Research Summary

The overarching goal of my research is to improve treatment options and outcomes in patients with primary cancers of the liver and bile ducts through clinical and translational research of novel drugs and combinations along with biomarker analyses to identify the patients most likely to respond. My current work in hepatobiliary cancers includes leading multiple clinical trials of new immunotherapy treatment combinations, ranging from large, international phase 3 trials to smaller, investigator-initiated institutional trials with translational biomarker endpoints. I am also the PI of the UCSF Hepatobiliary Tissue Bank and Registry (HBTBR), initiated in 2012 to serve as a platform for translational and epidemiology research using fresh and archival tumor tissue samples, blood samples, and longitudinal clinical data from patients with hepatobiliary cancers who receive cancer care at UCSF. The HBTBR has enrolled over 500 cases since its activation in late 2012 and has contributed samples and data to multiple projects, including the NCI/NHGRI The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) liver and cholangiocarcinoma cohorts, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in HCC and cholangiocarcinoma, a University of California consortium project to develop minority patient-derived xenografts including hepatocellular carcinoma for tumor genomic analyses, the NCI's National Translational Science Network of Precision-Based Immunotherapy for Primary Liver Cancer, and many collaborative, retrospective studies of clinical outcomes.

Education

Harvard College, Boston, MA, B.A., 1993-97, Biochemistry
UCLA, M.D., 1998-2002, Medicine
UCLA, Intern, 2002-03, Medicine
UCLA, Resident, 2003-05, Medicine
UCLA, Chief Resident, 2005-06, Medicine
UCSF, Fellow, 2006-09, Hematology/Oncology

Honors & Awards

  • 1993-1997
    Harvard College Scholarship, Harvard College
  • 1993-1997
    Elizabeth Cary Agassiz Merit Award, Harvard College
  • 1997-1998
    Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship, Costa Rica
  • 2001
    Alpha Omega Alpha, UCLA School of Medicine
  • 2001
    Merck Book Award, UCLA School of Medicine
  • 2001
    Janet M. Glascow Memorial Achievement Citation, American Medical Women's Association
  • 2004, 2006
    Solomon Scholars Resident Research Day Award, UCLA Department of Medicine
  • 2006
    Medical Student Teaching Award, UCLA Department of Medicine
  • 2009
    ASCO Cancer Foundation Merit Award, Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium
  • 2010
    ASCO Young Investigator Award
  • 2014
    Cancer Clinical Investigator Team Leadership Award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Selected Publications

  1. Turnham RE, Pitea A, Jang GM, Xu Z, Lim HC, Choi AL, Von Dollen J, Levin RS, Webber JT, McCarthy E, Hu J, Li X, Che L, Singh A, Yoon A, Chan GKL, Kelley RK, Swaney DL, Zhang W, Bandyopadhyay S, Theis FJ, Eckhardt M, Chen X, Shokat KM, Ideker T, Krogan NJ, Gordan JD. HBV Remodels PP2A Complexes to Rewire Kinase Signaling in Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Cancer Res. 2025 Feb 17; 85(4):660-674.  View on PubMed
  2. Singal AG, Reddy KR, Colombo M, Morris HL, Mospan AR, Cabrera R, Kelley RK, Kilpatrick RD, Trevisani F, Farinati F, Giannini EG, Mehta N, Fried MW, Sangro B, DAA-PASS and ITA.LI.CA Investigators. DAA-PASS: A Prospective Evaluation of HCC Recurrence After Direct Acting Antiviral Therapy. J Viral Hepat. 2025 Feb; 32(2):e14056.  View on PubMed
  3. Kassaye I, Alyafaie A, Zhang K, Lifton J, Gordan JD, Kelley RK, Yung M. Cataracts Associated With Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor Inhibitors for Cholangiocarcinoma. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2024 Dec 01; 142(12):1109-1113.  View on PubMed
  4. Li M, Hannan LM, Goyal L, Bocobo AG, Parks AL, Bauer K, Baiev I, Dinicola C, Gordan JD, Venook AP, Harris WP, Bracci P, Kelley RK. Changes in alpha-fetoprotein across the systemic therapy continuum in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma-a real-world, multicenter study. Ther Adv Med Oncol. 2024; 16:17588359241297085.  View on PubMed
  5. Zeme EL, Van Loon K, Kelley RK, Gordan JD. Emerging Therapies for the Management of Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2-/ERBB2-Altered Advanced Biliary Tract Cancers. J Clin Oncol. 2024 Sep 20; 42(27):3170-3176.  View on PubMed
  6. Lau G, Abou-Alfa GK, Cheng AL, Sukeepaisarnjaroen W, Van Dao T, Kang YK, Thungappa SC, Kudo M, Sangro B, Kelley RK, Furuse J, Park JW, Sunpaweravong P, Fasolo A, Yau T, Kawaoka T, Azevedo S, Reig M, Assenat E, Yarchoan M, He AR, Makowsky M, Gupta C, Negro A, Chan SL. Outcomes in the Asian subgroup of the phase III randomised HIMALAYA study of tremelimumab plus durvalumab in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma. J Hepatol. 2025 Feb; 82(2):258-267.  View on PubMed
  7. Vijay V, Karisani N, Shi L, Hung YH, Vu P, Kattel P, Kenney L, Merritt J, Adil R, Wu Q, Zhen Y, Morris R, Kreuzer J, Kathiresan M, Herrera Lopez XI, Ellis H, Gritti I, Lecorgne L, Farag I, Popa A, Shen W, Kato H, Xu Q, Balasooriya ER, Wu MJ, Chaturantabut S, Kelley RK, Cleary JM, Lawrence MS, Root D, Benes CH, Deshpande V, Juric D, Sellers WR, Ferrone CR, Haas W, Vazquez F, Getz G, Bardeesy N. Generation of a biliary tract cancer cell line atlas reveals molecular subtypes and therapeutic targets. bioRxiv. 2024 Jul 08.  View on PubMed
  8. Hsu BY, Driscoll J, Human Cholangiocarcinogenesis Project, Tateno C, Mattis AN, Kelley RK, Willenbring H. Human Hepatocytes Can Give Rise to Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinomas. Gastroenterology. 2024 Oct; 167(5):1029-1032.e7.  View on PubMed
  9. Azad N, Hu Z, Sahin I, Iyer R, Aranha O, Hochster H, Pathak P, Paulson AS, Kalyan A, Liao CY, Tran N, Kelley RK, Heestand G, Cosgrove D, El-Khoueiry A, Borad M, Gabrail NY, Majeed U, Du L, Kamath S, Shumway N, Shroff R, Goyal L, Rosales M, Javle M. COMPANION-002 A clinical trial of investigational drug CTX-009 plus paclitaxel vs paclitaxel in second line advanced BTC. Future Oncol. 2024; 20(30):2241-2248.  View on PubMed
  10. Kline B, Yadav S, Seo Y, Ippisch RC, Castillo J, Aggarwal RR, Kelley RK, Behr SC, Flavell RR, Lawhn-Heath C, Melisko M, Rugo HS, Wang V, Yom SS, Ha P, Jiang F, Hope TA. 68Ga-FAP-2286 PET of Solid Tumors: Biodistribution, Dosimetry, and Comparison with 18F-FDG. J Nucl Med. 2024 Jun 03; 65(6):938-943.  View on PubMed
  11. Tsang ES, Dhawan MS, Pacaud R, Thomas S, Grabowsky J, Wilch L, Karipineni S, Kelley RK, Ko AH, Collisson E, Chapman JS, Ueda S, Bergsland EK, Munster P. Synthetic Lethality Beyond BRCA: A Phase I Study of Rucaparib and Irinotecan in Metastatic Solid Tumors With Homologous Recombination-Deficiency Mutations Beyond BRCA1/2. JCO Precis Oncol. 2024 Jun; 8:e2300494.  View on PubMed
  12. Sangro B, Galle PR, Kelley RK, Charoentum C, De Toni EN, Ostapenko Y, Heo J, Cheng AL, Wilson Woods A, Gupta C, Abraham J, McCoy CL, Patel N, Negro A, Vogel A, Abou-Alfa GK. Patient-Reported Outcomes From the Phase III HIMALAYA Study of Tremelimumab Plus Durvalumab in Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma. J Clin Oncol. 2024 Aug 10; 42(23):2790-2799.  View on PubMed
  13. Reig M, Forner A, Rimola J, Ferrer-Fàbrega J, Burrel M, Garcia-Criado Á, Kelley RK, Galle PR, Mazzaferro V, Salem R, Sangro B, Singal AG, Vogel A, Fuster J, Ayuso C, Bruix J. Evidence and choice: The BCLC vision for tailoring clinical decision-making. J Hepatol. 2024 Oct; 81(4):e176-e177.  View on PubMed
  14. Hassan MM, Li D, Han Y, Byun J, Hatia RI, Long E, Choi J, Kelley RK, Cleary SP, Lok AS, Bracci P, Permuth JB, Bucur R, Yuan JM, Singal AG, Jalal PK, Ghobrial RM, Santella RM, Kono Y, Shah DP, Nguyen MH, Liu G, Parikh ND, Kim R, Wu HC, El-Serag H, Chang P, Li Y, Chun YS, Lee SS, Gu J, Hawk E, Sun R, Huff C, Rashid A, Amin HM, Beretta L, Wolff RA, Antwi SO, Patt Y, Hwang LY, Klein AP, Zhang K, Schmidt MA, White DL, Goss JA, Khaderi SA, Marrero JA, Cigarroa FG, Shah PK, Kaseb AO, Roberts LR, Amos CI. Genome-wide association study identifies high-impact susceptibility loci for HCC in North America. Hepatology. 2024 07 01; 80(1):87-101.  View on PubMed
  15. Yau T, Kaseb A, Cheng AL, Qin S, Zhu AX, Chan SL, Melkadze T, Sukeepaisarnjaroen W, Breder V, Verset G, Gane E, Borbath I, Rangel JDG, Ryoo BY, Makharadze T, Merle P, Benzaghou F, Milwee S, Wang Z, Curran D, Kelley RK, Rimassa L. Cabozantinib plus atezolizumab versus sorafenib for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (COSMIC-312): final results of a randomised phase 3 study. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2024 Apr; 9(4):310-322.  View on PubMed
  16. Llovet JM, Kelley RK, Villanueva A, Singal AG, Pikarsky E, Roayaie S, Lencioni R, Koike K, Zucman-Rossi J, Finn RS. Author Correction: Hepatocellular carcinoma. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2024 Feb 12; 10(1):10.  View on PubMed
  17. Kelley RK. Durvalumab Plus Tremelimumab for First-Line Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Gastroenterol Hepatol (N Y). 2024 Feb; 20(2):119-122.  View on PubMed
  18. Xie E, Yeo YH, Scheiner B, Zhang Y, Hiraoka A, Tantai X, Fessas P, de Castro T, D'Alessio A, Fulgenzi CAM, Xu S, Tsai HM, Kambhampati S, Wang W, Keenan BP, Gao X, Xing Z, Pinter M, Lin YJ, Guo Z, Vogel A, Tanaka T, Kuo HY, Kelley RK, Kudo M, Yang JD, Pinato DJ, Ji F. Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors for Child-Pugh Class B Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. JAMA Oncol. 2023 Oct 01; 9(10):1423-1431.  View on PubMed
  19. Abou-Alfa GK, Lau G, Kudo M, Chan SL, Kelley RK, Furuse J, Sukeepaisarnjaroen W, Kang YK, Dao TV, De Toni EN, Rimassa L, Breder V, Vasilyev A, Heurgué A, Tam VC, Mody K, Thungappa SC, Ostapenko Y, Yau T, Azevedo S, Varela M, Cheng AL, Qin S, Galle PR, Ali S, Gupta C, Makowsky M, Kurland JF, Negro A, Sangro B. Plain language summary of the HIMALAYA study: tremelimumab and durvalumab for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer). Future Oncol. 2023 Dec; 19(38):2505-2516.  View on PubMed
  20. Song X, Kelley RK, Green M, Standifer N, Lim K, Zhou D, Dunyak J, Negro A, Kurland JF, Ren S, Khan AA, Gibbs M, Abou-Alfa GK. Modeling of Proliferating CD4 and CD8 T-Cell Changes to Tremelimumab Exposure in Patients with Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2023 10; 114(4):874-882.  View on PubMed

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