Mario Sznol, MD
Emeritus FacultyCards
Additional Titles
Co-Director, Yale SPORE in Skin Cancer
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Titles
Emeritus Faculty
Co-Director, Yale SPORE in Skin Cancer
Biography
Dr. Mario Sznol is a Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology). Dr. Sznol, formerly with the National Cancer Institute, has an international reputation in cancer drug development. Dr. Sznol's expertise and experience is in cancer immunotherapy, drug development for cancer, and treatment of patients with melanoma and renal cell carcinoma. He is working to expand the opportunities for clinical trials at the Yale Cancer Center, particularly those focusing on immunotherapy and novel agents.
Appointments
Medical Oncology and Hematology
EmeritusPrimary
Other Departments & Organizations
- All Institutions
- Human and Translational Immunology Program
- Internal Medicine
- K12 Calabresi Immuno-Oncology Training Program (IOTP)
- Medical Oncology and Hematology
- SPORE in Skin Cancer
- Yale New Haven Health System
- Yale Ventures
- Yale-UPR Integrated HIV Basic and Clinical Sciences Initiative
Education & Training
- Fellow
- Mount Sinai College of Medicine (1987)
- Resident
- Baylor College of Medicine (1985)
- MD
- Baylor College of Medicine (1982)
- BA
- Rice University (1979)
Board Certifications
Medical Oncology
- Certification Organization
- AB of Internal Medicine
- Original Certification Date
- 1987
Internal Medicine
- Certification Organization
- AB of Internal Medicine
- Original Certification Date
- 1985
Research
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Overview
Dr. Sznol has an international reputation in cancer drug development. Dr. Sznol's expertise and experience is in cancer immunotherapy, drug development for cancer, and treatment of patients with melanoma and renal cell carcinoma. He is working to expand the opportunities for clinical trials at the Yale Cancer Center, particularly those focusing on immunotherapy and novel agents.
Medical Research Interests
ORCID
0000-0002-4359-8749
Research at a Glance
Yale Co-Authors
Publications Timeline
Research Interests
Harriet Kluger, MD
Ruth Halaban, PhD
Antonella Bacchiocchi
Lucia Jilaveanu, MD, PhD
Scott Gettinger, MD
David Rimm, MD, PhD
Publications
2026
Bridging the gap: A systematic approach to integrating serum and plasma proteomic datasets for biomarker studies
Lahav C, Dahan N, Harel M, Elon Y, Sela I, Geyer P, Schneider M, Muley T, Bacchiocchi A, Marte J, Floudas C, Halaban R, Sznol M, Christopoulos P, Gulley J. Bridging the gap: A systematic approach to integrating serum and plasma proteomic datasets for biomarker studies. Journal Of Pharmaceutical And Biomedical Analysis 2026, 274: 117421. PMID: 41713118, PMCID: PMC13008497, DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2026.117421.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsClonal determinants of organotropism and survival in metastatic uveal melanoma
Jones B, Hammes E, Demkowicz P, Matesva M, Pointdujour-Lim R, Sinard J, Bacchiocchi A, Halaban R, Bosenberg M, Sznol M, Kluger H, Bakhoum M. Clonal determinants of organotropism and survival in metastatic uveal melanoma. Npj Precision Oncology 2026, 10: 68. PMID: 41582235, PMCID: PMC12913882, DOI: 10.1038/s41698-026-01274-8.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricConceptsUveal melanomaLiver metastasesClonality determinationPost-metastatic survivalMetastatic uveal melanomaPatterns of disseminationBAP1 lossExtrahepatic metastasesPrimary tumorIntraocular cancerMetastatic spreadMetastasisMolecular profilingPatient outcomesMelanomaLiverSurvivalIntraocularMonosomyTumorBAP1PatientsCancerOrganotropism
2025
Improving immunotherapy responses by dual inhibition of macrophage migration inhibitory factor and PD-1
Tran T, Sánchez-Zuno G, Osmani L, Caulfield J, Valdez C, Piecychna M, Leng L, Armstrong M, Donnelly S, Bifulco C, Clister T, Kulkarni R, Zhang L, Sznol M, Jilaveanu L, Kluger H, Kang I, Bucala R. Improving immunotherapy responses by dual inhibition of macrophage migration inhibitory factor and PD-1. JCI Insight 2025, 10: e191539. PMID: 41122966, PMCID: PMC12581657, DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.191539.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsAnti-PD-1Macrophage migration inhibitory factorAnti-MIFMigration inhibitory factorTumor growthTherapeutic efficacyAnti-programmed cell death 1Intratumoral immune cell populationsAssociated with advanced diseaseHigh-expression MIF allelesCell death 1Inhibitory factorTh1 cytokine levelsInhibition of macrophage migration inhibitory factorDual inhibitionMurine tumor modelsColorectal cancer modelImmune cell populationsTumor-bearing animalsClinical trial developmentMultiple cancer typesAntitumor responseDeath-1PD-1Tumor burdenSurvival of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma with or without brain metastases.
Hurwitz M, Considine B, Hasson N, Savion Gaiger N, Nelson M, Chiang V, Kluger H, Braun D, Schoenfeld D, Sznol M, Leapman M. Survival of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma with or without brain metastases. Journal Of Clinical Oncology 2025, 43: 476-476. DOI: 10.1200/jco.2025.43.5_suppl.476.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsConceptsMetastatic renal cell carcinomaImmune checkpoint inhibitorsClear cell RCCRenal cell carcinomaImmune checkpoint inhibitor therapyMetastatic clear cell RCCBrain metastasesOverall survivalCell carcinomaImmune checkpoint inhibitor eraPrevalence of brain metastasesMultivariate Cox proportional hazards modelAssociated with poor survivalMedian overall survivalAssociated with poor prognosisCompare overall survivalImproved overall survivalAdverse prognostic indicatorDevelopment of BMSurvival of patientsKaplan-Meier analysisYale Cancer CenterRetrospective cohort studyCox proportional hazards modelsProportional hazards model
2024
Pooled Long-Term Outcomes With Nivolumab Plus Ipilimumab or Nivolumab Alone in Patients With Advanced Melanoma
Long G, Larkin J, Schadendorf D, Grob J, Lao C, Márquez-Rodas I, Wagstaff J, Lebbé C, Pigozzo J, Robert C, Ascierto P, Atkinson V, Postow M, Atkins M, Sznol M, Callahan M, Topalian S, Sosman J, Kotapati S, Thakkar P, Ritchings C, Benito M, Re S, Soleymani S, Hodi F. Pooled Long-Term Outcomes With Nivolumab Plus Ipilimumab or Nivolumab Alone in Patients With Advanced Melanoma. Journal Of Clinical Oncology 2024, 43: 938-948. PMID: 39504507, PMCID: PMC11895829, DOI: 10.1200/jco.24.00400.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricConceptsImmune checkpoint inhibitorsPatients treated with nivolumabOverall survivalNivolumab monotherapyMultivariate analysisPD-L1Advanced melanomaPD-L1 expression levelsFactors associated with decreased survivalLong-term overall survivalPresence of liver metastasesCox proportional multivariate analysisFactors associated with survivalLactate dehydrogenaseClinical factors associated with survivalPD-L1 expressionTreatment naive patientsMedian Follow-UpElevated lactate dehydrogenaseCompany-sponsored trialsAssociated with survivalUnresectable/metastatic melanomaCheckpoint inhibitorsOS ratesTreatment decision making758 GLIMMER-01: phase 1/2 trial of a first-in-class bi-sialidase (E-602) in combination with cemiplimab in patients with PD-(L)1-resistant solid tumors
Sharma M, Johnson M, Puzanov I, Sznol M, Mckean M, Gainor J, Spira A, Henick B, Tolcher A, Chen C, El-Khoueiry A, Broderick J, Peng L, Che J, Cao L, Wilson D, Lathers D, Horak C, Feltquate D, Luke J. 758 GLIMMER-01: phase 1/2 trial of a first-in-class bi-sialidase (E-602) in combination with cemiplimab in patients with PD-(L)1-resistant solid tumors. 2024, a862-a862. DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2024-sitc2024.0758.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsConcepts559 Clustering by metastatic sites predicts overall survival and describes patterns of progression for patients with metastatic melanoma after immunotherapy
Lee D, Pan A, Aprati T, Sznol M, Liu D, Ishizuka J. 559 Clustering by metastatic sites predicts overall survival and describes patterns of progression for patients with metastatic melanoma after immunotherapy. 2024, a637-a639. DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2024-sitc2024.0559.Peer-Reviewed Original Research671 A first-in-human study evaluating safety, tolerability and efficacy of TEV-56278, as monotherapy and in combination with pembrolizumab in participants with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors
Luke J, Siu L, Sznol M, Shalit Y, Weaver J, Jankovic V, Chakraborty S. 671 A first-in-human study evaluating safety, tolerability and efficacy of TEV-56278, as monotherapy and in combination with pembrolizumab in participants with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors. 2024, a769-a770. DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2024-sitc2024.0671.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsUltra-sensitive molecular residual disease detection through whole genome sequencing with single-read error correction
Li X, Liu T, Bacchiocchi A, Li M, Cheng W, Wittkop T, Mendez F, Wang Y, Tang P, Yao Q, Bosenberg M, Sznol M, Yan Q, Faham M, Weng L, Halaban R, Jin H, Hu Z. Ultra-sensitive molecular residual disease detection through whole genome sequencing with single-read error correction. EMBO Molecular Medicine 2024, 16: 2188-2209. PMID: 39164471, PMCID: PMC11393307, DOI: 10.1038/s44321-024-00115-0.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsConceptsMolecular residual diseaseCirculating tumor DNAWhole-genome sequencingCell-free DNAGenome sequenceDetection of molecular residual diseaseCirculating tumor DNA detectionResidual disease detectionConsistent with clinical outcomesVariant allele frequencyResidual diseaseMelanoma patientsMonitoring immunotherapyTumor DNAEsophageal cancerClinical outcomesColorectal cancerWGS technologiesAllele frequenciesCancerDNAAnalytical sensitivitySequenceImmunotherapyRelapseCauses 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, PMCID: PMC11809125, DOI: 10.1111/pcmr.13188.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricConceptsSite 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 life
Academic Achievements & Community Involvement
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News & Links
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News
- January 28, 2026
YCC Standout Research, Clinical Care, and Staff Support Recognized
- November 12, 2025
Twenty-Seven YSM Faculty Members Recognized for Highly Cited Research
- June 06, 2025
Yale Cancer Center Researchers and Trainees Present at 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting
- May 02, 2025
Immunotherapy: Balancing Cancer Treatment Benefits and Risks
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