Luis Meza Contreras, MD
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About
Research
Publications
2026
Characterization of aberrant alternative splicing landscape in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma
Govindarajan A, Hansen N, Mercier B, Byron S, Hegde A, Garcia-Mansfield K, Leskoske K, Chawla N, Meza L, Zengin Z, Barragan-Carillo R, Ebrahimi H, Castro D, Dizman N, Hsu J, Chehrazi-Raffle A, Tripathi A, Salgia N, Pal S, Pirrotte P. Characterization of aberrant alternative splicing landscape in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Journal For ImmunoTherapy Of Cancer 2026, 14: e012427. PMID: 42086309, PMCID: PMC13150895, DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2025-012427.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsMetastatic renal cell carcinomaRenal cell carcinomaMajor histocompatibility complexNon-respondersCell carcinomaTargeted therapyAdoptive cell therapy strategiesImmune checkpoint inhibitorsImmunogenic tumor microenvironmentTargeted therapy cohortResponse Evaluation CriteriaAdaptive immune responsesCell therapy strategiesICI cohortNeoantigen analysisCheckpoint inhibitorsSystemic therapyComprehensive analysis of AS eventsEvaluation CriteriaTherapy cohortPeptide neoantigensTumor microenvironmentClinical benefitTreatment responseRetrospective analysis
2025
Efficacy and safety of antibody-drug conjugate combination therapy in advanced urothelial carcinoma
Jaime-Casas S, Barragan-Carrillo R, Zugman M, Shah K, Ebrahimi H, Mercier B, Castro D, Zang P, LeVee A, Yip W, Li X, Dizman N, Salgia N, Zengin Z, Meza L, Hsu J, Nguyen C, Chehrazi-Raffle A, Pal S, Tripathi A. Efficacy and safety of antibody-drug conjugate combination therapy in advanced urothelial carcinoma. Frontiers In Oncology 2025, 15: 1669526. PMID: 41127009, PMCID: PMC12537358, DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1669526.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAdvanced urothelial carcinomaObjective-response rateAntibody-drug conjugatesPeripheral sensory neuropathyAdverse eventsUrothelial carcinomaTreatment landscapeAnti-HER2Sensory neuropathyAll-grade toxicitiesAnti-HER2 regimensGrade 3 AEsRate of adverse eventsPublished Clinical TrialsGastrointestinal (diarrheaCombination regimensCombination therapyEfficacy outcomesRetrospective studyCase reportEmbase databasesRegimensClinical trialsFull-text reviewCarcinoma27Characterization of aberrant alternative splicing landscape in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma
Mercier B, Govindarajan A, Hansen N, Byron S, Hegde A, Leskoske K, Chawla N, Meza L, Zengin Z, Barragan-Carrillo R, Ebrahimi H, Castro D, Jaime-Casas S, Zugman M, Dizman N, Hsu J, Chehrazi-Raffle A, Tripathi A, Salgia N, Pal S, Pirrotte P. 27Characterization of aberrant alternative splicing landscape in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. The Oncologist 2025, 30: oyaf276.028. PMCID: PMC12509655, DOI: 10.1093/oncolo/oyaf276.028.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMetastatic renal cell carcinomaImmune checkpoint inhibitorsRenal cell carcinomaNon-respondersTargeted therapyHumoral immune responseImmune responseSystemic therapyCell carcinomaTT cohortMetastatic renal cell carcinoma patientsAdoptive cell therapy strategiesImmune checkpoint inhibitor cohortImmune cell pathwaysImmunogenic tumor microenvironmentRECIST v1.1 criteriaAdaptive immune responsesCell therapy strategiesCheckpoint inhibitorsNeoantigen analysisComprehensive analysis of AS eventsPeptide neoantigensTumor microenvironmentClinical benefitSplicing analysisComprehensive tumor-immune profiling reveals mediators of paradoxical immune sensitivity in sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma
Salgia N, Khan A, Aubrecht W, Twoey G, Chow J, Attwood K, Yu H, Chiello J, Hansen N, Wasik B, Mercier B, Ebrahimi H, Meza L, Maguire O, Mastri M, Whalen C, Minderman H, Pirrotte P, Byron S, Repasky E, Singh P, Bshara W, Wang J, McGray A, Abrams S, Xu B, Eng K, Long M, Pal S, Kauffman E, Muhitch J. Comprehensive tumor-immune profiling reveals mediators of paradoxical immune sensitivity in sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma. Cancer Cell 2025, 43: 2014-2033.e9. PMID: 40780212, PMCID: PMC12338066, DOI: 10.1016/j.ccell.2025.07.010.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchImmune checkpoint blockadeRenal cell carcinomaClear cell RCCCell carcinomaTumor typesImmune sensitizationTumor-infiltrating T cellsSarcomatoid renal cell carcinomaTumor immune profileTertiary lymphoid structuresAggressive tumor typeHumoral immune activityCheckpoint blockadeSarcomatoid featuresCell RCCCXCL13 expressionLymphoid structuresT cellsRCC tumorsImmune activationSingle-cell analysisTumorCarcinomaRCCSRCCComparative Genomic Characterization of Small Cell Carcinoma of the Bladder Compared With Urothelial Carcinoma and Small Cell Lung Carcinoma
Jaime-Casas S, Chawla N, Salgia N, Mercier B, Govindarajan A, Li X, Castro D, Ebrahimi H, Barragan-Carrillo R, Zang P, LeVee A, Zugman M, Dizman N, Hsu J, Meza L, Zengin Z, Chehrazi-Raffle A, Dorff T, Pal S, Tripathi A. Comparative Genomic Characterization of Small Cell Carcinoma of the Bladder Compared With Urothelial Carcinoma and Small Cell Lung Carcinoma. JCO Precision Oncology 2025, 9: e2400947. PMID: 40209138, DOI: 10.1200/po-24-00947.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsSmall cell bladder cancerSmall cell lung cancerUrothelial carcinomaGenomic alterationsBladder cancerSmall cell lung cancer patientsSmall cell lung carcinomaSmall cell carcinomaRare histologic variantCell lung carcinomaAggressive disease courseCell lung cancerPathogenic genomic alterationsImproving clinical outcomesTreated with approachesHistological variantsCell carcinomaHistological groupsLung carcinomaClinical outcomesPoor outcomeRetrospective natureDisease courseLung cancerGenomic profilingEligibility Criteria in Advanced Urothelial Cancer Clinical Trials: An Assessment of Modernization and Inclusion
Mercier B, Govindarajan A, Castro D, Li X, Philip E, Feng M, Prajapati S, Chan E, Lee K, Sehgal I, Patel J, O'Dell A, Chehrazi‐Raffle A, Ebrahimi H, Rock A, Zengin Z, Meza L, Dizman N, Hsu J, Liu S, Dorff T, Pal S, Tripathi A. Eligibility Criteria in Advanced Urothelial Cancer Clinical Trials: An Assessment of Modernization and Inclusion. Cancer Medicine 2025, 14: e70696. PMID: 40145383, PMCID: PMC11947756, DOI: 10.1002/cam4.70696.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsHepatitis B/C infectionHIV infectionClinical trialsConcurrent malignancyBrain metastasesVariant histologyEligibility criteriaPresence of brain metastasesAmerican Society of Clinical OncologyMetastatic urothelial cancerFisher's exact testType of therapyContemporary clinical trialsFriends of Cancer ResearchInclusion of patientsUrothelial cancerExact testClinical OncologyTherapy efficacyCancer clinical trialsCancer trialsHIVPatientsExclusion criteriaInfectionImpact of Insurance Status on Survival Outcomes in Patients With Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma
Castro D, Gebrael G, Meza L, Li X, Tripathi N, Tandar C, Sayegh N, Zengin Z, Chehrazi-Raffle A, Govindarajan A, Dizman N, Barragan-Carrillo R, Ebrahimi H, Mercier B, Chawla N, Jaime-Casas S, Salgia N, Zugman M, Hsu J, Philip E, Bergerot C, Agarwal N, Pal S. Impact of Insurance Status on Survival Outcomes in Patients With Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma. JCO Oncology Advances 2025 DOI: 10.1200/oa.24.00015.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMetastatic renal cell carcinomaProgression-free survivalImpact of insurance statusOverall survivalRenal cell carcinomaSurvival outcomesCell carcinomaAssociated with significantly better PFSAssociated with significantly better survival outcomesAssociated with better progression-free survivalInsurance statusFirst-line systemic therapyMedicaid/no insuranceBetter survival outcomesKaplan-Meier methodLog-rank testAssociated with lower riskSystemic therapyPrimary insurance typeNo significant differenceNational Cancer Institute-designated cancer centerInstitutional databasePrivate insuranceCancer CenterLow risk
2024
Cabozantinib and nivolumab with or without live bacterial supplementation in metastatic renal cell carcinoma: a randomized phase 1 trial
Ebrahimi H, Dizman N, Meza L, Malhotra J, Li X, Dorff T, Frankel P, Llamas-Quitiquit M, Hsu J, Zengin Z, Alcantara M, Castro D, Mercier B, Chawla N, Chehrazi-Raffle A, Barragan-Carrillo R, Jaime-Casas S, Govindarajan A, Gillece J, Trent J, Lee P, Parks T, Takahashi M, Hayashi A, Kortylewski M, Caporaso J, Lee K, Tripathi A, Pal S. Cabozantinib and nivolumab with or without live bacterial supplementation in metastatic renal cell carcinoma: a randomized phase 1 trial. Nature Medicine 2024, 30: 2576-2585. PMID: 38942995, PMCID: PMC11405272, DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-03086-4.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMetastatic renal cell carcinomaProgression-free survivalRenal cell carcinomaCell carcinomaToxicity profileAbundance of Bifidobacterium sppControl armTreatment-naive participantsFirst-line treatmentPhase 1 studyPhase 1 trialSarcomatoid componentOpen-labelHistological confirmationPrimary endpointSecondary endpointsNo significant differenceClear cellNivolumabInvestigator-initiatedClinical outcomesCabozantinibClinical activityStool samplesStudy armsChemotherapy and Targeted Therapies, Biological Therapies for Renal Cell Carcinoma
Malhotra J, Meza L, Govindarajan A, Pal S. Chemotherapy and Targeted Therapies, Biological Therapies for Renal Cell Carcinoma. 2024, 1-15. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-51192-0_98-1.ChaptersMetastatic renal cell carcinomaProgression-free survivalRenal cell carcinomaOverall survivalTreatment landscapeCell carcinomaTargeted therapyTreatment landscape of metastatic renal cell carcinomaSystemic therapyCombination therapyBiologic therapyTreatment optionsTherapyCarcinomaTreatmentSurvivalMonotherapyImmunotherapyChemotherapyPrevalence of Dietary Modification and Supplement Use in Patients with Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Receiving Systemic Therapy
Ebrahimi H, Battle D, Salgia N, Zengin Z, Dizman N, Meza L, Bergerot C, Barragan-Carrillo R, Hsu J, Castro D, Mercier B, Chawla N, Li X, Tripathi A, Liu S, Chehrazi-Raffle A, Vaishampayan U, Staehler M, Pal S. Prevalence of Dietary Modification and Supplement Use in Patients with Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Receiving Systemic Therapy. Nutrients 2024, 16: 1630. PMID: 38892563, PMCID: PMC11174627, DOI: 10.3390/nu16111630.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMetastatic renal cell carcinomaRenal cell carcinomaCell carcinomaDietary modificationSupplement useDiagnosis of renal cell carcinomaFirst-line treatmentSupplement usageSystemic therapyCombination therapyAntineoplastic therapyKetogenic dietCarcinomaCancer therapyMediterranean dietPhysician-patient dialoguePatientsTherapyCancer treatmentGrowing body of evidenceBody of evidenceDietary changesCancerCancer diagnosisCannabidiol