Research Summary

My clinical research interests are first-in-human early phase clinical trials of novel compounds and alternative strategies for the treatment and prevention of cancer. I have been involved in clinical and translational research in early phase clinical trials since 1998. As the program leader for Development Therapeutics and the PI of a peer-reviewed basic science lab, my main focus is on translating preclinical findings into early-stage clinical trials with extensive PK and integration of PD correlative studies and molecular imaging for patients with advanced stage cancer.

My basic research interest is centered on the role of epigenetic modification in therapy resistance in breast cancer and epigenetic priming. In addition to studying basic mechanisms of hormone therapy resistance, we have shown that epigenetic modification plays a crucial role in the hormonal regulation and carcinogenesis of breast cancer.

Research Funding

  • July 1, 2017 - May 31, 2022 - Developing silastic-silicone for the local delivery of hormonal therapy to prevent and treat breast cancer , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA220131
  • May 12, 2014 - February 29, 2020 - Translating HP 13C MRI as a Novel Paradigm for Assessing Drug Target Inhibition , Co-Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA183071
  • September 19, 2011 - July 31, 2017 - The role of HDAC2 in hormone therapy resistance , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA152989
  • May 18, 2007 - July 31, 2012 - The Role of Selective HDAC Enzymes in Drug Sensitivity , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA122657

Education

Kantonsschule Sargans, Switzerland, Baccalaureate, 1983, Sciences, Liberal Arts
University of Bern Switzerland, Doctorate, 1990, Medicine
University of Bern Switzerland, MD Thesis, 1992, Medicine

Honors & Awards

  • 1998
    John Mendelsohn House staff Teaching Award
  • 1999
    AACR-AFLAC Young Investigators Scholar Award 1999
  • 2000, 2001
    Byrne Fund Award
  • 2003-2005
    Don Shula Career Development Award, 2003-2005
  • 2007-2008
    Greatest Number of Investigator-Initiated Trials Written & Implemented, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute
  • 2008
    Research Highlights, Department of Defense, Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs

Selected Publications

  1. Munster PN, Greenstein AE, Fleming GF, Borazanci E, Sharma MR, Custodio JM, Tudor IC, Pashova HI, Peacock Shepherd S, Grauer A, Sachdev JC. Overcoming Taxane Resistance: Preclinical and Phase 1 Studies of Relacorilant, a Selective Glucocorticoid Receptor Antagonist, with Nab-Paclitaxel in Solid Tumors. Clin Cancer Res. 2022 May 18.  View on PubMed
  2. Modlin EW, Slavotinek AM, Darling TN, Lipkowitz S, Barr FG, Munster PN, Biesecker LG, Ours CA. Late-onset Proteus syndrome with cerebriform connective tissue nevus and subsequent development of intraductal papilloma. Am J Med Genet A. 2022 Apr 20.  View on PubMed
  3. Odia Y, Cavalcante L, Safran H, Powell SF, Munster PN, Ma WW, Carneiro BA, Bastos BR, Mikrut S, Mikrut W, Giles FJ, Sahebjam S. Malignant glioma subset from actuate 1801: Phase I/II study of 9-ING-41, GSK-3β inhibitor, monotherapy or combined with chemotherapy for refractory malignancies. Neurooncol Adv. 2022 Jan-Dec; 4(1):vdac012.  View on PubMed
  4. Pivonello R, Munster PN, Terzolo M, Ferrigno R, Simeoli C, Puglisi S, Bali U, Moraitis AG. Glucocorticoid Receptor Antagonism Upregulates Somatostatin Receptor Subtype 2 Expression in ACTH-Producing Neuroendocrine Tumors: New Insight Based on the Selective Glucocorticoid Receptor Modulator Relacorilant. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2021; 12:793262.  View on PubMed
  5. Fakih MG, Kopetz S, Kuboki Y, Kim TW, Munster PN, Krauss JC, Falchook GS, Han SW, Heinemann V, Muro K, Strickler JH, Hong DS, Denlinger CS, Girotto G, Lee MA, Henary H, Tran Q, Park JK, Ngarmchamnanrith G, Prenen H, Price TJ. Sotorasib for previously treated colorectal cancers with KRASG12C mutation (CodeBreaK100): a prespecified analysis of a single-arm, phase 2 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2022 01; 23(1):115-124.  View on PubMed
  6. Harding JJ, Telli M, Munster P, Voss MH, Infante JR, DeMichele A, Dunphy M, Le MH, Molineaux C, Orford K, Parlati F, Whiting SH, Bennett MK, Tannir NM, Meric-Bernstam F. A Phase I Dose-Escalation and Expansion Study of Telaglenastat in Patients with Advanced or Metastatic Solid Tumors. Clin Cancer Res. 2021 09 15; 27(18):4994-5003.  View on PubMed
  7. Wang VE, Blaser BW, Patel RK, Behbehani GK, Rao AA, Durbin-Johnson B, Jiang T, Logan AC, Settles M, Mannis GN, Olin R, Damon LE, Martin TG, Sayre PH, Gaensler KM, McMahon E, Flanders M, Weinberg V, Ye CJ, Carbone DP, Munster PN, Fragiadakis GK, McCormick F, Andreadis C. Inhibition of MET Signaling with Ficlatuzumab in Combination with Chemotherapy in Refractory AML: Clinical Outcomes and High-Dimensional Analysis. Blood Cancer Discov. 2021 09; 2(5):434-449.  View on PubMed
  8. Lee PM, Chen HY, Gordon JW, Zhu Z, Larson PEZ, Dwork N, Van Criekinge M, Carvajal L, Ohliger MA, Wang ZJ, Xu D, Kurhanewicz J, Bok RA, Aggarwal R, Munster PN, Vigneron DB. Specialized computational methods for denoising, B1 correction, and kinetic modeling in hyperpolarized 13 C MR EPSI studies of liver tumors. Magn Reson Med. 2021 11; 86(5):2402-2411.  View on PubMed
  9. Martin TG, Shah N, Richter J, Vesole DH, Wong SW, Huang CY, Madduri D, Jagannath S, Siegel DS, Biran N, Wolf JL, Parekh S, Cho HJ, Munster P, Richard S, Ziti-Ljajic S, Chari A. Phase 1b trial of isatuximab, an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody, in combination with carfilzomib as treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. Cancer. 2021 06 01; 127(11):1816-1826.  View on PubMed
  10. Bao R, Surriga O, Olson DJ, Allred JB, Strand CA, Zha Y, Carll T, Labadie BW, Bastos BR, Butler M, Hogg D, Musi E, Ambrosini G, Munster P, Schwartz GK, Luke JJ. Transcriptional analysis of metastatic uveal melanoma survival nominates NRP1 as a therapeutic target. Melanoma Res. 2021 02 01; 31(1):27-37.  View on PubMed
  11. Jelinek MJ, Foster NR, Zoroufy AJ, Schwartz GK, Munster PN, Seiwert TY, de Souza JA, Vokes EE. A phase I trial adding poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitor veliparib to induction carboplatin-paclitaxel in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: Alliance A091101. Oral Oncol. 2021 03; 114:105171.  View on PubMed
  12. Sachdev JC, Munster P, Northfelt DW, Han HS, Ma C, Maxwell F, Wang T, Belanger B, Zhang B, Moore Y, Thiagalingam A, Anders C. Phase I study of liposomal irinotecan in patients with metastatic breast cancer: findings from the expansion phase. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2021 Feb; 185(3):759-771.  View on PubMed
  13. De Souza A, Tavora FA, Mahalingam D, Munster PN, Safran HP, El-Deiry WS, Carneiro BA. Commentary: GSK-3 Inhibition as a Therapeutic Approach Against SARs CoV2: Dual Benefit of Inhibiting Viral Replication While Potentiating the Immune Response. Front Immunol. 2020; 11:595289.  View on PubMed
  14. Siu L, Brody J, Gupta S, Marabelle A, Jimeno A, Munster P, Grilley-Olson J, Rook AH, Hollebecque A, Wong RKS, Welsh JW, Wu Y, Morehouse C, Hamid O, Walcott F, Cooper ZA, Kumar R, Ferté C, Hong DS. Safety and clinical activity of intratumoral MEDI9197 alone and in combination with durvalumab and/or palliative radiation therapy in patients with advanced solid tumors. J Immunother Cancer. 2020 10; 8(2).  View on PubMed
  15. Hong DS, Fakih MG, Strickler JH, Desai J, Durm GA, Shapiro GI, Falchook GS, Price TJ, Sacher A, Denlinger CS, Bang YJ, Dy GK, Krauss JC, Kuboki Y, Kuo JC, Coveler AL, Park K, Kim TW, Barlesi F, Munster PN, Ramalingam SS, Burns TF, Meric-Bernstam F, Henary H, Ngang J, Ngarmchamnanrith G, Kim J, Houk BE, Canon J, Lipford JR, Friberg G, Lito P, Govindan R, Li BT. KRASG12C Inhibition with Sotorasib in Advanced Solid Tumors. N Engl J Med. 2020 09 24; 383(13):1207-1217.  View on PubMed
  16. Terranova-Barberio M, Pawlowska N, Dhawan M, Moasser M, Chien AJ, Melisko ME, Rugo H, Rahimi R, Deal T, Daud A, Rosenblum MD, Thomas S, Munster PN. Exhausted T cell signature predicts immunotherapy response in ER-positive breast cancer. Nat Commun. 2020 07 17; 11(1):3584.  View on PubMed
  17. Färkkilä A, Gulhan DC, Casado J, Jacobson CA, Nguyen H, Kochupurakkal B, Maliga Z, Yapp C, Chen YA, Schapiro D, Zhou Y, Graham JR, Dezube BJ, Munster P, Santagata S, Garcia E, Rodig S, Lako A, Chowdhury D, Shapiro GI, Matulonis UA, Park PJ, Hautaniemi S, Sorger PK, Swisher EM, D'Andrea AD, Konstantinopoulos PA. Author Correction: Immunogenomic profiling determines responses to combined PARP and PD-1 inhibition in ovarian cancer. Nat Commun. 2020 05 18; 11(1):2543.  View on PubMed
  18. Färkkilä A, Gulhan DC, Casado J, Jacobson CA, Nguyen H, Kochupurakkal B, Maliga Z, Yapp C, Chen YA, Schapiro D, Zhou Y, Graham JR, Dezube BJ, Munster P, Santagata S, Garcia E, Rodig S, Lako A, Chowdhury D, Shapiro GI, Matulonis UA, Park PJ, Hautaniemi S, Sorger PK, Swisher EM, D'Andrea AD, Konstantinopoulos PA. Immunogenomic profiling determines responses to combined PARP and PD-1 inhibition in ovarian cancer. Nat Commun. 2020 03 19; 11(1):1459.  View on PubMed
  19. Munster P, Mita M, Mahipal A, Nemunaitis J, Massard C, Mikkelsen T, Cruz C, Paz-Ares L, Hidalgo M, Rathkopf D, Blumenschein G, Smith DC, Eichhorst B, Cloughesy T, Filvaroff EH, Li S, Raymon H, de Haan H, Hege K, Bendell JC. First-In-Human Phase I Study Of A Dual mTOR Kinase And DNA-PK Inhibitor (CC-115) In Advanced Malignancy. Cancer Manag Res. 2019; 11:10463-10476.  View on PubMed
  20. Garrett SB, Matthews TM, Abramson CM, Koenig CJ, Hlubocky FJ, Daugherty CK, Munster PN, Dohan D. Before Consent: Qualitative Analysis of Deliberations of Patients With Advanced Cancer About Early-Phase Clinical Trials. JCO Oncol Pract. 2020 01; 16(1):e56-e63.  View on PubMed

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