kundu K, Pickering CR, Johnson FM, Zhang J, Kadara H, Minna JD, Gibbons DL, Wang J, Heymach JV, Byers LA. SARS-CoV-2 infection induces EMT-like molecular changes, including ZEB1-mediated repression of the viral receptor ACE2, in lung cancer models. bioRxiv, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32577652.
Lin SH, Lin Y, Yao L, Kalhor N, Carter BW, Altan M, Blumenschein G, Byers LA, Fossella F, Gibbons DL, Kurie JM, Lu C, Simon G, Skoulidis F, Chang JY, Jeter MD, Liao Z, Gomez DR, O'Reilly M, Papadimitrakopoulou V, Thall P, Heymach JV, Tsao AS. Phase II Trial of Concurrent Atezolizumab With Chemoradiation for Unresectable NSCLC. J Thorac Oncol 15(2):248-257, 2020. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31778797.
Welsh JW, Heymach JV, Chen D, Verma V, Cushman TR, Hess KR, Shroff G, Tang C, Skoulidis F, Jeter M, Menon H, Nguyen QN, Chang JY, Altan M, Papadimitrakopoulou VA, Simon GR, Raju U, Byers L, Glisson B. Phase I Trial of Pembrolizumab and Radiation Therapy after Induction Chemotherapy for Extensive-Stage Small Cell Lung Cancer. J Thorac Oncol 15(2):266-273, 2020. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31605794.
Reuben A, Zhang J, Chiou SH, Gittelman RM, Li J, Lee WC, Fujimoto J, Behrens C, Liu X, Wang F, Quek K, Wang C, Kheradmand F, Chen R, Chow CW, Lin H, Bernatchez C, Jalali A, Hu X, Wu CJ, Eterovic AK, Parra ER, Yusko E, Emerson R, Benzeno S, Vignali M, Wu X, Ye Y, Little LD, Gumbs C, Mao X, Song X, Tippen S, Thornton RL, Cascone T, Snyder A, Wargo JA, Herbst R, Swisher S, Kadara H, Moran C, Kalhor N, Zhang J, Scheet P, Vaporciyan AA, Sepesi B, Gibbons DL, Robins H, Hwu P, Heymach JV, Sharma P, Allison JP, Baladandayuthapani V, Lee JJ, Davis MM, Wistuba II, Futreal PA, Zhang J. Comprehensive T cell repertoire characterization of non-small cell lung cancer. Nat Commun 11(1):603, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32001676.
Robichaux JP, Elamin YY, Vijayan RSK, Nilsson MB, Hu L, He J, Zhang F, Pisegna M, Poteete A, Sun H, Li S, Chen T, Han H, Negrao MV, Ahnert JR, Diao L, Wang J, Le X, Meric-Bernstam F, Routbort M, Roeck B, Yang Z, Raymond VM, Lanman RB, Frampton GM, Miller VA, Schrock AB, Albacker LA, Wong KK, Cross JB, Heymach JV. Pan-Cancer Landscape and Analysis of ERBB2 Mutations Identifies Poziotinib as a Clinically Active Inhibitor and Enhancer of T-DM1 Activity. Cancer Cell 36(4):444-457.e7, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31588020.
Skoulidis F, Heymach JV. Co-occurring genomic alterations in non-small-cell lung cancer biology and therapy. Nat Rev Cancer 19(9):495-509, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31406302.
Galan-Cobo A, Sitthideatphaiboon P, Qu X, Poteete A, Pisegna MA, Tong P, Chen PH, Boroughs LK, Rodriguez MLM, Zhang W, Parlati F, Wang J, Gandhi V, Skoulidis F, DeBerardinis RJ, Minna JD, Heymach JV. LKB1 and KEAP1/NRF2 Pathways Cooperatively Promote Metabolic Reprogramming with Enhanced Glutamine Dependence in KRAS-Mutant Lung Adenocarcinoma. Cancer Res 79(13):3251-3267, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31040157.
Negrao MV, Lam VK, Reuben A, Rubin ML, Landry LL, Roarty EB, Rinsurongkawong W, Lewis J, Roth JA, Swisher SG, Gibbons DL, Wistuba II, Papadimitrakopoulou V, Glisson BS, Blumenschein GR, Lee JJ, Heymach JV, Zhang J. PD-L1 Expression, Tumor Mutational Burden, and Cancer Gene Mutations Are Stronger Predictors of Benefit from Immune Checkpoint Blockade than HLA Class I Genotype in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. J Thorac Oncol 14(6):1021-1031, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30780001.
Gomez DR, Tang C, Zhang J, Blumenschein GR, Hernandez M, Lee JJ, Ye R, Palma DA, Louie AV, Camidge DR, Doebele RC, Skoulidis F, Gaspar LE, Welsh JW, Gibbons DL, Karam JA, Kavanagh BD, Tsao AS, Sepesi B, Swisher SG, Heymach JV. Local Consolidative Therapy Vs. Maintenance Therapy or Observation for Patients With Oligometastatic Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: Long-Term Results of a Multi-Institutional, Phase II, Randomized Study. J Clin Oncol 37(18):1558-1565, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31067138.
Sen T, Rodriguez BL, Chen L, Corte CMD, Morikawa N, Fujimoto J, Cristea S, Nguyen T, Diao L, Li L, Fan Y, Yang Y, Wang J, Glisson BS, Wistuba II, Sage J, Heymach JV, Gibbons DL, Byers LA. Targeting DNA Damage Response Promotes Antitumor Immunity through STING-Mediated T-cell Activation in Small Cell Lung Cancer. Cancer Discov 9(5):646-661, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30777870.
Elamin YY, Gomez DR, Antonoff MB, Robichaux JP, Tran H, Shorter MK, Bohac JM, Negrao MV, Le X, Rinsurogkawong W, Lewis J, Lacerda L, Roarty EB, Swisher SG, Roth JA, Zhang J, Papadimitrakopoulou V, Heymach JV. Local Consolidation Therapy (LCT) After First Line Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (TKI) for Patients With EGFR Mutant Metastatic Non-small-cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). Clin Lung Cancer 20(1):43-47, 2019. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30343004.
Le X, Puri S, Negrao MV, Nilsson MB, Robichaux J, Boyle T, Hicks JK, Lovinger KL, Roarty E, Rinsurongkawong W, Tang M, Sun H, Elamin Y, Lacerda LC, Lewis J, Roth JA, Swisher SG, Lee JJ, William WN, Glisson BS, Zhang J, Papadimitrakopoulou VA, Gray JE, Heymach JV. Landscape of EGFR-Dependent and -Independent Resistance Mechanisms to Osimertinib and Continuation Therapy Beyond Progression in EGFR-Mutant NSCLC. Clin Cancer Res 24(24):6195-6203, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30228210.
Chen L, Diao L, Yang Y, Yi X, Rodriguez BL, Li Y, Villalobos PA, Cascone T, Liu X, Tan L, Lorenzi PL, Huang A, Zhao Q, Peng D, Fradette JJ, Peng DH, Ungewiss C, Roybal J, Tong P, Oba J, Skoulidis F, Peng W, Carter BW, Gay CM, Fan Y, Class CA, Zhu J, Rodriguez-Canales J, Kawakami M, Byers LA, Woodman SE, Papadimitrakopoulou VA, Dmitrovsky E, Wang J, Ullrich SE, Wistuba II, Heymach JV, Qin FX, Gibbons DL. CD38-Mediated Immunosuppression as a Mechanism of Tumor Cell Escape from PD-1/PD-L1 Blockade. Cancer Discov 8(9):1156-1175, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30012853.
Skoulidis F, Goldberg ME, Greenawalt DM, Hellmann MD, Awad MM, Gainor JF, Schrock AB, Hartmaier RJ, Trabucco SE, Gay L, Ali SM, Elvin JA, Singal G, Ross JS, Fabrizio D, Szabo PM, Chang H, Sasson A, Srinivasan S, Kirov S, Szustakowski J, Vitazka P, Edwards R, Bufill JA, Sharma N, Ou SI, Peled N, Spigel DR, Rizvi H, Aguilar EJ, Carter BW, Erasmus J, Halpenny DF, Plodkowski AJ, Long NM, Nishino M, Denning WL, Galan-Cobo A, Hamdi H, Hirz T, Tong P, Wang J, Rodriguez-Canales J, Villalobos PA, Parra ER, Kalhor N, Sholl LM, Sauter JL, Jungbluth AA, Mino-Kenudson M, Azimi R, Elamin YY, Zhang J, Leonardi GC, Jiang F, Wong KK, Lee JJ, Papadimitrakopoulou VA, Wistuba II, Miller VA, Frampton GM, Wolchok JD, Shaw AT, Jänne PA, Stephens PJ, Rudin CM, Geese WJ, Albacker LA, Heymach JV. STK11/LKB1 Mutations and PD-1 Inhibitor Resistance in KRAS-Mutant Lung Adenocarcinoma. Cancer Discov 8(7):822-835, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29773717.
Robichaux JP, Elamin YY, Tan Z, Carter BW, Zhang S, Liu S, Li S, Chen T, Poteete A, Estrada-Bernal A, Le AT, Truini A, Nilsson MB, Sun H, Roarty E, Goldberg SB, Brahmer JR, Altan M, Lu C, Papadimitrakopoulou V, Politi K, Doebele RC, Wong KK, Heymach JV. Mechanisms and clinical activity of an EGFR and HER2 exon 20-selective kinase inhibitor in non-small cell lung cancer. Nat Med 24(5):638-646, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29686424.
Nilsson MB, Sun H, Diao L, Tong P, Liu D, Li L, Fan Y, Poteete A, Lim SO, Howells K, Haddad V, Gomez D, Tran H, Pena GA, Sequist LV, Yang JC, Wang J, Kim ES, Herbst R, Lee JJ, Hong WK, Wistuba I, Hung MC, Sood AK, Heymach JV. Stress hormones promote EGFR inhibitor resistance in NSCLC: Implications for combinations with β-blockers. Sci Transl Med 9(415), 2017. PMID: 29118262.
Cascone T, Xu L, Lin HY, Liu W, Tran HT, Liu Y, Howells K, Haddad V, Hanrahan E, Nilsson MB, Cortez MA, Giri U, Kadara H, Saigal B, Park YY, Peng W, Lee JS, Ryan AJ, Jüergensmeier JM, Herbst RS, Wang J, Langley RR, Wistuba II, Lee JJ, Heymach JV. The HGF/c-MET Pathway Is a Driver and Biomarker of VEGFR-inhibitor Resistance and Vascular Remodeling in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Clin Cancer Res 23(18):5489-5501, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28559461.
Skinner HD, Giri U, Yang LP, Kumar M, Liu Y, Story MD, Pickering CR, Byers LA, Williams MD, Wang J, Shen L, Yoo SY, Fan YH, Molkentine DP, Beadle BM, Meyn RE, Myers JN, Heymach JV. Integrative Analysis Identifies a Novel AXL-PI3 Kinase-PD-L1 Signaling Axis Associated with Radiation Resistance in Head and Neck Cancer. Clin Cancer Res 23(11):2713-2722, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28476872.
Ferrarotto R, Mitani Y, Diao L, Guijarro I, Wang J, Zweidler-McKay P, Bell D, William WN, Glisson BS, Wick MJ, Kapoun AM, Patnaik A, Eckhardt G, Munster P, Faoro L, Dupont J, Lee JJ, Futreal A, El-Naggar AK, Heymach JV. Activating NOTCH1 Mutations Define a Distinct Subgroup of Patients With Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma Who Have Poor Prognosis, Propensity to Bone and Liver Metastasis, and Potential Responsiveness to Notch1 Inhibitors. J Clin Oncol 35(3):352-360, 2017. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27870570.
Gomez DR, Blumenschein GR, Lee JJ, Hernandez M, Ye R, Camidge DR, Doebele RC, Skoulidis F, Gaspar LE, Gibbons DL, Karam JA, Kavanagh BD, Tang C, Komaki R, Louie AV, Palma DA, Tsao AS, Sepesi B, William WN, Zhang J, Shi Q, Wang XS, Swisher SG, Heymach JV. Local consolidative therapy versus maintenance therapy or observation for patients with oligometastatic non-small-cell lung cancer without progression after first-line systemic therapy: a multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase 2 study. Lancet Oncol 17(12):1672-1682, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27789196.
Nilsson MB, Giri U, Gudikote J, Tang X, Lu W, Tran H, Fan Y, Koo A, Diao L, Tong P, Wang J, Herbst R, Johnson BE, Ryan A, Webster A, Rowe P, Wistuba II, Heymach JV. KDR amplification is associated with VEGF-induced activation of mTOR and invasion pathways but does not predict clinical benefit to the VEGFR TKI vandetanib. Clin Cancer Res 22(8):1940-50, 2016. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26578684.
Skoulidis F, Byers LA, Diao L, Papadimitrakopoulou VA, Tong P, Izzo J, Behrens C, Kadara H, Parra ER, Canales JR, Zhang J, Giri U, Gudikote J, Cortez MA, Yang C, Fan Y, Peyton M, Girard L, Coombes KR, Toniatti C, Heffernan TP, Choi M, Frampton GM, Miller V, Weinstein JN, Herbst RS, Wong KK, Zhang J, Sharma P, Mills GB, Hong WK, Minna JD, Allison JP, Futreal A, Wang J, Wistuba II, Heymach JV. Co-occurring genomic alterations define major subsets of KRAS - mutant lung adenocarcinoma with distinct biology, immune profiles, and therapeutic vulnerabilities. Cancer Discov 5(8):860-877, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26069186.
Subbiah V, Berry J, Roxas M, Guha-Thakurta N, Subbiah IM, Ali SM, McMahon C, Miller V, Cascone T, Pai S, Tang Z, Heymach JV. Systemic and CNS activity of the RET inhibitor vandetanib combined with the mTOR inhibitor everolimus in KIF5B-RET re-arranged non-small cell lung cancer with brain metastases. Lung Cancer 89(1):76-79, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25982012.
Heymach JV, Lockwood SJ, Herbst RS, Johnson BE, Ryan AJ. EGFR biomarkers predict benefit from vandetanib in combination with docetaxel in a randomized phase III study of second line treatment for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Ann Oncol 25(10):1941-1948, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25057173.
Chen L, Gibbons DL, Goswami S, Cortez MA, Ahn YH, Byers LA, Zhang X, Yi X, Dwyer D, Lin W, Diao L, Wang J, Roybal JD, Patel M, Ungewiss C, Peng D, Antonia S, Mediavilla-Varela M, Robertson G, Jones S, Suraokar M, Welsh JW, Erez B, Wistuba II, Chen L, Peng D, Wang S, Ullrich SE, Heymach JV, Kurie JM, Qin FX. Metastasis is regulated via microRNA-200/ZEB1 axis control of tumour cell PD-L1 expression and intratumoral immunosuppression. Nat Commun 5:5241, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25348003.
Blumenschein GR, Saintigny P, Liu S, Kim ES, Tsao AS, Herbst RS, Alden C, Lee JJ, Tang X, Stewart DJ, Kies MS, Fossella FV, Tran HT, Mao L, Hicks ME, Erasmus J, Gupta S, Girard L, Peyton M, Diao L, Wang J, Davis SE, Minna JD, Wistuba I, Hong WK, Heymach JV, Lippman SM. Comprehensive biomarker analysis and final efficacy results of sorafenib in the BATTLE (Biomarker-Integrated Approaches of Targeted Therapy for Lung Cancer Elimination) trial. Clin Cancer Res 19(24):6967-6975, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24166906.
Byers LA, Diao L, Wang J, Saintigny P, Girard L, Peyton M, Shen L, Fan Y, Giri U, Tumula PK, Nilsson MB, Gudikote J, Tran H, Cardnell RJ, Bearss DJ, Warner SL, Foulks JM, Kanner SB, Gandhi V, Krett N, Rosen ST, Kim ES, Herbst RS, Blumenschein GR, Lee JJ, Lippman SM, Ang KK, Mills GB, Hong WK, Weinstein JN, Wistuba II, Coombes KR, Minna JD, Heymach JV. An epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) gene signature predicts resistance to EGFR and PI3K inhibitors and identifies Axl as a therapeutic target for overcoming EGFR inhibitor resistance. Clin Cancer Res 19(1):279-290, 2013. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 23091115.
Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network, Hammerman PS, Hayes DN, Wilkerson MD, Schultz N, Bose R, Chu A, Collisson EA, Cope L, Creighton CJ, Getz G, Herman JG, Johnson BE, Kucherlapati R, Ladanyi M, Maher CA, Robertson G, Sander C, Shen R, Sinha R, Sivachenko A, Thomas RK, Travis WD, Tsao MS, Weinstein JN, Wigle DA, Baylin SB, Govindan R, Meyerson M. Comprehensive genomic characterization of squamous cell lung cancers. Nature 489(7417):519-525, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22960745.
Byers LA, Wang J, Nilsson MB, Fujimoto J, Saintigny P, Yordy J, Giri U, Peyton M, Fan YH, Diao L, Masrorpour F, Shen L, Liu W, Duchemann B, Tumula P, Bhardwaj V, Welsh J, Weber S, Glisson BS, Kalhor N, Wistuba II, Girard L, Lippman SM, Mills GB, Coombes KR, Weinstein JN, Minna JD, Heymach JV. Proteomic profiling identifies dysregulated pathways in small cell lung cancer and novel therapeutic targets including PARP1. Cancer Discov 2(9):798-811, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22961666.
Tran HT, Liu Y, Zurita AJ, Lin Y, Baker-Neblett KL, Martin AM, Figlin RA, Hutson TE, Sternberg CN, Amado RG, Pandite LN, Heymach JV. Prognostic or predictive plasma cytokines and angiogenic factors for patients treated with pazopanib for metastatic renal-cell cancer: a retrospective analysis of phase 2 and phase 3 trials. Lancet Oncol 13(8):827-837, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22759480.
Ihle NT, Byers LA, Kim ES, Saintigny P, Lee JJ, Blumenschein GR, Tsao A, Liu S, Larsen JE, Wang J, Diao L, Coombes KR, Chen L, Zhang S, Abdelmelek MF, Tang X, Papadimitrakopoulou V, Minna JD, Lippman SM, Hong WK, Herbst RS, Wistuba II,Heymach, JV, Powis G. Effect of KRAS Oncogene Substitutions on Protein Behavior: Implications for Signaling and Clinical Outcome. J Natl Cancer Inst 104(3):228-239, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22247021.
Cascone T, Herynk MH, Xu L, Du Z, Kadara H, Nilsson MB, Oborn CJ, Park YY, Erez B, Jacoby JJ, Lee JS, Lin HY, Ciardiello F, Herbst RS, Langley RR, Heymach JV. Upregulated stromal EGFR and vascular remodeling in mouse xenograft models of angiogenesis inhibitor-resistant human lung adenocarcinoma. J Clin Invest 121(4):1313-1328, 2011. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 21436589.
Byers LA, Holsinger FC, Kies MS, William WN, El-Naggar AK, Lee JJ, Hu J, Lopez A, Tran HT, Yan S, Du Z, Ang KK, Glisson BS, Raso MG, Wistuba II, Myers JN, Hong WK, Papadimitrakopoulou V, Lippman SM, Heymach JV. Serum signature of hypoxia-regulated factors is associated with progression after induction therapy in head and neck squamous cell cancer. Mol Cancer Ther 9(6):1755-1763, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20530716.
Xu L, Nilsson MB, Saintigny P, Cascone T, Herynk MH, Du Z, Nikolinakos PG, Yang Y, Prudkin L, Liu D, Lee JJ, Johnson FM, Wong KK, Girard L, Gazdar AF, Minna JD, Kurie JM, Wistuba II, Heymach JV. Epidermal growth factor receptor regulates MET levels and invasiveness through hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha in non-small cell lung cancer cells. Oncogene 29(18):2616-2627, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20154724.
Nilsson MB, Zage PE, Zeng L, Xu L, Cascone T, Wu HK, Saigal B, Zweidler-McKay PA, Heymach JV. Multiple receptor tyrosine kinases regulate HIF-1alpha and HIF-2alpha in normoxia and hypoxia in neuroblastoma: implications for antiangiogenic mechanisms of multikinase inhibitors. Oncogene 29(20):2938-2949, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20208561.
Hanrahan EO, Lin HY, Kim ES, Yan S, Du DZ, McKee KS, Tran HT, Lee JJ, Ryan AJ, Langmuir P, Johnson BE, Heymach JV. Distinct patterns of cytokine and angiogenic factor modulation and markers of benefit for vandetanib and/or chemotherapy in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer. J Clin Oncol 28(2):193-201, 2010. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19949019.
Kopetz S, Hoff PM, Morris JS, Wolff RA, Eng C, Glover KY, Adinin R, Overman MJ, Valero V, Wen S, Lieu C, Yan S, Tran HT, Ellis LM, Abbruzzese JL, Heymach JV. Phase II trial of infusional fluorouracil, irinotecan, and bevacizumab for metastatic colorectal cancer: efficacy and circulating angiogenic biomarkers associated with therapeutic resistance. J Clin Oncol 28(3):453-459, 2010. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 20008624.
Hanrahan EO, Ryan AJ, Mann H, Kennedy SJ, Langmuir P, Natale RB, Herbst RS, Johnson BE, Heymach JV. Baseline vascular endothelial growth factor concentration as a potential predictive marker of benefit from vandetanib in non-small cell lung cancer. Clin Cancer Res 15(10):3600-3609, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19447868.
Naumov GN, Nilsson MB, Cascone T, Briggs A, Straume O, Akslen LA, Lifshits E, Byers LA, Xu L, Wu HK, Jänne P, Kobayashi S, Halmos B, Tenen D, Tang XM, Engelman J, Yeap B, Folkman J, Johnson BE, Heymach JV. Combined vascular endothelial growth factor receptor and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) blockade inhibits tumor growth in xenograft models of EGFR inhibitor resistance. Clin Cancer Res 15(10):3484-3494, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19447865.
William WN, Heymach JV, Kim ES, Lippman SM. Molecular targets for cancer chemoprevention. Nat Rev Drug Discov 8(3):213-225, 2009. PMID: 19247304.
Heymach JV, Paz-Ares L, De Braud F, Sebastian M, Stewart DJ, Eberhardt WE, Ranade AA, Cohen G, Trigo JM, Sandler AB, Bonomi PD, Herbst RS, Krebs AD, Vasselli J, Johnson BE. Randomized phase II study of vandetanib alone or with paclitaxel and carboplatin as first-line treatment for advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. J Clin Oncol 26(33):5407-5415, 2008. e-Pub 2008. PMID: 18936474.
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Heymach JV, Johnson BE, Prager D, Csada E, Roubec J, Pesek M, Spásová I, Belani CP, Bodrogi I, Gadgeel S, Kennedy SJ, Hou J, Herbst RS. Randomized, placebo-controlled phase II study of vandetanib plus docetaxel in previously treated non small-cell lung cancer. J Clin Oncol 25(27):4270-4277, 2007. PMID: 17878479.
Beaudry P, Force J, Naumov GN, Wang A, Baker CH, Ryan A, Soker S, Johnson BE, Folkman J, Heymach JV. Differential effects of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 inhibitor ZD6474 on circulating endothelial progenitors and mature circulating endothelial cells: implications for use as a surrogate marker of antiangiogenic activity. Clin Cancer Res 11(9):3514-3522, 2005. PMID: 15867254.
Heymach JV, Desai J, Manola J, Davis DW, McConkey DJ, Harmon D, Ryan DP, Goss G, Quigley T, Van den Abbeele AD, Silverman SG, Connors S, Folkman J, Fletcher CD, Demetri GD. Phase II study of the antiangiogenic agent SU5416 in patients with advanced soft tissue sarcomas. Clin Cancer Res 10(17):5732-5740, 2004. PMID: 15355900.
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Grant & Contract Support

Title:	Molecular Signatures for Individualizing Lung Cancer Therapy - University of Texas SPORE in Lung Cancer
Funding Source:	NIH/NCI
Role:	Principal Investigator

Title:	Targeting KRAS Mutant Lung Cancers
Funding Source:	AACR Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C)
Role:	Sub PI/Leader

Title:	Overcoming Resistance to Anti-EGFR Therapy by Drug Repurposing
Funding Source:	NIH/NCI
Role:	Principal Investigator

Title:	Therapeutic approaches for LKB1-deficient non-small cell lung cancer
Funding Source:	NIH/NCI
Role:	Principal Investigator

Title:	Cancer Center Support Grant
Funding Source:	NIH/NCI
Role:	Leader, Lung Cancer Program

Title:	Novel therapeutic approaches for enhancing anti-tumor immunity in SCLC
Funding Source:	NIH/NCI
Role:	Co-Principal Investigator

Title:	The Role of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Re-Wiring KRAS Mutant Lung Cancer
Funding Source:	NIH/NCI
Role:	Co-Investigator

Title:	Molecular Features Impacting Drug Resistance in Atypical Acquired EGFR Exon 18 and Exon 20 Mutant NSCLC and the Development of Novel Mutant-Selective Inhibitors
Funding Source:	Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT)
Role:	Principal Investigator

Title:	Developing therapeutic strategies to enhance the effects of immune checkpoint inhibitors in KRAS mutant cancers harboring a concomitant LKB1 mutation
Funding Source:	MSKCC/The Mark Foundation
Role:	Site Principal Investigator

Title:	Targeting selective vulnerabilities in energetic, proteotoxic and oxidative stress in LKB1-deficient KRAS mutant tumors
Funding Source:	Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT)
Role:	Project Leader

Title:	Therapeutic strategies against EGFR exon 20 mutant lung cancer
Funding Source:	NIH/NCI
Role:	Principal Investigator

Title:	Molecular features impacting drug resistance in atypical EGFR exon 18 and exon 20 mutant non-small cell lung cancer and the Development of Novel Mutant-Selective Inhibitors
Funding Source:	NIH/NCI
Role:	Principal Investigator

Title:	Investigation of CD70 targeting as a novel strategy to overcome EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor-resistant non-small cell lung cancer
Funding Source:	Emerson Collective
Role:	Principal Investigator

Title:	Immunogenomic and Microbiota Evolution from Premalignancy to Lung Cancer
Funding Source:	AACR Johnson & Johnson Lung Cancer
Role:	Co-Investigator

Title:	The molecular and immune evolution in the progression of lung neoplasia to invasive adenocarcinoma
Funding Source:	NIH/NCI
Role:	Co-Investigator

Title:	Ziopharm SIV Alliance Research and Development Agreement
Funding Source:	Ziopharm
Role:	Principal Investigator

Title:	Bristol-Myers Squibb Strategic Collaboration Agreement Lung Cancer LONESTAR Randomized phase III trial of local consolidation therapy (LCT) after nivolumab and ipilimumab for immunotherapy-naïve patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer
Funding Source:	Bristol-Myers Squibb
Role:	Principal Investigator

Title:	Pharmacokinetic and in vivo studies for HER2 and other genomically-defined subgroups of NSCLC
Funding Source:	Spectrum Pharmaceuticals
Role:	Principal Investigator

Title:	Molecular and immunological heterogeneity of Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC) and its impact on relapse and therapeutic response
Funding Source:	NIH/NCI
Role:	Principal Investigator