Dr. Ronald Fecek, Ph.D.

Background and Experience

Recent advances in immunotherapy have enabled rapid evolution of novel interventional approaches designed to reinvigorate and expand patient immune responses against cancer. An emerging approach in cancer immunology involves the conditional induction of tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS), which are non-encapsulated ectopic lymphoid structures forming at sites of chronic, pathologic inflammation. Cutaneous melanoma (CM), a highly-immunogenic form of solid cancer, continues to rise in both incidence and mortality rate, with recent reports supporting a positive correlation between the presence of TLS in melanoma and beneficial treatment outcomes amongst advanced-stage patients. In this context, TLS in CM are postulated to serve as dynamic centers for the initiation of robust anti-tumor responses within affected regions of active disease. Significant effort has been recently devoted to gaining a better understanding of TLS neogenesis and the influence these lymphoid organs exert within the tumor microenvironment. Our laboratory investigates potential tumor-intrinsic mechanisms that regulate TLS formation by evaluating TLS induction in melanomas impacted by common driver mutations