Thuy Tran, MD, PhD
Instructor of Medicine (Medical Oncology); ABIM Physician-Scientist Research Pathway Resident
Research & Publications
Biography
News
Extensive Research Description
Complications from brain metastatic disease represents a growing problem as late cerebral relapses are becoming more common. My basic and translational research focuses on several pillars aimed at 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. My clinical research focuses on using immune therapy either alone or in combination with anti-angiogenesis inhibitors to treat melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer brain metastases. As a physician-scientist, 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 brain malignancies.
Coauthors
Research Interests
Blood-Brain Barrier; Clinical Trials as Topic; Drug Combinations; Melanoma; Neoplasm Metastasis
Selected Publications
- Melanoma brain metastases have lower T-cell content and microvessel density compared to matched extracranial metastases.Weiss SA, Zito C, Tran T, Heishima K, Neumeister V, McGuire J, Adeniran A, Kluger H, Jilaveanu LB. Melanoma brain metastases have lower T-cell content and microvessel density compared to matched extracranial metastases. Journal Of Neuro-oncology 2021, 152: 15-25. PMID: 32974852, PMCID: PMC7910371, DOI: 10.1007/s11060-020-03619-0.
- Clinical Significance of PDCD4 in Melanoma by Subcellular Expression and in Tumor-Associated Immune Cells.Tran TT, Rane CK, Zito CR, Weiss SA, Jessel S, Lucca L, Lu BY, Oria VO, Adeniran A, Chiang VL, Omay SB, Hafler DA, Kluger HM, Jilaveanu LB. Clinical Significance of PDCD4 in Melanoma by Subcellular Expression and in Tumor-Associated Immune Cells. Cancers 2021, 13 PMID: 33801444, PMCID: PMC7958624, DOI: 10.3390/cancers13051049.
- PLEKHA5 regulates tumor growth in metastatic melanoma.Zhang H, Zhu H, Deng G, Zito CR, Oria VO, Rane CK, Zhang S, Weiss SA, Tran T, Adeniran A, Zhang F, Zhou J, Kluger Y, Bosenberg MW, Kluger HM, Jilaveanu LB. PLEKHA5 regulates tumor growth in metastatic melanoma. Cancer 2020, 126: 1016-1030. PMID: 31769872, PMCID: PMC7147081, DOI: 10.1002/cncr.32611.
- Pembrolizumab for management of patients with NSCLC and brain metastases: long-term results and biomarker analysis from a non-randomised, open-label, phase 2 trial.Goldberg SB, Schalper KA, Gettinger SN, Mahajan A, Herbst RS, Chiang AC, Lilenbaum R, Wilson FH, Omay SB, Yu JB, Jilaveanu L, Tran T, Pavlik K, Rowen E, Gerrish H, Komlo A, Gupta R, Wyatt H, Ribeiro M, Kluger Y, Zhou G, Wei W, Chiang VL, Kluger HM. Pembrolizumab for management of patients with NSCLC and brain metastases: long-term results and biomarker analysis from a non-randomised, open-label, phase 2 trial. The Lancet. Oncology 2020, 21: 655-663. PMID: 32251621, PMCID: PMC7380514, DOI: 10.1016/S1470-2045(20)30111-X.
- [11C]Methionine and [11C]PBR28 as PET Imaging Tracers to Differentiate Metastatic Tumor Recurrence or Radiation Necrosis.Tran TT, Gallezot JD, Jilaveanu LB, Zito C, Turcu G, Lim K, Nabulsi N, Huang H, Huttner A, Kluger HM, Chiang VL, Carson R. [11C]Methionine and [11C]PBR28 as PET Imaging Tracers to Differentiate Metastatic Tumor Recurrence or Radiation Necrosis. Molecular Imaging 2020, 19: 1536012120968669. PMID: 33147119, PMCID: PMC7649862, DOI: 10.1177/1536012120968669.
- Elective Colectomy in a Patient with Active Ulcerative Colitis and Metastatic Melanoma Enabling Successful Treatment with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors.Perdigoto AL, Tran T, Patel N, Clark P, Patell K, Stamatouli AM, Reddy V, Clune J, Herold KC, Robert ME, Kluger HM. Elective Colectomy in a Patient with Active Ulcerative Colitis and Metastatic Melanoma Enabling Successful Treatment with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors. Clinical Oncology, Case Reports 2020, 3 PMID: 33778814, PMCID: PMC7993656.
- Long-Term Survival of Patients With Melanoma With Active Brain Metastases Treated With Pembrolizumab on a Phase II Trial.Kluger HM, Chiang V, Mahajan A, Zito CR, Sznol M, Tran T, Weiss SA, Cohen JV, Yu J, Hegde U, Perrotti E, Anderson G, Ralabate A, Kluger Y, Wei W, Goldberg SB, Jilaveanu LB. Long-Term Survival of Patients With Melanoma With Active Brain Metastases Treated With Pembrolizumab on a Phase II Trial. Journal Of Clinical Oncology : Official Journal Of The American Society Of Clinical Oncology 2019, 37: 52-60. PMID: 30407895, PMCID: PMC6354772, DOI: 10.1200/JCO.18.00204.
- Perilesional edema in brain metastases: potential causes and implications for treatment with immune therapy.Tran TT, Mahajan A, Chiang VL, Goldberg SB, Nguyen DX, Jilaveanu LB, Kluger HM. Perilesional edema in brain metastases: potential causes and implications for treatment with immune therapy. Journal For Immunotherapy Of Cancer 2019, 7: 200. PMID: 31362777, PMCID: PMC6668163, DOI: 10.1186/s40425-019-0684-z.
- Complications associated with immunotherapy for brain metastases.Tran TT, Jilaveanu LB, Omuro A, Chiang VL, Huttner A, Kluger HM. Complications associated with immunotherapy for brain metastases. Current Opinion In Neurology 2019, 32: 907-916. PMID: 31577604, PMCID: PMC7398556, DOI: 10.1097/WCO.0000000000000756.
- Loss of the α2β1 integrin alters human papilloma virus-induced squamous carcinoma progression in vivo and in vitro.Tran T, Barlow B, O'Rear L, Jarvis B, Li Z, Dickeson K, Dupont W, Zutter M. Loss of the α2β1 integrin alters human papilloma virus-induced squamous carcinoma progression in vivo and in vitro. PloS One 2011, 6: e26858. PMID: 22046385, PMCID: PMC3203166, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0026858.
- A nonstop mutation in the factor (F)X gene of a severely haemorrhagic patient with complete absence of coagulation FX.Ameri A, Machiah DK, Tran TT, Channell C, Crenshaw V, Fernstrom K, Khachidze M, Duncan A, Fuchs S, Howard TE. A nonstop mutation in the factor (F)X gene of a severely haemorrhagic patient with complete absence of coagulation FX. Thrombosis And Haemostasis 2007, 98: 1165-9. PMID: 18064309, DOI: 10.1160/th07-02-0125.