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. Northrop A, Christofferson A, Umashankar S, Melisko M, Castillo P, Brown T, Heditsian D, Brain S, Simmons C, Hieken T, Ruddy KJ, Mainor C, Afghahi A, Tevis S, Blaes A, Kang I, Asare A, Esserman L, Hershman DL, Basu A. Implementation and impact of an electronic patient reported outcomes system in a phase II multi-site adaptive platform clinical trial for early-stage breast cancer. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2025 Jan 01; 32(1):172-180.  View on PubMed
  2. Sanft T, Day AT, Goldman M, Ansbaugh S, Armenian S, Baker KS, Ballinger TJ, Demark-Wahnefried W, Fairman NP, Feliciano J, Flores TF, Friedman DL, Gabel N, Hill-Kayser C, Koura D, Lee K, Lee N, McDonough AL, Melisko M, Mooney K, Moore HCF, Moryl N, Neuman H, Overholser L, Patel C, Peterson L, Pirl W, Porpiglia A, Schapira L, Schwartz A, Smith S, Tevaarwerk A, Von Ah D, Wake R, Yang E, Zee P, McMillian N, Freedman-Cass D. NCCN Guidelines® Insights: Survivorship, Version 2.2024. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2024 12; 22(10):648-658.  View on PubMed
  3. Oppegaard KR, Conley YP, Paul S, Cooper B, Harris CS, Shin J, Morse L, Levine JD, Cartwright F, Roy R, Melisko M, Kober KM, Hammer MJ, Miaskowski C. Self-reported cancer-related cognitive impairment is associated with perturbed neurotransmission pathways. J Neural Transm (Vienna). 2025 Feb; 132(2):275-286.  View on PubMed
  4. Jacob S, Christofferson A, Fisch S, Norwood P, Castillo P, Yu H, Hirst G, Soliman H, Nanda R, Mukhtar RA, Ewing C, Majure M, Melisko M, Rugo HS, Esserman L, Price E, Chien AJ. Regional lymph node changes on breast MRI in patients with early-stage breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2025 Jan; 209(1):147-159.  View on PubMed
  5. Freedman RA, Heiling HM, Li T, Trapani D, Tayob N, Smith KL, Davis R, Pereslete AM, DeMeo MK, Cotter C, Chen WY, Parsons HA, Santa-Maria CA, Van Poznak C, Moy B, Brufsky AM, Melisko ME, O'Sullivan CC, Ashai N, Rauf Y, Nangia JR, Burns RT, Savoie J, Wolff AC, Winer EP, Rimawi MF, Krop IE, Lin NU. Neratinib and ado-trastuzumab emtansine for pretreated and untreated human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer brain metastases: Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium trial 022. Ann Oncol. 2024 Nov; 35(11):993-1002.  View on PubMed
  6. 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
  7. 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
  8. Oppegaard KR, Mayo SJ, Armstrong TS, Dokiparthi V, Melisko M, Levine JD, Olshen AB, Anguera JA, Roy R, Paul S, Cooper B, Conley YP, Hammer MJ, Miaskowski C, Kober KM. Neurodegenerative disease pathways are perturbed in patients with cancer who self-report cognitive changes and anxiety: A pathway impact analysis. Cancer. 2024 Aug 15; 130(16):2834-2847.  View on PubMed
  9. Abel MK, Wang A, Letourneau JM, Melisko ME, Cedars MI, Rosen MP. Changing the Perspective on Fertility Preservation for Women with Metastatic or Advanced Stage Cancer. Curr Oncol Rep. 2024 Jun; 26(6):583-592.  View on PubMed
  10. Smith KL, Mead-Harvey C, Mazza GL, Shinn EH, Frank ES, Melisko ME, Eaton C, Liu Y, Salamone JM, Pollastro T, Spears PA, Caston NE, Wolff AC, Rocque GB. TBCRC 057: Survey about willingness to participate in cancer clinical trials during the pandemic. Cancer Med. 2024 Mar; 13(5):e7090.  View on PubMed
  11. Albain KS, Yau C, Petricoin EF, Wolf DM, Lang JE, Chien AJ, Haddad T, Forero-Torres A, Wallace AM, Kaplan H, Pusztai L, Euhus D, Nanda R, Elias AD, Clark AS, Godellas C, Boughey JC, Isaacs C, Tripathy D, Lu J, Yung RL, Gallagher RI, Wulfkuhle JD, Brown-Swigart L, Krings G, Chen YY, Potter DA, Stringer-Reasor E, Blair S, Asare SM, Wilson A, Hirst GL, Singhrao R, Buxton M, Clennell JL, Sanil A, Berry S, Asare AL, Matthews JB, DeMichele AM, Hylton NM, Melisko M, Perlmutter J, Rugo HS, Symmans WF, Van't Veer LJ, Yee D, Berry DA, Esserman LJ. Neoadjuvant Trebananib plus Paclitaxel-based Chemotherapy for Stage II/III Breast Cancer in the Adaptively Randomized I-SPY2 Trial-Efficacy and Biomarker Discovery. Clin Cancer Res. 2024 02 16; 30(4):729-740.  View on PubMed
  12. Chen JJ, Zhu I, Patel A, Krings G, Chen YY, Yuen F, Mukhtar RA, Melisko M, Singer L, Park CC, Prionas ND. Management of Concurrent Malignant Phyllodes Tumor and Invasive Breast Carcinoma. Adv Radiat Oncol. 2024 May; 9(5):101448.  View on PubMed
  13. Friedman CF, D'Souza A, Bello Roufai D, Tinker AV, de Miguel M, Gambardella V, Goldman J, Loi S, Melisko ME, Oaknin A, Spanggaard I, Shapiro GI, ElNaggar AC, Panni S, Ravichandran V, Frazier AL, DiPrimeo D, Eli LD, Solit DB. Targeting HER2-mutant metastatic cervical cancer with neratinib: Final results from the phase 2 SUMMIT basket trial. Gynecol Oncol. 2024 02; 181:162-169.  View on PubMed
  14. 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
  15. Lassen MCH, Arya F, Biering-Sørensen T, Reeh JLT, Melisko ME, Sarwary S, Baik AH, Aras MA, Qasim A. Left atrial strain is reduced following trastuzumab in breast cancer patients. Echocardiography. 2024 Jan; 41(1):e15751.  View on PubMed
  16. Umashankar S, Basu A, Esserman L, Van't Veer L, Melisko ME. Concordance between patient-reported and physician-documented comorbidities and symptoms among Stage 4 breast cancer patients. Cancer Med. 2023 11; 12(22):20906-20917.  View on PubMed
  17. Siwik CJ, Jhaveri K, Cohen JA, Barulich M, Chang A, Levin AO, Goyal NG, Melisko M, Chesney MA, Shumay D. Survivorship wellness: a multidisciplinary group program for cancer survivors. Support Care Cancer. 2023 Oct 26; 31(12):655.  View on PubMed
  18. 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
  19. 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
  20. 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

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