Thuy Tran, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology)Cards
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About
Titles
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology)
Biography
Dr. Tran is an Assistant Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology) and cares for patients with melanoma and other advanced skin cancers at the Smilow Cancer Hospital in New Haven and in Smilow Guilford. She participated in the ABIM Physician-Scientist Research Pathway and completed both her internal medicine residency and hematology/oncology clinical fellowship at Yale. She received her MD and PhD degrees from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
Dr. Tran is actively engaged in translational research in melanoma brain metastases and developing novel therapeutics and drug combinations to improve responses in melanoma and overcome immune resistance. She has been funded through the Yale Cancer Center T32, the YCC K12 Calabresi Immuno-Oncology Training Program (IOTP), and the Skin Cancer SPORE career enhancement program. Dr. Tran is the principal investigator of several clinical trials in melanoma.
Appointments
Medical Oncology
Assistant ProfessorPrimary
Other Departments & Organizations
Education & Training
- Clinical Fellow
- Yale-New Haven Hospital (2019)
- Resident
- Yale-New Haven Hospital (2015)
- MD
- Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (2013)
- PhD
- Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology (2011)
- BS
- Emory University, Biology and French (2005)
Research
Overview
As a physician-scientist and clinical investigator, my hope is to be able to move bench research efficiency to the clinic. Most importantly, I want to learn from the patients and their experience to inform my studies. My ultimate goal is to improve immune treatment options and quality of life for patients with metastatic malignancies.
My research focuses on understanding and improving clinical targets to overcome resistance to immune therapy. We are actively engaged in studies related to macrophage migration inhibitor factor (MIF) in melanoma as well as understanding complications from brain metastatic disease. I have focused on addressing neurologic complications of brain metastases or its treatment by (1) identifying mediators of metastasis-associated edema that can be given concurrently to further improve brain-active systemic therapies and patient outcomes, (2) identifying key immune cells driving radiation necrosis after treatment with stereotactic radiosurgery, and (3) determining key brain tumor infiltrating immune cell subsets and evaluating their effect on patient response and survival.
Medical Research Interests
ORCID
0000-0002-6244-7575
Research at a Glance
Yale Co-Authors
Publications Timeline
Research Interests
Harriet Kluger, MD
Lucia Jilaveanu, MD, PhD
Veronica Chiang, MD, FAANS
Sarah Weiss, MD
Kelly Olino, MD, FACS
Mario Sznol, MD
Melanoma
Neoplasm Metastasis
Blood-Brain Barrier
Publications
2024
CD74 promotes the formation of an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in triple-negative breast cancer in mice by inducing the expansion of tolerogenic dendritic cells and regulatory B cells
Pellegrino B, David K, Rabani S, Lampert B, Tran T, Doherty E, Piecychna M, Meza-Romero R, Leng L, Hershkovitz D, Vandenbark A, Bucala R, Becker-Herman S, Shachar I. CD74 promotes the formation of an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in triple-negative breast cancer in mice by inducing the expansion of tolerogenic dendritic cells and regulatory B cells. PLOS Biology 2024, 22: e3002905. PMID: 39576827, PMCID: PMC11623796, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002905.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsTriple-negative breast cancerMacrophage migration inhibitory factorImmunosuppressive tumor microenvironmentTolerogenic dendritic cellsRegulatory B cellsChronic lymphocytic leukemiaTumor microenvironmentDendritic cellsImmune cellsB cellsBreast cancerInfiltration of immune cellsAggressive breast cancer subtypeMassive infiltration of immune cellsLevels of CD74Cytokine macrophage migration inhibitory factorBreast cancer subtypesMigration inhibitory factorBinding to CD74Naive BTol-DCsLymphocytic leukemiaTumor environmentMassive infiltrationCancer subtypesCauses of death and patterns of metastatic disease at the end of life for patients with advanced melanoma in the immunotherapy era
Lee D, McNamara M, Yang A, Yaskolko M, Kluger H, Tran T, Olino K, Clune J, Sznol M, Ishizuka J. Causes of death and patterns of metastatic disease at the end of life for patients with advanced melanoma in the immunotherapy era. Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research 2024, 37: 847-853. PMID: 39073002, DOI: 10.1111/pcmr.13188.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsSite of metastasisPattern of metastatic diseaseMelanoma mortalityRetrospective observational cohort studyCause of cancer mortalityDistant lymph nodesObservational cohort studyDiagnosis to deathImmunotherapy eraAdvanced melanomaMetastatic diagnosisMetastatic diseaseMetastatic melanomaImmunotherapy treatmentRespiratory failureCause of deathMedian timeLymph nodesTherapeutic advancesCohort studyMelanomaImmunotherapyMechanism of deathPatientsEnd of lifePrognostic and therapeutic insights into MIF, DDT, and CD74 in melanoma
Valdez C, Sánchez-Zuno G, Osmani L, Ibrahim W, Galan A, Bacchiocchi A, Halaban R, Kulkarni R, Kang I, Bucala R, Tran T. Prognostic and therapeutic insights into MIF, DDT, and CD74 in melanoma. Oncotarget 2024, 15: 507-520. PMID: 39028303, PMCID: PMC11259151, DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.28615.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMeSH Keywords and ConceptsMeSH KeywordsAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAntigens, Differentiation, B-LymphocyteBiomarkers, TumorFemaleHistocompatibility Antigens Class IIHumansImmune Checkpoint InhibitorsIntramolecular OxidoreductasesMacrophage Migration-Inhibitory FactorsMaleMelanomaMiddle AgedMutationPrognosisRetrospective StudiesSkin NeoplasmsConceptsMacrophage migration inhibitory factorImmune checkpoint inhibitionD-dopachrome tautomeraseExpression of macrophage migration inhibitory factorDrivers of tumor progressionInflammatory cell markersPatient tumor samplesPatient survival outcomesMigration inhibitory factorStatistically significant differenceCheckpoint inhibitionImmune therapyPrognostic valueSurvival outcomesResistant melanomaGene expressionImproved survivalRetrospective studyInflammatory markersTumor progressionCell markersTumor samplesClinical evidenceMelanomaBulk RNA sequencingPatterns of brain metastases response to immunotherapy with pembrolizumab
Mahajan A, Goldberg S, Weiss S, Tran T, Singh K, Joshi K, Aboian M, Kluger H, Chiang V. Patterns of brain metastases response to immunotherapy with pembrolizumab. Journal Of Neuro-Oncology 2024, 169: 555-561. PMID: 38963658, DOI: 10.1007/s11060-024-04754-8.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsNon-small cell lung cancerBrain metastasesComplete resolutionLung cancerMedian time to CNS progressionLesion progressionNon-small cell lung cancer patientsModified RECIST criteriaPD-1 inhibitorsTrial of pembrolizumabEffective systemic treatmentResponse to immunotherapyPhase II trialCell lung cancerMethodsThis retrospective studyLocal treatment decisionsPurposeCentral nervous systemCNS progressionRECIST criteriaPD-1Local therapySystemic treatmentMRI evaluationResponse assessmentRetrospective studyCauses of death and patterns of metastatic disease at the end of life for patients with advanced melanoma in the immunotherapy era.
Lee D, Yang A, McNamara M, Kluger H, Tran T, Olino K, Clune J, Sznol M, Ishizuka J. Causes of death and patterns of metastatic disease at the end of life for patients with advanced melanoma in the immunotherapy era. Journal Of Clinical Oncology 2024, 42: e21522-e21522. DOI: 10.1200/jco.2024.42.16_suppl.e21522.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsImmune checkpoint inhibitorsYale Cancer CenterAdvanced melanomaMetastatic diseaseMetastatic melanomaRespiratory failureSite of metastatic diseasePattern of metastatic diseaseDied of respiratory failureAnti-CTLA4 treatmentRetrospective observational cohort studyAnti-PD1 therapyDistant lymph nodesPatients aged >Site of diseaseSurvival of patientsObservational cohort studyMulti-system involvementDiagnosis to deathImmunotherapy eraAnti-PD1Checkpoint inhibitorsInstitutional review boardMetastatic sitesMetastatic diagnosisMIF and CD74 as Emerging Biomarkers for Immune Checkpoint Blockade Therapy
Fey R, Nichols R, Tran T, Vandenbark A, Kulkarni R. MIF and CD74 as Emerging Biomarkers for Immune Checkpoint Blockade Therapy. Cancers 2024, 16: 1773. PMID: 38730725, PMCID: PMC11082995, DOI: 10.3390/cancers16091773.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsImmune-related adverse eventsImmune-related adverse events developmentResponse to ICB therapyImmune checkpoint blockade therapyImmune checkpoint blockadePredictive biomarkersICB therapyCheckpoint blockade therapySerum MIF levelsBlockade therapyCheckpoint blockadeMIF levelsMalignant melanomaTreatment resistanceSolid tumorsAdverse eventsAutoimmune diseasesContext of cancerPrognostic biomarkerCancer progressionCognate receptor CD74Receptor CD74TherapyCD74CancerMacrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) and D-Dopachrome Tautomerase (DDT): Pathways to Tumorigenesis and Therapeutic Opportunities
Valdez C, Sánchez-Zuno G, Bucala R, Tran T. Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor (MIF) and D-Dopachrome Tautomerase (DDT): Pathways to Tumorigenesis and Therapeutic Opportunities. International Journal Of Molecular Sciences 2024, 25: 4849. PMID: 38732068, PMCID: PMC11084905, DOI: 10.3390/ijms25094849.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsInhibition of MIFResponse to infectionNon-canonical signaling pathwaysClinical studiesCancer patientsClinical trialsInflammatory cytokinesDriving tumorigenesisClinical explorationCancer typesCancerDual inhibitionTherapeutic targetIn vivoIn vitroSignaling pathwayMIFAntitumor candidateBinding partnersVascular mimicry as a facilitator of melanoma brain metastasis
Provance O, Oria V, Tran T, Caulfield J, Zito C, Aguirre-Ducler A, Schalper K, Kluger H, Jilaveanu L. Vascular mimicry as a facilitator of melanoma brain metastasis. Cellular And Molecular Life Sciences 2024, 81: 188. PMID: 38635031, PMCID: PMC11026261, DOI: 10.1007/s00018-024-05217-z.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsVascular mimicryBrain metastasesMouse model of metastatic melanomaIncreased risk of metastasisAssociated with tumor volumeMelanoma brain metastasesRisk of metastasisSurvival of miceFuture treatment regimensCell line modelsTumor suppressor pathwayMetastatic melanomaTumor volumeSolid tumorsTreatment regimensTumor typesPoor prognosisHippo tumor suppressor pathwayIncreased riskMouse modelDownstream targets YAPMelanomaMetastasisSuppressor pathwayTumorImmunotherapy Initiation at the End of Life in Patients With Metastatic Cancer in the US
Kerekes D, Frey A, Prsic E, Tran T, Clune J, Sznol M, Kluger H, Forman H, Becher R, Olino K, Khan S. Immunotherapy Initiation at the End of Life in Patients With Metastatic Cancer in the US. JAMA Oncology 2024, 10: 342-351. PMID: 38175659, PMCID: PMC10767643, DOI: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2023.6025.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsNon-small cell lung cancerEnd of lifeMonth of deathImmunotherapy initiationCohort studyMAIN OUTCOMEStage IV non-small cell lung cancerCharlson-Deyo comorbidity indexHigh metastatic burdenInitiation of immunotherapyNational prescribing patternsRisk-adjusted patientsImmune checkpoint inhibitorsRetrospective cohort studyStage IV melanomaPercentage of patientsHigh-volume centersLocation of metastasesLow-volume centersOdds of deathCell lung cancerNational Clinical DatabaseLow-volume facilitiesDrug Administration approvalCheckpoint inhibitorsImmunotherapy utilization in stage IIIA melanoma: less may be more
Frey A, Kerekes D, Khan S, Tran T, Kluger H, Clune J, Ariyan S, Sznol M, Ishizuka J, Olino K. Immunotherapy utilization in stage IIIA melanoma: less may be more. Frontiers In Oncology 2024, 14: 1336441. PMID: 38380358, PMCID: PMC10876869, DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1336441.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsStage IIIA melanomaHigh-volume centersRisk-adjusted survivalLow-volume centersImmunotherapy utilizationAdjuvant immunotherapyStage IIIATreatment of stage III melanomaAcademic centersMultivariable Cox proportional hazards regressionStage III melanomaNational Cancer DatabaseStage III diseaseFactors associated with receiptCox proportional hazards regressionCompare patient outcomesProportional hazards regressionIII melanomaImmunotherapy receiptReceiving immunotherapyIII diseaseImmunotherapy agentsOverall survivalSurvival benefitAdjuvant treatment
Clinical Trials
Current Trials
Melanoma Margins Trial-II - A Phase III, Multi-centre Randomised Controlled Trial Investigating 1cm v 2cm Wide Surgical Excision Margins for AJCC Stage II Primary Cutaneous Melanoma (02.18 MelMarT-II)
HIC ID2000033087RoleSub InvestigatorPrimary Completion Date12/31/2029Recruiting ParticipantsA Multicenter Phase 2 Trial to Evaluate Intracranial Response to Pembrolizumab and Lenvatinib in Patients With Brain Metastases From Melanoma or Renal Cell Carcinoma Who Are Anti-PD1/PD-L1 Experienced
HIC ID2000030391RoleSub InvestigatorPrimary Completion Date01/31/2027Recruiting ParticipantsA Phase 2 Randomized Study of Adjuvant Immunotherapy With the Personalized Cancer Vaccine mRNA-4157 and Pembrolizumab Versus Pembrolizumab Alone After Complete Resection of High-Risk Melanoma (KEYNOTE- 942)
HIC ID2000025461RolePrincipal InvestigatorPrimary Completion Date09/09/2029Recruiting Participants
Clinical Care
Overview
Clinical Specialties
Fact Sheets
Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC)
Learn More on Yale MedicineBasal Cell Carcinoma (BCC)
Learn More on Yale MedicineSquamous Cell Carcinoma
Learn More on Yale MedicineMelanoma
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Yale Medicine News
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News
- August 30, 2024
Yale Research Highlights Unmet Needs for Patients With Melanoma Who Progress or Relapse After Immunotherapy Treatment
- January 04, 2024
Immunotherapy for Metastatic Cancer on the Rise, Even Near End of Life
- May 19, 2023Source: Fox 61
Yale researchers say customized cancer vaccine shows promise
- May 16, 2023Source: The Hartford Courant
CT researchers: Vaccine to fight cancer shows promise using same mRNA technology as COVID drug
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