Laura Huppert, MD

Laura Huppert, MD

Assistant Professor, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, UCSF

Cancer Center Program Membership

Breast Oncology

Phone: 415-476-2378

550 16th Street, #6570
San Francisco, CA 94158

UCSF Profiles

Research Summary

Dr. Laura Huppert is an oncologist who cares for patients with all stages of breast cancer.

Huppert's research focuses on designing and conducting clinical trials to evaluate new cancer treatments, including ways to combine therapies so as to improve outcomes. She also studies metastatic breast cancer (that has spread to other body parts), including cancer that has reached the brain and leptomeninges (membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord), and works to translate findings from the lab into care provided to patients.

Huppert earned her medical degree at Harvard Medical School. She completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in hematology and oncology at UCSF. She is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and has received an ASCO Merit Award as well as grants from the California Breast Cancer Research Program.

Education

  • Harvard College B.A. 09/2006 05/2010 Molecular and Cellular Biology
  • Harvard Medical School M.D. 09/2011 05/2015 Medicine
  • University of California, San Francisco Residency 07/2015 06/2018 Internal Medicine
  • University of California, San Francisco Fellowship 07/2019 06/2022 Medical Hematology and Oncology

Honors & Awards

  • 2022 ASCO Merit Award
  • 2021 UCSF Internal Medicine Residency Fellow of the Year Award
  • 2021 UCSF Graduate Medical Education Excellence and Innovation Award
  • 2020 UCSF Hematology/Oncology Clinical Fellow of the Year Award  

Selected Publications

  1. Huppert LA, Mahtani R, Fisch S, Dempsey N, Premji S, Raimonde A, Jacob S, Quintal L, Melisko M, Chien J, Sandoval A, Carcas L, Ahluwalia M, Harpalani N, Hoppenworth J, Blaes A, Blum K, Kim MO, Idossa D, Rao R, Giridhar KV, Rugo HS. Multicenter retrospective cohort study of the sequential use of the antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) and sacituzumab govitecan (SG) in patients with HER2-low metastatic breast cancer (MBC). NPJ Breast Cancer. 2025 Apr 15; 11(1):34.  View on PubMed
  2. Mahuron KM, Shahid O, Sao P, Wu C, Haugh AM, Huppert LA, Levine LS, Lowe MM, Alvarado M, Micu M, Tsai KK, Chow M, Singer M, Schenkel JM, Sharpe AH, Rosenblum MD, Pauken KE, Daud AI. Single-Cell Analyses Reveal a Functionally Heterogeneous Exhausted CD8+ T-cell Subpopulation That Is Correlated with Response to Checkpoint Therapy in Melanoma. Cancer Res. 2025 Apr 15; 85(8):1424-1440.  View on PubMed
  3. Shukla PD, Nguyen MP, Lui A, Catalan T, Young JS, Berger MS, Theodosopoulos PV, Hervey-Jumper SL, Huppert LA, Aghi MK, Vasudevan HN, Morshed RA. Association of lower tumor mutation burden with rapid local progression in patients with brain metastases. J Neurosurg. 2025 Jun 01; 142(6):1701-1709.  View on PubMed
  4. Nguyen HP, An K, Ito Y, Kharbikar BN, Sheng R, Paredes B, Murray E, Pham K, Bruck M, Zhou X, Biellak C, Ushiki A, Nobuhara M, Fong SL, Bernards DA, Lynce F, Dillon DA, Magbanua MJM, Huppert LA, Hammerlindl H, Klein JA, Valdiviez L, Fiehn O, Esserman L, Desai TA, Yee SW, Rosenbluth JM, Ahituv N. Implantation of engineered adipocytes suppresses tumor progression in cancer models. Nat Biotechnol. 2025 Feb 04.  View on PubMed
  5. Rios-Hoyo A, Xiong K, Dai J, Yau C, Marczyk M, Garcia-Milian R, Wolf DM, Huppert LA, Nanda R, Hirst GL, Cobain EF, van 't Veer LJ, Esserman LJ, Pusztai L. Hormone Receptor-Positive HER2-Negative/MammaPrint High-2 Breast Cancers Closely Resemble Triple-Negative Breast Cancers. Clin Cancer Res. 2025 Jan 17; 31(2):403-413.  View on PubMed
  6. Huppert LA, Wolf D, Yau C, Brown-Swigart L, Hirst GL, Isaacs C, Pusztai L, Pohlmann PR, DeMichele A, Shatsky R, Yee D, Thomas A, Nanda R, Perlmutter J, Heditsian D, Hylton N, Symmans F, Van't Veer LJ, Esserman L, Rugo HS. Pathologic complete response (pCR) rates for patients with HR+/HER2- high-risk, early-stage breast cancer (EBC) by clinical and molecular features in the phase II I-SPY2 clinical trial. Ann Oncol. 2025 Feb; 36(2):172-184.  View on PubMed
  7. Shatsky RA, Trivedi MS, Yau C, Nanda R, Rugo HS, Davidian M, Tsiatis B, Wallace AM, Chien AJ, Stringer-Reasor E, Boughey JC, Omene C, Rozenblit M, Kalinsky K, Elias AD, Vaklavas C, Beckwith H, Williams N, Arora M, Nangia C, Roussos Torres ET, Thomas B, Albain KS, Clark AS, Falkson C, Hershman DL, Isaacs C, Thomas A, Tseng J, Sanford A, Yeung K, Boles S, Chen YY, Huppert L, Jahan N, Parker C, Giridhar K, Howard FM, Blackwood MM, Sanft T, Li W, Onishi N, Asare AL, Beineke P, Norwood P, Brown-Swigart L, Hirst GL, Matthews JB, Moore B, Symmans WF, Price E, Heditsian D, LeStage B, Perlmutter J, Pohlmann P, DeMichele A, Yee D, van 't Veer LJ, Hylton NM, Esserman LJ. Datopotamab-deruxtecan plus durvalumab in early-stage breast cancer: the sequential multiple assignment randomized I-SPY2.2 phase 2 trial. Nat Med. 2024 Dec; 30(12):3737-3747.  View on PubMed
  8. Quandt Z, Jacob S, Fadlullah MZH, Wu C, Wu C, Huppert L, Levine LS, Sison P, Tsai KK, Chow M, Kang JH, Hwang J, Lee JC, Oglesby A, Venegas J, Brintz BJ, Tan AC, Anderson MS, Rosenblum MD, Young A, Daud AI. Phase II trial of pembrolizumab, ipilimumab, and aspirin in melanoma: clinical outcomes and translational predictors of response. BJC Rep. 2024 Jun 24; 2(1):46.  View on PubMed
  9. Huppert LA, Fisch S, Tsopurashvili E, Somepalle SS, Salans M, Vasudevan HN, Jo Chien A, Majure M, Rugo HS, Balassanian R, Boreta L, Melisko ME. Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with metastatic breast cancer and leptomeningeal disease: a single center retrospective cohort study. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2024 Aug; 206(3):625-636.  View on PubMed
  10. Ríos-Hoyo A, Cobain E, Huppert LA, Beitsch PD, Buchholz TA, Esserman L, van 't Veer LJ, Rugo HS, Pusztai L. Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy and Immunotherapy for Estrogen Receptor-Positive Human Epidermal Growth Factor 2-Negative Breast Cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2024 Aug 01; 42(22):2632-2636.  View on PubMed
  11. Lindgren ES, Yan R, Cil O, Verkman AS, Chan MF, Seitzman GD, Farooq AV, Huppert LA, Rugo HS, Pohlmann PR, Lu J, Esserman LJ, Pasricha ND. Incidence and Mitigation of Corneal Pseudomicrocysts Induced by Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs). Curr Ophthalmol Rep. 2024 Jun; 12(2):13-22.  View on PubMed
  12. Huppert LA, Santhosh L, Alba-Nguyen S, Lai CJ, Babik JM. Changes in Gender and Racial/Ethnic Diversity in US Residency Program Applications From 2018 to 2022. J Grad Med Educ. 2024 Feb; 16(1):37-40.  View on PubMed
  13. Umashankar S, Li M, Blevins K, Kim MO, Majure M, Park J, Huppert LA, Melisko M, Rugo HS, Esserman L, Chien AJ. Characterizing attitudes related to future child-bearing in young women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2024 Apr; 204(3):509-520.  View on PubMed
  14. Huppert LA, Rugo HS. Can We De-escalate Therapy for HER2-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer? Clin Cancer Res. 2023 12 15; 29(24):4993-4995.  View on PubMed
  15. Record H, Clelland E, Rothschild HT, Kaur M, Chien AJ, Melisko M, Rugo HS, Mujir F, Huppert L, Mukhtar RA. Tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors with ovarian function suppression in pre-menopausal stage I-III lobular breast cancer. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2023 Oct 26; 9(1):88.  View on PubMed
  16. Mukhtar RA, Huppert L, Ramalingam K. Letter to the Editor of Annals of Surgical Oncology concerning "Is Choosing Wisely Wise for Lobular Carcinoma in Patients over 70 Years of Age? A National Cancer Database Analysis of Sentinel Node Practice Patterns". Ann Surg Oncol. 2024 01; 31(1):401-402.  View on PubMed
  17. Gumusay O, Huppert LA, Magbanua MJM, Wabl CA, Assefa M, Chien AJ, Melisko ME, Majure MC, Moasser M, Park J, Rugo HS. A phase Ib/II study of eribulin in combination with cyclophosphamide in patients with advanced breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2024 Jan; 203(2):197-204.  View on PubMed
  18. Cecil K, Huppert L, Mukhtar R, Dibble EH, O'Brien SR, Ulaner GA, Lawhn-Heath C. Metabolic Positron Emission Tomography in Breast Cancer. PET Clin. 2023 Oct; 18(4):473-485.  View on PubMed
  19. Tasoulis MK, Huppert LA. Invited Commentary: Can We De-Escalate More Than 1 Breast Cancer Treatment Modality at the Same Time? J Am Coll Surg. 2023 08 01; 237(2):256-258.  View on PubMed
  20. Im KW, Huppert LA, Malevanchik L, Rugo HS, Combes AJ, Campbell MJ, Krummel MF, Melisko ME. High-dimensional immune cell profiling of cerebrospinal fluid from patients with metastatic breast cancer and leptomeningeal disease. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2023 Apr 07; 9(1):22.  View on PubMed

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