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

  • June 6, 2022 - May 31, 2027 - Integrating Epigenetic Modulation into DNA Damage Repair , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R01CA255613
  • August 5, 1999 - May 31, 2023 - Cancer Center Support Grant , Co-Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P30CA082103
  • 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
  • February 6, 2006 - July 31, 2008 - Potentiation of Topo Inhibitors by the HDACi, SAHA , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R21CA112913
  • September 30, 2004 - May 31, 2007 - Potentiation of Topo Inhibitors by HDAC Inhibitors , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R21CA105875

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. Thomas S, Roche E, Desai P, Pawlowska N, Bauer D, Gingrich D, Hsu E, Deitchman AN, Aweeka F, Munster PN. Characterizing safety, toxicity, and breast cancer risk reduction using a long-term fulvestrant eluting implant. Sci Rep. 2025 Jan 24; 15(1):3028.  View on PubMed
  2. Pacaud R, Thomas S, Chaudhuri S, Lazar A, Timmerman LA, Munster PN. Low dose DNA methyltransferase inhibitors potentiate PARP inhibitors in homologous recombination repair deficient tumors. Breast Cancer Res. 2025 Jan 16; 27(1):8.  View on PubMed
  3. Ribrag V, Iglesias L, De Braud F, Ma B, Yokota T, Zander T, Spreafico A, Subbiah V, Illert AL, Tan D, Santoro A, Munster PN, Suehiro Y, Wang Y, Ji DM, Chen S, Beltz K, Suenaga N, Ramkumar T, Luo F, Lai C, Wainberg ZA. A first-in-human phase 1/2 dose-escalation study of MAK683 (EED inhibitor) in patients with advanced malignancies. Eur J Cancer. 2025 Feb 05; 216:115122.  View on PubMed
  4. Kim J, Munster PN. Estrogens and breast cancer. Ann Oncol. 2025 Feb; 36(2):134-148.  View on PubMed
  5. Tsang ES, Aggarwal RR, Bergsland EK, Calabrese S, Rozie A, Chaudhuri S, Dhawan MS, Pawlowska N, Grabowsky J, Thomas S, Munster PN. Updated Survival Follow-Up for Phase Ib Trial of the Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor Abexinostat With Pazopanib in Patients With Solid Tumor Malignancies. JCO Precis Oncol. 2024 Nov; 8:e2400328.  View on PubMed
  6. Chen CT, Khanna V, Kummar S, Abdul-Karim RM, Sommerhalder D, Tolcher AW, Ueno NT, Davis SL, Orr DW, Hamilton E, Patel MR, Spira AI, Jauhari S, Florou V, Duff M, Xu R, Wang J, Barkund SR, Zhou H, Pankov A, Kong W, Jahchan NS, Jackson EL, Sun JD, Junttila MR, Multani PS, Daemen A, Chow Maneval E, Munster PN. ORIC-101, a Glucocorticoid Receptor Antagonist, in Combination with Nab-Paclitaxel in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors. Cancer Res Commun. 2024 09 01; 4(9):2415-2426.  View on PubMed
  7. Maldonado E, Rathmell WK, Shapiro GI, Takebe N, Rodon J, Mahalingam D, Trikalinos NA, Kalebasty AR, Parikh M, Boerner SA, Balido C, Krings G, Burns TF, Bergsland EK, Munster PN, Ashworth A, LoRusso P, Aggarwal RR. A Phase II Trial of the WEE1 Inhibitor Adavosertib in SETD2-Altered Advanced Solid Tumor Malignancies (NCI 10170). Cancer Res Commun. 2024 07 01; 4(7):1793-1801.  View on PubMed
  8. 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
  9. Yarchoan M, Powderly JD, Bastos BR, Karasic TB, Crysler OV, Munster PN, McKean MA, Emens LA, Saenger YM, Ged Y, Stagg R, Smith S, Whiting CC, Moon A, Prasit P, Jenkins Y, Standifer N, Dubensky TW, Whiting SH, Ulahannan SV. First-in-human Phase I Trial of TPST-1120, an Inhibitor of PPARα, as Monotherapy or in Combination with Nivolumab, in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors. Cancer Res Commun. 2024 04 18; 4(4):1100-1110.  View on PubMed
  10. Munster P, Iannotti N, Cho DC, Kirkwood JM, Villaruz LC, Gibney GT, Hodi FS, Mettu NB, Jones M, Bowman J, Smith M, Lakshminarayanan M, O'Day S. Correction: Combination of Itacitinib or Parsaclisib with Pembrolizumab in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors: A Phase I Study. Cancer Res Commun. 2024 Mar 13; 4(3):785.  View on PubMed
  11. Carneiro BA, Cavalcante L, Mahalingam D, Saeed A, Safran H, Ma WW, Coveler AL, Powell S, Bastos B, Davis E, Sahai V, Mikrut W, Longstreth J, Smith S, Weisskittel T, Li H, Borden BA, Harvey RD, Sahebjam S, Cervantes A, Koukol A, Mazar AP, Steeghs N, Kurzrock R, Giles FJ, Munster P. Phase I Study of Elraglusib (9-ING-41), a Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3β Inhibitor, as Monotherapy or Combined with Chemotherapy in Patients with Advanced Malignancies. Clin Cancer Res. 2024 02 01; 30(3):522-531.  View on PubMed
  12. Munster P, Iannotti N, Cho DC, Kirkwood JM, Villaruz LC, Gibney GT, Hodi FS, Mettu NB, Jones M, Bowman J, Smith M, Lakshminarayanan M, O'Day S. Combination of Itacitinib or Parsaclisib with Pembrolizumab in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors: A Phase I Study. Cancer Res Commun. 2023 12 19; 3(12):2572-2584.  View on PubMed
  13. Razak ARA, Wang HM, Chang JY, Ahn MJ, Munster P, Blumenschein G, Solomon B, Lim DW, Hong RL, Pfister D, Saba NF, Lee SH, van Herpen C, Quadt C, Bootle D, Blumenstein L, Demanse D, Delord JP. A Phase 1b/2 Study of Alpelisib in Combination with Cetuximab in Patients with Recurrent or Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Target Oncol. 2023 Nov; 18(6):853-868.  View on PubMed
  14. Thomas S, Roche E, Desai P, Pawlowska N, Bauer D, Gingrich D, Hsu E, Deitchman AN, Aweeka F, Munster PN. A long-term fulvestrant eluting implant is safe, non-toxic, and reduces the risk of breast cancer in in vivo models. Res Sq. 2023 Oct 23.  View on PubMed
  15. Nguyen HG, van den Berg NS, Antaris AL, Xue L, Greenberg S, Rosenthal JW, Muchnik A, Klaassen A, Simko JP, Dutta S, Sorger JM, Munster P, Carroll PR. First-in-human Evaluation of a Prostate-specific Membrane Antigen-targeted Near-infrared Fluorescent Small Molecule for Fluorescence-based Identification of Prostate Cancer in Patients with High-risk Prostate Cancer Undergoing Robotic-assisted Prostatectomy. Eur Urol Oncol. 2024 Feb; 7(1):63-72.  View on PubMed
  16. Tsang ES, Munster PN. Vaccinia (Smallpox) for the Treatment of Ovarian Cancer-Turning an Old Foe Into a Friend? JAMA Oncol. 2023 07 01; 9(7):894-896.  View on PubMed
  17. Raj N, Chan JA, Wang SJ, Aggarwal RR, Calabrese S, DeMore A, Fong L, Grabowsky J, Hope TA, Kolli KP, Mulvey CK, Munster PN, Perez K, Punn S, Reidy-Lagunes D, Von Fedak S, Zhang L, Bergsland EK. Pembrolizumab alone and pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy in previously treated, extrapulmonary poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinomas. Br J Cancer. 2023 08; 129(2):291-300.  View on PubMed
  18. Li X, Chung CI, Yang J, Chaudhuri S, Munster PN, Shu X. ATM-SPARK: A GFP phase separation-based activity reporter of ATM. Sci Adv. 2023 03; 9(9):eade3760.  View on PubMed
  19. Tsang ES, Munster PN. Targeting RAD51-Mediated Homologous Recombination as a Treatment for Advanced Solid and Hematologic Malignancies: Opportunities and Challenges Ahead. Onco Targets Ther. 2022; 15:1509-1518.  View on PubMed
  20. Munster PN, Greenstein AE, Fleming GF, Borazanci E, Sharma MR, Custodio JM, Tudor IC, Pashova HI, Shepherd SP, Grauer A, Sachdev JC. Overcoming Taxane Resistance: Preclinical and Phase 1 Studies of Relacorilant, a Selective Glucocorticoid Receptor Modulator, with Nab-Paclitaxel in Solid Tumors. Clin Cancer Res. 2022 08 02; 28(15):3214-3224.  View on PubMed

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