Tina Cascone, M.D., Ph.D.
Department of Thoracic-Head & Neck Med Onc, Division of Cancer Medicine
In the News
Pre- and post-surgical immunotherapy improves outcomes for patients with operable lung cancer
Dual immunotherapy plus chemotherapy before surgery improves patient outcomes in operable lung cancer
Combination immunotherapy treatment effective before lung cancer surgery
Neoadjuvant combination immunotherapy improves outcomes for early stage non-small cell lung cancer
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Associate Professor, Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Research Interests
Dr. Cascone leads a basic laboratory and a translational research program that focuses on studying tumor and immune-mediated mechanisms of response and resistance to immunotherapy, identifying predictive biomarkers of therapeutic response in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and discovering novel therapeutic targets and strategies to prevent tumor recurrence and augment the efficacy of immune-based therapies in the neoadjuvant and perioperative settings for early-stage NSCLC.
Dr. Cascone also serves as Principal Investigator on clinical trials evaluating neoadjuvant and perioperative immunotherapies for patients with operable non-small cell lung cancer, including the NEOSTAR, NeoCOAST, NeoCOAST-2, and CheckMate-77T studies. Her research program is supported by multiple peer-reviewed grants and awards, including an NIH/NCI MPI R01 and the Lung SPORE, a Mark Foundation Endeavor Award, the Lung Cancer Moon Shot Program and a Sabin Family Foundation Award. She uses information generated from preclinical models and patient-derived samples to identify predictive biomarkers of response and to develop novel therapeutic strategies. Dr. Cascone is a graduate of the MD Anderson Physician Scientist Program and a past recipient of an ASCO Career Development Award and an ASCI Young Physician Scientist Award. She has published widely in leading journals, including Journal of Clinical Investigation, Cell Metabolism, Cancer Discovery and Nature Medicine.
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2012 | School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli (former Second University of Naples), Naples, ITA, PHD, Medical and Surgical Oncology and Clinical Immunology |
| 2004 | School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli (former Second University of Naples), Naples, ITA, MD, Medicine |
Postgraduate Training
| 2014-2017 | Clinical Fellowship, Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX |
| 2013-2014 | Clinical Residency, Internal Medicine, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO |
| 2012-2013 | Clinical Internship, Internal Medicine, Barens-Jewish Hospital, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO |
| 2007-2012 | Research Fellowship, Thoracic/ Head and Neck Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX |
| 2004-2008 | Clinical Fellowship, Oncology, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Naples |
Board Certifications
| 2017 | American Board Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology |
| 2015 | American Board Internal Medicine, Internal Medicine |
| 2011 | Educational Commission for Foreigner Medical Graduates (ECFMG) Certification |
| 2005 | Italian Board of Medicine |
Experience & Service
Academic Appointments
Regular Faculty Member, Department of Immunology Program, Division of Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2019 - Present
Regular Faculty Member, Department of Cancer Biology Program, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2019 - Present
Assistant Professor, Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2018 - 2023
Instructor, Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2017 - 2018
Honors & Awards
| 2022 | MD Anderson Core Values Project: Core value Discovery statement selected for campus exhibition, The University at MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2021 | Young Physician Scientist Award, American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI) |
| 2021 | Research Excellence in Science, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2020 | Hope Award, Rexanna's Foundation for Fighting Lung Cancer |
| 2019 | Moon Shots Lung Cancer Program, GEMINI, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2018 | Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO Career Development Award |
| 2018 | Physician Scientist Program, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2018 | NIH/NCI Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) New Faculty Award, NIH |
| 2018 | Lung SPORE Workshop - Dallas TX |
| 2018 | Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) Integrated Transnational Science Center Workshop |
| 2018 | Khalifa Scholar and Fellows Award, The Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for the Personalized Cancer Therapy's Center for Professional Education and Training |
| 2018 | UT System Rising STARs Award, The University of Texas System |
| 2017 | The Jeffrey Le Cousins Fellowship for Lung Cancer Research. Clinical Fellow Award, The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2017 | Trainee Research Day, First Place Winner Oral Competition, Clinical Research, The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2017 | The Waun Ki Hong Award for Achievement in Basic Science Research, Division of Cancer Medicine, Hematology/Oncology Program, The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2017 | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Advanced Scholar Program |
| 2016 | Immuno-Oncology Young Investigators' Forum-First Place Award Winner in the Category of Clinical Fellow Presentations |
| 2016 | Lindon B. Johnson Hospital, 2nd Year Fellow of the Year Award. Hematology/ Oncology Fellowship, The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2016 | ASCO Merit Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology |
| 2016 | Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO Young Investigator Award |
| 2016 | AAAS/Science Program for Excellence in Science, Oncology Fellow-Sponsored Membership |
| 2016 | AACR Molecular Biology in Clinical Oncology Workshop - Aspen CO, American Association of Cancer Research |
| 2015 | Clifton Dr. Howe for Clinical Excellence. Hematology/Oncology Fellowship, The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2015 | T32 NIH Training Grant Fellow, The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2014 | Outpatient Resident Award, PGY2. Internal Medicine, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Washington University School of Medicine, in St Louis MO |
| 2012 | Travel and Merit Award, Oral and Poster presentation, The 14th Symposium on Anti-Angiogenic Therapy |
| 2012 | Postdoctoral Fellow Award, The A. Lavoy Moore Endowment Fund, The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2010 | Bristol-Myers Squibb Oncology Scholar in Training Award, Poster Presentation 101st AACR Annual Meeting, American Association for Cancer Research |
| 2009 | Aflac-Incorporated Scholar in Training Award, Oral Presentation 100th AACR Annual Meeting, American Association for Cancer Research |
| 2003 | Merit Award, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli (former Second University of Naples) |
| 2003 | Travel Award. Fifth Year Medical Student, International Federation of Medical Students Association. Exchange Program. Onkologiska Kliniken Norrlands Univerersitetssjukhus, Umea, Sweden |
| 2000 | Merit Award, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli (former Second University of Naples) |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Cascone, T, Leung CH, Weissferdt A, Pataer A, Carter BW, Godoy MCB, Feldman H, William WN, Xi Y, Basu S, Sun JJ, Yadav SS, Rojas Alvarez FR, Lee Y, Mishra AK, Chen L, Pradhan M, Guo H, Sinjab A, Zhou N, Negrao MV, Le X, Gay CM, Tsao AS, Byers LA, Altan M, Glisson BS, Fossella FV, Elamin YY, Blumenschein G, Zhang J, Skoulidis F, Wu J, Mehran RJ, Rice DC, Walsh GL, Hofstetter WL, Rajaram R, Antonoff MB, Fujimoto J, Solis LM, Parra ER, Haymaker C, Wistuba II, Swisher SG, Vaporciyan AA, Lin HY, Wang J, Gibbons DL, Jack Lee J, Ajami NJ, Wargo JA, Allison JP, Sharma P, Kadara H, Heymach JV, Sepesi B. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus nivolumab with or without ipilimumab in operable non-small cell lung cancer: the phase 2 platform NEOSTAR trial. Nat Med 29(3):593-604, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 36928818.
- Sepesi B, Zhou N, William WN, Lin HY, Leung CH, Weissferdt A, Mitchell KG, Pataer A, Walsh GL, Rice DC, Roth JA, Mehran RJ, Hofstetter WL, Antonoff MB, Rajaram R, Negrao MV, Tsao AS, Gibbons DL, Lee JJ, Heymach JV, Vaporciyan AA, Swisher SG, Cascone T. Surgical outcomes after nivolumab or nivolumab with ipilimumab treatment in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 164(5):1327-1337, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35190177.
- Rocha P, Zhang J, Laza-Briviesca R, Cruz-Bermúdez A, Bota-Rabassedas N, Sanchez-Espiridon B, Yoshimura K, Behrens C, Lu W, Tang X, Pataer A, Parra ER, Haymaker C, Fujimoto J, Swisher SG, Heymach JV, Gibbons DL, Lee JJ, Sepesi B, |BCascone T , Solis LM, Provencio M, Wistuba II, Kadara H. Distinct Immune Gene Programs Associated with Host Tumor Immunity, Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy, and Chemoimmunotherapy in Resectable NSCLC. Clin Cancer Res 28(11):2461-2473, 2022. PMID: 35394499.
- Burton EM, Amaria RN, Cascone T, Chalabi M, Gross ND, Mittendorf EA, Scolyer RA, Sharma P, Ascierto PA. Neoadjuvant immunotherapy across cancers: meeting report from the Immunotherapy Bridge-December 1st-2nd, 2021. J Transl Med 20(1):271, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35706041.
- Schmidt ST, Akhave N, Knightly RE, Reuben A, Vokes N, Zhang J, Li J, Fujimoto J, Byers LA, Sanchez-Espiridion B, Diao L, Wang J, Federico L, Forget MA, McGrail DJ, Weissferdt A, Lin SY, Lee Y, Suzuki E, Kovacs JJ, Behrens C, Wistuba II, Futreal A, Vaporciyan AA, Sepesi B, Heymach JV, Bernatchez C, Haymaker C, Cascone T, Zhang J, Bristow CA, Heffernan TP, Negrao MV, Gibbons, DL, and the ICON team. A shared nearest neighbors approach and interactive browser for network analysis of a comprehensive non-small cell lung cancer dataset, 2022.
- Cascone T, Chelvanambi M, Wargo JA. Immunotherapy response-associated Akkermansia: canary in a coal mine?. Trends Immunol 43(5):337-339, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35397955.
- Kim ST, Chu Y, Misoi M, Suarez-Almazor ME, Tayar JH, Lu H, Buni M, Kramer J, Rodriguez E, Hussain Z, Neelapu SS, Wang J, Shah AY, Tannir NM, Campbell MT, Gibbons DL, Cascone T, Lu C, Blumenschein GR, Altan M, Lim B, Valero V, Loghin ME, Tu J, Westin SN, Naing A, Garcia-Manero G, Abdel-Wahab N, Tawbi HA, Hwu P, Oliva ICG, Davies MA, Patel SP, Zou J, Futreal A, Diab A, Wang L, Nurieva R. Distinct molecular and immune hallmarks of inflammatory arthritis induced by immune checkpoint inhibitors for cancer therapy. Nat Commun 13(1):1970, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35413951.
- Mittendorf EA, Burgers F, Haanen J, Cascone T b||. Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy: Leveraging the Immune System to Treat Early-Stage Disease. Am Soc Clin Oncol Educ Book 42:1-15, 2022. PMID: 35714302.
- Deboever N, McGrail DJ, Lee Y, Tran HT, Mitchell KG, Antonoff MB, Hofstetter WL, Mehran RJ, Rice DC, Roth JA, Swisher SG, Vaporciyan AA, Walsh GL, Bernatchez C, Vailati Negrao M, Zhang J, Wistuba II, Heymach JV, Cascone T, Gibbons DL, Haymaker CL, Sepesi B. Surgical approach does not influence changes in circulating immune cell populations following lung cancer resection. Lung Cancer 164:69-75, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35038676.
- Shah P, Forget MA, Frank ML, Jiang P, Sakellariou-Thompson D, Federico L, Khairullah R, Neutzler CA, Wistuba I, Chow CB, Long Y, Fujimoto J, Lin SY, Maitra A, Negrao MV, Mitchell KG, Weissferdt A, Vaporciyan AA, Cascone T, Roth JA, Zhang J, Sepesi B, Gibbons DL, Heymach JV, Haymaker CL, McGrail DJ, Reuben A, Bernatchez C. Combined IL-2, agonistic CD3 and 4-1BB stimulation preserve clonotype hierarchy in propagated non-small cell lung cancer tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. J Immunother Cancer 10(2), 2022. PMID: 35110355.
- Deboever N, Mitchell KG, Feldman HA, Cascone T, Sepesi B. Current Surgical Indications for Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer. Cancers (Basel) 14(5), 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35267572.
- Patel SA, Herynk MH, Cascone T, Saigal B, Nilsson MB, Tran H, Ramachandran S, Diao L, Wang J, Le X, Minna J, Wistuba II, Heymach JV. Estrogen Promotes Resistance to Bevacizumab in Murine Models of NSCLC. J Thorac Oncol 16(12):2051-2064, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34311109.
- Gudikote JP, Cascone T , Poteete A, Sitthideatphaiboon P, Wu Q, Morikawa N, Zhang F, Peng S, Tong P, Li L, Shen L, Nilsson M, Jones P, Sulman EP, Wang J, Bourdon JC, Johnson FM, Heymach JV. Inhibition of nonsense-mediated decay rescues p53β/γ isoform expression and activates the p53 pathway in MDM2-overexpressing and select p53-mutant cancers. J Biol Chem 297(5):101163, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34481841.
- Sinjab A, Han G, Treekitkarnmongkol W, Hara K, Brennan PM, Dang M, Hao D, Wang R, Dai E, Dejima H, Zhang J, Bogatenkova E, Sanchez-Espiridion B, Chang K, Little DR, Bazzi S, Tran LM, Krysan K, Behrens C, Duose DY, Parra ER, Raso MG, Solis LM, Fukuoka J, Zhang J, Sepesi B, Cascone T , Byers LA, Gibbons DL, Chen J, Moghaddam SJ, Ostrin EJ, Rosen D, Heymach JV, Scheet P, Dubinett SM, Fujimoto J, Wistuba II, Stevenson CS, Spira A, Wang L, Kadara H. Resolving the spatial and cellular architecture of lung adenocarcinoma by multiregion single-cell sequencing. Cancer Discov 11(10):2506-2523, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33972311.
- Federico L, McGrail DJ, Bentebibel SE, Haymaker C, Ravelli A, Forget MA, Karpinets T, Jiang P, Reuben A, Negrao MV, Li J, Khairullah R, Zhang J, Weissferdt A, Vaporciyan AA, Antonoff MB, Walsh G, Lin SY, Futreal A, Wistuba I, Roth J, Byers LA, Gaudreau PO, Uraoka N, Cruz AF, Dejima H, Lazcano RN, Solis LM, Parra ER, Lee JJ, Swisher S, Cascone T, Heymach JV, Zhang J, Sepesi B, Gibbons DL, Bernatchez C. Distinct tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte landscapes are associated with clinical outcomes in localized non-small-cell lung cancer. Ann Oncol. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34653632.
- Chaft JE, Rimner A, Weder W, Azzoli CG, Kris MG, Cascone T||B. Evolution of systemic therapy for stages I-III non-metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 18(9):547-557, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33911215.
- Shu CA, Cascone T. What Is Neo? Chemoimmunotherapy in the Neoadjuvant Setting for Resectable Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer. J Clin Oncol 39(26):2855-2858, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34339287.
- Pataer A, Weissferdt A, Vaporciyan AA, Correa AM, Sepesi B, Wistuba II, Heymach JV, Cascone T, Swisher SG. Evaluation of Pathologic Response in Lymph Nodes of Lung Cancer Patients Receiving Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy. J Thorac Oncol 16(8):1289-1297, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33857666.
- Negrao MV, Skoulidis F, Montesion M, Schulze K, Bara I, Shen V, Xu H, Hu S, Sui D, Elamin YY, Le X, Goldberg ME, Murugesan K, Wu CJ, Zhang J, Barreto DS, Robichaux JP, Reuben A, Cascone T, Gay CM, Mitchell KG, Hong L, Rinsurongkawong W, Roth JA, Swisher SG, Lee J, Tsao A, Papadimitrakopoulou V, Gibbons DL, Glisson BS, Singal G, Miller VA, Alexander B, Frampton G, Albacker LA, Shames D, Zhang J, Heymach JV. Oncogene-specific differences in tumor mutational burden, PD-L1 expression, and outcomes from immunotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer. J Immunother Cancer 9(8), 2021. PMID: 34376553.
- Cascone T, Weissferdt A, Godoy MCB, William WN, Leung CH, Lin HY, Basu S, Yadav SS, Pataer A, Mitchell KG, Khan MAW, Shi Y, Haymaker C, Solis LM, Parra ER, Kadara H, Wistuba II, Sharma P, Allison JP, Ajami NJ, Wargo JA, Jenq RR, Gibbons DL, Lee JJ, Swisher SG, Vaporciyan AA, Heymach JV, Sepesi B. Nodal immune flare mimics nodal disease progression following neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitors in non-small cell lung cancer. Nat Commun 12(1):5045, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34413300.
- Rocha P, Salazar R, Zhang J, Ledesma D, Solorzano JL, Mino B, Villalobos P, Dejima H, Douse DY, Diao L, Mitchell KG, Le X, Zhang J, Weissferdt A, Parra-Cuentas E, Cascone T, Rice DC, Sepesi B, Kalhor N, Moran C, Vaporciyan A, Heymach J, Gibbons DL, Lee JJ, Kadara H, Wistuba I, Behrens C, Solis LM. CD73 expression defines immune, molecular, and clinicopathological subgroups of lung adenocarcinoma. Cancer Immunol Immunother 70(7):1965-1976, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33416944.
- Sepesi B, Cascone T. Will radiotherapy be a future part of neoadjuvant therapy in operable non-small-cell lung cancer?. Lancet Oncol 22(6):744-746, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34015310.
- Subbiah V, Shen T, Tetzlaff M, Weissferdt A, Byers LA, Cascone T, Behrang A, Meric-Bernstam F, Mooers BHM, Rothenberg SM, Ebata K, Wu J. Patient-driven discovery and post-clinical validation of NTRK3 fusion as an acquired resistance mechanism to selpercatinib in RET fusion-positive lung cancer. Ann Oncol 32(6):817-819, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33617938.
- Weissferdt A, Pataer A, Swisher SG, Heymach JV, Gibbons DL, Cascone T, Sepesi B. Controversies and challenges in the pathologic examination of lung resection specimens after neoadjuvant treatment. Lung Cancer 154:76-83, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33631448.
- Cascone T, Sacks RL, Subbiah IM, Drobnitzky N, Piha-Paul SA, Hong DS, Hess KR, Amini B, Bhatt T, Fu S, Naing A, Janku F, Karp D, Falchook GS, Conley AP, Sherman SI, Meric-Bernstam F, Ryan AJ, Heymach JV, Subbiah V. Safety and activity of vandetanib in combination with everolimus in patients with advanced solid tumors: a phase I study. ESMO Open 6(2):100079, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33721621.
- 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 Naive- and Drug-Resistant EGFR-Mutant NSCLC: Implications for a Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-Dependent Phenotype. J Thorac Oncol 16(3):439-451, 2021. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33309987.
- Cascone T, William WN, Weissferdt A, Leung CH, Lin HY, Pataer A, Godoy MCB, Carter BW, Federico L, Reuben A, Khan MAW, Dejima H, Francisco-Cruz A, Parra ER, Solis LM, Fujimoto J, Tran HT, Kalhor N, Fossella FV, Mott FE, Tsao AS, Blumenschein G, Le X, Zhang J, Skoulidis F, Kurie JM, Altan M, Lu C, Glisson BS, Byers LA, Elamin YY, Mehran RJ, Rice DC, Walsh GL, Hofstetter WL, Roth JA, Antonoff MB, Kadara H, Haymaker C, Bernatchez C, Ajami NJ, Jenq RR, Sharma P, Allison JP, Futreal A, Wargo JA, Wistuba II, Swisher SG, Lee JJ, Gibbons DL, Vaporciyan AA, Heymach JV, Sepesi B. Neoadjuvant nivolumab or nivolumab plus ipilimumab in operable non-small cell lung cancer: the phase 2 randomized NEOSTAR trial. Nat Med 27(3):504-514, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33603241.
- Han G, Sinjab A, Hara K, Treekitkarnmongkol W, Brennan P, Chang K, Bogatenkova E, Sanchez-Espiridion B, Behrens C, Solis LM, Gao B, Girard L, Zhang J, Sepesi B,Cascone T, Byers LA, Gibbons DL, Chen J, Moghaddam SJ, Ostrin EJ, Scheet P, Fujimoto J, Shay J, Heymach JV, Minna JD, Dubinett S, Wistuba II, Stevenson CS, Spira AE, Wang L, Kadara H. Single-Cell Expression Landscape of SARS-CoV-2 Receptor ACE2 and Host Proteases in Normal and Malignant Lung Tissues from Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma Patients. Cancers (Basel) 13(6), 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33809063.
- Corsini EM, Weissferdt A, Pataer A, Zhou N, Antonoff MB, Hofstetter WL, Mehran RJ, Rajaram R, Rice DC, Roth JA, Vaporciyan AA, Walsh GL, Cascone T, Heymach JV, Swisher SG, Sepesi B. Pathological nodal disease defines survival outcomes in patients with lung cancer with tumour major pathological response following neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 59(1):100-108, 2021. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32864702.
- Gaudreau PO, Negrao MV, Mitchell KG, Reuben A, Corsini EM, Li J, Karpinets TV, Wang Q, Diao L, Wang J, Federico L, Parra-Cuentas ER, Khairullah R, Behrens C, Correa AM, Gomez D, Little L, Gumbs C, Kadara HN, Fujimoto J, McGrail DJ, Vaporciyan AA, Swisher SG, Walsh G, Antonoff MB, Weissferdt A, Tran H, Roarty E, Haymaker C, Bernatchez C, Zhang J, Futreal PA, Wistuba II, Cascone T, Heymach JV, Sepesi B, Zhang J, Gibbons DL. Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Increases Cytotoxic T Cell, Tissue Resident Memory T Cell, and B Cell Infiltration in Resectable NSCLC. J Thorac Oncol 16(1):127-139, 2021. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33096269.
- Pradhan M, Chocry M, Gibbons DL, Sepesi B, Cascone T. Emerging biomarkers for neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitors in operable non-small cell lung cancer. Transl Lung Cancer Res 10(1):590-606, 2021. PMID: 33569339.
- Sepesi B, Cascone T, Chun SG, Altan M, Le X. Emerging Therapies in Thoracic Malignancies-Immunotherapy, Targeted Therapy, and T-Cell Therapy in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Surg Oncol Clin N Am 29(4):555-569, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32883458.
- Hong L, Negrao MV, Dibaj SS, Chen R, Reuben A, Bohac JM, Liu X, Skoulidis F, Gay CM, Cascone T, Mitchell KG, Tran HT, Le X, Byers LA, Sepesi B, Altan M, Elamin YY, Fossella FV, Kurie JM, Lu C, Mott FE, Tsao AS, Rinsurongkawong W, Lewis J, Gibbons DL, Glisson BS, Blumenschein GR, Roarty EB, Futreal PA, Wistuba II, Roth JA, Swisher SG, Papadimitrakopoulou VA, Heymach JV, Lee JJ, Simon GR, Zhang J. Programmed Death-Ligand 1 Heterogeneity and Its Impact on Benefit From Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in NSCLC. J Thorac Oncol 15(9):1449-1459, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32389639.
- Mitchell KG, Amini B, Wang Y, Carter BW, Godoy MCB, Parra ER, Behrens C, Villalobos P, Reuben A, Lee JJ, Weissferdt A, Moran CA, Fujimoto J, Sepesi B, Walsh GL, Vaporciyan AA, Hofstetter WL, William WN, Gibbons DL, Wang J, Hwu P, Swisher SG, Piwnica-Worms D, Kadara H, Wistuba II, Heymach JV, Peng W, Cascone T. 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography correlates with tumor immunometabolic phenotypes in resected lung cancer. Cancer Immunol Immunother 69(8):1519-1534, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32300858.
- Corsini EM, Wang Q, Tran HT, Mitchell KG, Antonoff MB, Hofstetter WL, Mehran RJ, Rice DC, Roth JA, Swisher SG, Vaporciyan AA, Walsh GL, Reuben A, Vasquez ME, Bernatchez C, Wang J, Cascone T, Zhang J, Heymach JV, Gibbons DL, Haymaker CL, Sepesi B. Peripheral cytokines are not influenced by the type of surgical approach for non-small cell lung cancer by four weeks postoperatively. Lung Cancer 146:303-309, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32619781.
- Rajaram R, Correa AM, Xu T, Nguyen QN, Antonoff MB, Rice D, Mehran R, Roth J, Walsh G, Swisher S, Hofstetter WL, Vaporciyan A,Cascone T, Tsao AS, Papadimitrakopoulou VA, Gandhi S, Liao Z, Sepesi B. Locoregional Control, Overall Survival, and Disease-Free Survival in Stage IIIA (N2) Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: Analysis of Resected and Unresected Patients. Clin Lung Cancer 21(4):e294-e301, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32089476.
- Weissferdt A, Pataer A, Vaporciyan AA, Correa AM, Sepesi B, Moran CA, Wistuba II, Roth JA, Shewale JB, Heymach JV, Kalhor N, Cascone T, Hofstetter WL, Lee JJ, Swisher SG. Agreement on Major Pathological Response in NSCLC Patients Receiving Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy. Clin Lung Cancer 21(4):341-348, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32279936.
- 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.
- Travis WD, Dacic S, Wistuba I, Sholl L, Adusumilli P, Bubendorf L, Bunn P, Cascone T, Chaft J, Chen G, Chou TY, Cooper W, Erasmus JJ, Ferreira CG, Goo JM, Heymach J, Hirsch FR, Horinouchi H, Kerr K, Kris M, Jain D, Kim YT, Lopez-Rios F, Lu S, Mitsudomi T, Moreira A, Motoi N, Nicholson AG, Oliveira R, Papotti M, Pastorino U, Paz-Ares L, Pelosi G, Poleri C, Provencio M, Roden AC, Scagliotti G, Swisher SG, Thunnissen E, Tsao MS, Vansteenkiste J, Weder W, Yatabe Y. IASLC MULTIDISCIPLINARY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PATHOLOGIC ASSESSMENT OF LUNG CANCER RESECTION SPECIMENS FOLLOWING NEOADJUVANT THERAPY. J Thorac Oncol 15(5):709-740, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32004713.
- Sepesi B, Cascone T. Commentary: Neoadjuvant checkpoint inhibitors in resectable non-small cell lung cancer-Ready for prime time?. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 159(4):1624-1625, 2020. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31648835.
- Mitchell KG, Diao L, Karpinets T, Negrao MV, Tran HT, Parra ER, Corsini EM, Reuben A, Federico L, Bernatchez C, Dejima H, Francisco-Cruz A, Wang J, Antonoff MB, Vaporciyan AA, Swisher SG, Cascone T, Wistuba II, Heymach JV, Gibbons DL, Zhang J, Haymaker CL, Sepesi B. Neutrophil expansion defines an immunoinhibitory peripheral and intratumoral inflammatory milieu in resected non-small cell lung cancer: a descriptive analysis of a prospectively immunoprofiled cohort. J Immunother Cancer 8(1), 2020. PMID: 32350118.
- Mitchell KG, Negrao MV, Parra ER, Li J, Zhang J, Dejima H, Vaporciyan AA, Swisher SG, Weissferdt A, Antonoff MB, Cascone T. Roarty E, Wistuba II, Heymach JV, Gibbons DL, Zhang J, Sepesi B. Lymphovascular Invasion Is Associated with Mutational Burden and PD-L1 in Resected Lung Cancer. Ann Thorac Surg 109(2):358-366, 2020. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31550464.
- 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.
- Simon G, DiNardo CD, Takahashi K, Cascone T, Powers C, Stevens R, Allen J, Antonoff MB, Gomez D, Keane P, Suarez Saiz F, Nguyen Q, Roarty E, Pierce S, Zhang J, Hardeman Barnhill E, Lakhani K, Shaw K, Smith B, Swisher S, High R, Futreal PA, Heymach J, Chin L. Applying Artificial Intelligence to Address the Knowledge Gaps in Cancer Care. Oncologist 24(6):772-782, 2019. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30446581.
- 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.
- Lee WC, Diao L, Wang J, Zhang J, Roarty EB, Varghese S, Chow CW, Fujimoto J, Behrens C, Cascone T Peng W, Kalhor N, Moran CA, Weissferdt A, Johnson FM, William WN, Swisher SG, Lee JJ, Hong WK, Heymach JV, Wistuba II, Futreal PA, Zhang J. Multiregion gene expression profiling reveals heterogeneity in molecular subtypes and immunotherapy response signatures in lung cancer. Mod Pathol 31(6):947-955, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29410488.
- Parra ER, Villalobos P, Behrens C, Jiang M, Pataer A, Swisher SG, William WN, Zhang J, Lee J, Cascone T Heymach JV, Forget MA, Haymaker C, Bernatchez C, Kalhor N, Weissferdt A, Moran C, Zhang J, Vaporciyan A, Gibbons DL, Sepesi B, Wistuba II. Effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on the immune microenvironment in non-small cell lung carcinomas as determined by multiplex immunofluorescence and image analysis approaches. J Immunother Cancer 6(1):48, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29871672.
- Cascone T McKenzie JA, Mbofung RM, Punt S, Wang Z, Xu C, Williams LJ, Wang Z, Bristow CA, Carugo A, Peoples MD, Li L, Karpinets T, Huang L, Malu S, Creasy C, Leahey SE, Chen J, Chen Y, Pelicano H, Bernatchez C, Gopal YNV, Heffernan TP, Hu J, Wang J, Amaria RN, Garraway LA, Huang P, Yang P, Wistuba II, Woodman SE, Roszik J, Davis RE, Davies MA, Heymach JV, Hwu P, Peng W. Increased Tumor Glycolysis Characterizes Immune Resistance to Adoptive T Cell Therapy. Cell Metab 27(5):977-987.e4, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29628419.
- Cascone T Gold KA, Swisher SG, Liu DD, Fossella FV, Sepesi B, Pataer A, Weissferdt A, Kalhor N, Vaporciyan AA, Hofstetter WL, Wistuba II, Heymach JV, Kim ES, William WN. Induction Cisplatin Docetaxel Followed by Surgery and Erlotinib in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Ann Thorac Surg 105(2):418-424, 2018. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 29217088.
- Reuben A, Gittelman R, Gao J, Zhang J, Yusko EC, Wu CJ, Emerson R, Zhang J, Tipton C, Li J, Quek K, Gopalakrishnan V, Chen R, Vence LM, Cascone T Vignali M, Fujimoto J, Rodriguez-Canales J, Parra ER, Little LD, Gumbs C, Forget MA, Federico L, Haymaker C, Behrens C, Benzeno S, Bernatchez C, Sepesi B, Gibbons DL, Wargo JA, William WN, Swisher S, Heymach JV, Robins H, Lee JJ, Sharma P, Allison JP, Futreal PA, Wistuba II, Zhang J. TCR Repertoire Intratumor Heterogeneity in Localized Lung Adenocarcinomas: An Association with Predicted Neoantigen Heterogeneity and Postsurgical Recurrence. Cancer Discov 7(10):1088-1097, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28733428.
- 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.
- Peng W, Chen JQ, Liu C, Malu S, Creasy C, Tetzlaff MT, Xu C, McKenzie JA, Zhang C, Liang X, Williams LJ, Deng W, Chen G, Mbofung R, Lazar AJ, Torres-Cabala CA, Cooper ZA, Chen PL, Tieu TN, Spranger S, Yu X, Bernatchez C, Forget MA, Haymaker C, Amaria R, McQuade JL, Glitza IC, Cascone T Li HS, Kwong LN, Heffernan TP, Hu J, Bassett RL, Bosenberg MW, Woodman SE, Overwijk WW, Lizée G, Roszik J, Gajewski TF, Wargo JA, Gershenwald JE, Radvanyi L, Davies MA, Hwu P. Loss of PTEN Promotes Resistance to T Cell-Mediated Immunotherapy. Cancer Discov 6(2):202-16, 2016. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26645196.
- Cascone T Heymach JV. Can the Lung Cancer Pie Be Divided into Angiogenic Slices?. Clin Cancer Res 21(23):5188-90, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26232370.
- 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):76-9, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25982012.
- Seguin L, Kato S, Franovic A, Camargo MF, Lesperance J, Elliott KC, Yebra M, Mielgo A, Lowy AM, Husain H, Cascone T Diao L, Wang J, Wistuba II, Heymach JV, Lippman SM, Desgrosellier JS, Anand S, Weis SM, Cheresh DA. An integrin β3-KRAS-RalB complex drives tumour stemness and resistance to EGFR inhibition. Nat Cell Biol 16(5):457-68, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 24747441.
- Mehran R, Nilsson M, Khajavi M, Du Z, Cascone T, Wu HK, Cortes A, Xu L, Zurita A, Schier R, Riedel B, El-Zein R, Heymach JV. Tumor endothelial markers define novel subsets of cancer-specific circulating endothelial cells associated with antitumor efficacy. Cancer Res 74(10):2731-41, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 24626092.
- Wagner KW, Alam H, Dhar SS, Giri U, Li N, Wei Y, Giri D, Cascone T Kim JH, Ye Y, Multani AS, Chan CH, Erez B, Saigal B, Chung J, Lin HK, Wu X, Hung MC, Heymach JV, Lee MG. KDM2A promotes lung tumorigenesis by epigenetically enhancing ERK1/2 signaling. J Clin Invest 123(12):5231-46, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24200691.
- Bhardwaj V, Cascone T Cortez MA, Amini A, Evans J, Komaki RU, Heymach JV, Welsh JW. Modulation of c-Met signaling and cellular sensitivity to radiation: potential implications for therapy. Cancer 119(10):1768-75, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23423860.
- Cascone T,Heymach JV. Targeting the angiopoietin/Tie2 pathway: cutting tumor vessels with a double-edged sword?. J Clin Oncol 30(4):441-4, 2012. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 22184396.
- 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):1313-28, 2011. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 21436589.
- 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):3484-94, 2009. e-Pub 2009. PMID: 19447865.
- Cascone T, Morelli MP, Morgillo F, Kim WY, Rodolico G, Pepe S, Tortora G, Berrino L, Lee HY, Heymach JV, Ciardiello F. Synergistic anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic activity of combined therapy with bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor, with anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) drugs in human cancer cells. J Cell Physiol 216(3):698-707, 2008. PMID: 18381602.
- Morelli MP, Cascone T, Troiani T, Tuccillo C, Bianco R, Normanno N, Romano M, Veneziani BM, Fontanini G, Eckhardt SG, De Pacido S, Tortora G, Ciardiello F. Anti-tumor activity of the combination of cetuximab, an anti-EGFR blocking monoclonal antibody and ZD6474, an inhibitor of VEGFR and EGFR tyrosine kinases. J Cell Physiol 208(2):344-53, 2006. PMID: 16688779.
- Morelli MP, Cascone T, Troiani T, De Vita F, Orditura M, Laus G, Eckhardt SG, Pepe S, Tortora G, Ciardiello F. Sequence-dependent antiproliferative effects of cytotoxic drugs and epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors. Ann Oncol 16 Suppl 4:iv61-68, 2005. PMID: 15923432.
Invited Articles
- Cascone T, Fradette J, Pradhan M, Gibbons DL. Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy of Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med 12(5), 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 34580079.
Book Chapters
- Heymach JV, Cascone T. Tumor Microenvironment, Angiogenesis Biology and Targeted Therapy. Lung Cancer. In: Wiley Online Library. 4th, 2014.
- Cascone T , Gold, KA, Glisson, BS. Small Cell Carcinoma of the Lung. In: The MD Anderson Manual of Medical Oncology. 4th, 2014.
- Heymach JV, Zurita-Saavedra A, Kopetz S, Cascone T Nilsson MB. Tumor Angiogenesis. In: Cancer Medicine, 2014.
Grant & Contract Support
| Title: | Neoadjuvant immune checkpoint blockade to enhance immune responses and improve clinical efficacy for the treatment of resectable NSCLC |
| Funding Source: | Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO Career Development Award |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) blockade to enhance the immunogenicity of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and augment the efficacy of immunotherapy |
| Funding Source: | Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO Young Investigator Award |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Neoadjuvant immunotherapy as a therapeutic strategy to prevent recurrence in resectable NSCLC |
| Funding Source: | Lung Spore Investigator Career Enhancement Program Award For Lung Cancer Translational Research |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Khalifa Scholar Award |
| Funding Source: | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Radioimmunogenomic Habitat Phenotypes to Predict Efficacy of Neoadjuvant Immunotherapies in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Co-Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Harnessing tertiary lymphoid structures for improved immunotherapeutic strategies in cancer patients |
| Funding Source: | The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research |
| Role: | Co-Principal Investigator |
| Title: | SPORE: Targeting Lung Cancer Vulnerabilities; Project 3: Targeting Vulnerabilities in the Fibrotic Extracellular Matrix (ECM) of Lung Cancers |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Co-Investigator |
| Title: | Efficacy and immune modulation of neo-adjuvant next generation anti-CTLA-4 agents in murine models of non-small cell lung cancer |
| Funding Source: | Bristol-Myers Squibb |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Interplay between host microbiome and immunomodulatory responses in the pathogenesis of Kras mutant lung cancer |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NCI |
| Role: | Co-Investigator |
| Title: | Targeting the CD24 antigen for early immune-based treatment of lung adenocarcinoma |
| Funding Source: | American Lung Association |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| Title: | New Faculty Award |
| Funding Source: | Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) Developmental Fund |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | |
| Funding Source: | SIV Alliance- Research and Development Agreement |
| Role: | Collaborator |
| Title: | Physician Scientist Program Award |
| Funding Source: | The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified August 30, 2024