Research Summary

Dr. Michelle E. Melisko is a cancer specialist with expertise in breast cancer treatment and research. She is interested in testing new chemotherapy combinations, biological therapies and immunotherapies for breast cancer, with a particular focus on treatment of cancer that has spread to the brain. She also hopes to educate patients and encourage their participation in clinical trials to make more rapid advances in breast cancer treatment.

Melisko earned a medical degree at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine and completed a residency in internal medicine at Stanford Hospital and Clinics and a fellowship in hematology and oncology at UCSF Medical Center.

Education

Duke University, B.S., Psychology / Neuroscience & Russian, 8/88-9/91
Wake Forest University School of Medicine, MD, 8/93-5/97
Resident in Internal Medicine, Stanford University Hospital, 6/97-6/00

Honors & Awards

  • 1991
    Howard Hughes Undergraduate Research Grant
  • 1993
    Graylyn Scholar
  • 1997
    Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society
  • 1997
    M. Robert Cooper Award for Excellence and Interest in Oncology
  • 2003
    ASCO Merit Award Recipient
  • 2004
    Breast Cancer Spore Career Development Award
  • 2006
    UCSF General Clinical Research Center CreFF Award

Selected Publications

  1. Sanft T, Day A, Ansbaugh S, Armenian S, Baker KS, Ballinger T, Demark-Wahnefried W, Dickinson K, Fairman NP, Felciano J, Flores TF, Friedman DL, Gabel NM, Goldman M, Henry NL, Hill-Kayser C, Hudson M, Koura D, Lee K, McDonough AL, Melisko M, Mooney K, Moore HCF, Moryl N, Neuman H, O'Connor T, Overholser L, Paskett ED, Patel C, Peterson L, Pirl W, Porpiglia A, Rodriguez MA, Schapira L, Schwartz AL, Smith S, Tevaarwerk A, Yang E, Zee P, McMillian NR, Freedman-Cass DA. NCCN Guidelines® Insights: Survivorship, Version 1.2023. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2023 08; 21(8):792-803.  View on PubMed
  2. Jacob S, Johnson M, Roque B, Quintal L, Rugo HS, Melisko M, Chien AJ. Crofelemer for the Management of Neratinib-Associated Diarrhea in Patients With HER2+ Early-Stage Breast Cancer. Clin Breast Cancer. 2023 10; 23(7):721-728.  View on PubMed
  3. 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
  4. Kumthekar PU, Avram MJ, Lassman AB, Lin NU, Lee E, Grimm SA, Schwartz M, Bell Burdett KL, Lukas RV, Dixit K, Perron I, Zhang H, Gradishar WJ, Pentsova EI, Jeyapalan S, Groves MD, Melisko M, Raizer JJ. A phase I/II study of intrathecal trastuzumab in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive (HER2-positive) cancer with leptomeningeal metastases: Safety, efficacy, and cerebrospinal fluid pharmacokinetics. Neuro Oncol. 2023 03 14; 25(3):557-565.  View on PubMed
  5. Lang JE, Forero-Torres A, Yee D, Yau C, Wolf D, Park J, Parker BA, Chien AJ, Wallace AM, Murthy R, Albain KS, Ellis ED, Beckwith H, Haley BB, Elias AD, Boughey JC, Yung RL, Isaacs C, Clark AS, Han HS, Nanda R, Khan QJ, Edmiston KK, Stringer-Reasor E, Price E, Joe B, Liu MC, Brown-Swigart L, Petricoin EF, Wulfkuhle JD, Buxton M, Clennell JL, Sanil A, Berry S, Asare SM, Wilson A, Hirst GL, Singhrao R, Asare AL, Matthews JB, Melisko M, Perlmutter J, Rugo HS, Symmans WF, van 't Veer LJ, Hylton NM, DeMichele AM, Berry DA, Esserman LJ. Safety and efficacy of HSP90 inhibitor ganetespib for neoadjuvant treatment of stage II/III breast cancer. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2022 Dec 01; 8(1):128.  View on PubMed
  6. Huppert LA, Walker Z, Li M, Kim MO, Callan J, Brandman D, Majure M, Melisko ME, Rugo HS, Behr S, Chien AJ. Clinical characteristics and outcomes in patients with metastatic breast cancer and pseudocirrhosis: a single center retrospective cohort study. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2023 Jan; 197(1):137-148.  View on PubMed
  7. Abel MK, Shui AM, Chien AJ, Rugo HS, Melisko M, Baehner F, Mukhtar RA. ASO Visual Abstract: The 21-Gene Recurrence Score in Clinically High Risk Lobular and Ductal Breast Cancer-A National Cancer Database Study. Ann Surg Oncol. 2022 Nov; 29(12):7750.  View on PubMed
  8. Rugo HS, Cortes J, Barrios CH, Cabrera P, Xu B, Huang CS, Kim SB, Melisko M, Nanda R, Pienkowski T, Rapoport BL, Schwab R. GLORIA: phase III, open-label study of adagloxad simolenin/OBI-821 in patients with high-risk triple-negative breast cancer. Future Oncol. 2022 Oct 21.  View on PubMed
  9. Sheng Y, Carpenter JS, Smith BJ, Paul SM, Melisko M, Moslehi J, Levine JD, Conley YP, Kober KM, Miaskowski C. A Pilot Study of Associations Between the Occurrence of Palpitations and Cytokine Gene Variations in Women Prior to Breast Cancer Surgery. Biol Res Nurs. 2023 04; 25(2):289-299.  View on PubMed
  10. Sanft T, Day A, Peterson L, Rodriguez MA, Ansbaugh S, Armenian S, Baker KS, Ballinger T, Broderick G, Demark-Wahnefried W, Dickinson K, Fairman NP, Friedman DL, Goldman M, Henry NL, Hill-Kayser C, Hudson M, Khakpour N, Koura D, McDonough AL, Melisko M, Mooney K, Moore HCF, Moryl N, Neuman H, O'Connor T, Overholser L, Paskett ED, Patel C, Pirl W, Porpiglia A, Ruddy KJ, Schapira L, Shockney L, Smith S, Syrjala KL, Tevaarwerk A, Yang EH, Zee P, McMillian NR, Freedman-Cass DA. NCCN Guidelines® Insights: Survivorship, Version 1.2022. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2022 10; 20(10):1080-1090.  View on PubMed
  11. Haas ND, Viele C, Paul SM, Abrams G, Smoot B, Melisko M, Levine JD, Miaskowski C, Kober KM. Polymorphisms in Cytokine Receptor and Regulator Genes are Associated with Levels of Exercise in Women Prior to Breast Cancer Surgery. Biol Res Nurs. 2023 Jan; 25(1):76-87.  View on PubMed
  12. Abel MK, Shui AM, Chien AJ, Rugo HS, Melisko M, Baehner F, Mukhtar RA. The 21-Gene Recurrence Score in Clinically High-Risk Lobular and Ductal Breast Cancer: A National Cancer Database Study. Ann Surg Oncol. 2022 Nov; 29(12):7739-7747.  View on PubMed
  13. Allemann-Su YY, Vetter M, Koechlin H, Paul SM, Cooper BA, Oppegaard K, Melisko M, Levine JD, Conley Y, Miaskowski C, Katapodi MC. Pre-Surgery Demographic, Clinical, and Symptom Characteristics Associated with Different Self-Reported Cognitive Processes in Patients with Breast Cancer. Cancers (Basel). 2022 Jul 05; 14(13).  View on PubMed
  14. Umashankar S, Mamounas ME, Matthys M, Hadeler EK, Wong EC, Hicks G, Hwang J, Chien AJ, Rugo HS, Hamolsky D, Esserman L, Melisko M. Evaluation of the Pathways for Survivors Program to Address Breast Cancer Survivorship-Associated Distress: Survey Study. JMIR Cancer. 2022 Feb 25; 8(1):e31756.  View on PubMed
  15. Moy S, Kober KM, Viele C, Paul SM, Hammer M, Melisko M, Wright F, Conley YP, Levine JD, Miaskowski C. Level of Exercise Influences the Severity of Fatigue, Energy Levels, and Sleep Disturbance in Oncology Outpatients Receiving Chemotherapy. Cancer Nurs. 2022 Jan-Feb 01; 45(1):3-11.  View on PubMed
  16. Abel MK, Shui AM, Melisko M, Chien AJ, Yoshida EJ, Lancaster EM, Van 't Veer L, Esserman LJ, Mukhtar RA. The incidence of discordant clinical and genomic risk in patients with invasive lobular or ductal carcinoma of the breast: a National Cancer Database Study. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2021 Dec 21; 7(1):156.  View on PubMed
  17. Dreher N, Matthys M, Hadeler E, Shieh Y, Acerbi I, McAuley FM, Melisko M, Eklund M, Tice JA, Esserman LJ, Veer LJV. A case-case analysis of women with breast cancer: predictors of interval vs screen-detected cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2022 Feb; 191(3):623-629.  View on PubMed
  18. Clark AS, Yau C, Wolf DM, Petricoin EF, van 't Veer LJ, Yee D, Moulder SL, Wallace AM, Chien AJ, Isaacs C, Boughey JC, Albain KS, Kemmer K, Haley BB, Han HS, Forero-Torres A, Elias A, Lang JE, Ellis ED, Yung R, Tripathy D, Nanda R, Wulfkuhle JD, Brown-Swigart L, Gallagher RI, Helsten T, Roesch E, Ewing CA, Alvarado M, Crane EP, Buxton M, Clennell JL, Paoloni M, Asare SM, Wilson A, Hirst GL, Singhrao R, Steeg K, Asare A, Matthews JB, Berry S, Sanil A, Melisko M, Perlmutter J, Rugo HS, Schwab RB, Symmans WF, Hylton NM, Berry DA, Esserman LJ, DeMichele AM. Neoadjuvant T-DM1/pertuzumab and paclitaxel/trastuzumab/pertuzumab for HER2+ breast cancer in the adaptively randomized I-SPY2 trial. Nat Commun. 2021 11 05; 12(1):6428.  View on PubMed
  19. Abel MK, Melisko ME, Rugo HS, Chien AJ, Diaz I, Levine JK, Griffin A, McGuire J, Esserman LJ, Borno HT, Mukhtar RA. Decreased enrollment in breast cancer trials by histologic subtype: does invasive lobular carcinoma resist RECIST? NPJ Breast Cancer. 2021 Oct 25; 7(1):139.  View on PubMed
  20. Yee D, Isaacs C, Wolf DM, Yau C, Haluska P, Giridhar KV, Forero-Torres A, Jo Chien A, Wallace AM, Pusztai L, Albain KS, Ellis ED, Beckwith H, Haley BB, Elias AD, Boughey JC, Kemmer K, Yung RL, Pohlmann PR, Tripathy D, Clark AS, Han HS, Nanda R, Khan QJ, Edmiston KK, Petricoin EF, Stringer-Reasor E, Falkson CI, Majure M, Mukhtar RA, Helsten TL, Moulder SL, Robinson PA, Wulfkuhle JD, Brown-Swigart L, Buxton M, Clennell JL, Paoloni M, Sanil A, Berry S, Asare SM, Wilson A, Hirst GL, Singhrao R, Asare AL, Matthews JB, Hylton NM, DeMichele A, Melisko M, Perlmutter J, Rugo HS, Fraser Symmans W, Van't Veer LJ, Berry DA, Esserman LJ. Ganitumab and metformin plus standard neoadjuvant therapy in stage 2/3 breast cancer. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2021 Oct 05; 7(1):131.  View on PubMed

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