Research Summary

Dr. Katy K. Tsai is a medical oncologist and clinical researcher who specializes in treating advanced melanoma and other non-melanoma skin cancers, such as squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and Merkel cell carcinoma.

Dr. Tsai graduated with a degree in comparative literature from Brown University before earning her medical degree from Brown. She completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, followed by a fellowship in medical oncology at UCSF, where she served as chief fellow, before joining UCSF faculty in the Melanoma & Skin Cancer Program.

Dr. Tsai is deeply committed to finding the best possible treatment options for her patients. As Site Committee Chair for her program, she works closely with her medical oncology, surgical oncology, and dermatology/dermatopathology colleagues to develop novel clinical trial options, and is also responsible for the curation of the Melanoma & Skin Cancer Program's clinical trial portfolio. She has a long-standing research interest in melanoma survivorship and in understanding the pathophysiology and best treatment practices for acute and chronic immune-related adverse events (irAEs).

Education

Brown University, BA, 2006, Comparative Literature
Brown University, MD, 2010, Medicine
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Resident, 2013, Internal Medicine
University of California, San Francisco, Fellow, 2016, Medical Oncology

Honors & Awards

  • 2010
    Research Honors in Urogynecology, Brown University, Providence, RI
  • 2013
    Chairman's Award in Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
  • 2014
    ASCO/AACR Workshop: Methods in Clinical Cancer Research
  • 2015
    Travel Award for Meritorious Abstract, American Society of Clinical Oncology 2015 Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL
  • 2016
    Young Investigator Travel Award, Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer 2016 Annual Meeting, National Harbor, MD

Selected Publications

  1. Menzies AM, Long GV, Kohn A, Tawbi H, Webe J, Flaherty K, McArthur GA, Ascierto PA, Pfluger Y, Lewis K, Tsai KK, Hamid O, Prenen H, Fein L, Wang E, Guenzel C, Zhang F, Kleh JF, di Pietro A, Davies MA. A plain language summary of POLARIS: a study to look at different doses of encorafenib plus binimetinib for people with BRAF V600-mutant melanoma with brain metastasis. Future Oncol. 2025 May 26; 1-9.  View on PubMed
  2. Mahuron KM, Shahid O, Sao P, Wu C, Haugh AM, Huppert LA, Levine LS, Lowe MM, Alvarado M, Micu M, Tsai KK, Chow M, Singer M, Schenkel JM, Sharpe AH, Rosenblum MD, Pauken KE, Daud AI. Single-Cell Analyses Reveal a Functionally Heterogeneous Exhausted CD8+ T-cell Subpopulation That Is Correlated with Response to Checkpoint Therapy in Melanoma. Cancer Res. 2025 Apr 15; 85(8):1424-1440.  View on PubMed
  3. Mei R, Pepe E, Oh DY, Tsai KK, Chugh R, Kattah MG. Symptomatic and Sonographic Improvement of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Enterocolitis With Risankizumab. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2025 Apr 10; 31(4):1182-1183.  View on PubMed
  4. Tsai KK, Chang AY, Abouzeid CM, Aras MA, Fang Q, Bibby D, Haghighat L, Hilton JF, Daud AI, Schiller NB. Longitudinal Evaluation of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor-Induced Fatigue Syndrome by Rest, Stress, and Speckle-Tracking Strain Echocardiography. Echocardiography. 2025 Apr; 42(4):e70158.  View on PubMed
  5. Swetter SM, Johnson D, Albertini MR, Barker CA, Bateni S, Baumgartner J, Bhatia S, Bichakjian C, Boland G, Chandra S, Chmielowski B, DiMaio D, Dronca R, Fields RC, Fleming MD, Galan A, Guild S, Hyngstrom J, Karakousis G, Kendra K, Kiuru M, Lange JR, Lanning R, Logan T, Olson D, Olszanski AJ, Ott PA, Ross MI, Rothermel L, Salama AK, Sharma R, Skitzki J, Smith E, Tsai K, Wuthrick E, Xing Y, McMillian N, Espinosa S. NCCN Guidelines® Insights: Melanoma: Cutaneous, Version 2.2024. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2024 07; 22(5):290-298.  View on PubMed
  6. Quandt Z, Jacob S, Fadlullah MZH, Wu C, Wu C, Huppert L, Levine LS, Sison P, Tsai KK, Chow M, Kang JH, Hwang J, Lee JC, Oglesby A, Venegas J, Brintz BJ, Tan AC, Anderson MS, Rosenblum MD, Young A, Daud AI. Phase II trial of pembrolizumab, ipilimumab, and aspirin in melanoma: clinical outcomes and translational predictors of response. BJC Rep. 2024 Jun 24; 2(1):46.  View on PubMed
  7. Silverstein J, Goyal N, Tsai KK. For the Long Haul: Management of Long-Term Survivors after Melanoma Systemic Therapy. Curr Oncol Rep. 2024 Jul; 26(7):804-817.  View on PubMed
  8. Haugh AM, Osorio RC, Francois RA, Tawil ME, Tsai KK, Tetzlaff M, Daud A, Vasudevan HN. Targeted DNA Sequencing of Cutaneous Melanoma Identifies Prognostic and Predictive Alterations. Cancers (Basel). 2024 Mar 29; 16(7).  View on PubMed
  9. Menzies AM, Long GV, Kohn A, Tawbi H, Weber J, Flaherty K, McArthur GA, Ascierto PA, Pfluger Y, Lewis K, Tsai KK, Hamid O, Prenen H, Fein L, Wang E, Guenzel C, Zhang F, Kleha JF, di Pietro A, Davies MA. POLARIS: A phase 2 trial of encorafenib plus binimetinib evaluating high-dose and standard-dose regimens in patients with BRAF V600-mutant melanoma with brain metastasis. Neurooncol Adv. 2024 Jan-Dec; 6(1):vdae033.  View on PubMed
  10. Wong P, Wisneski AD, Tsai KK, Chang TT, Hirose K, Nakakura EK, Daud AI, Maker AV, Corvera CU. Metastatic melanoma to small bowel: metastasectomy is supported in the era of immunotherapy and checkpoint inhibitors. World J Surg Oncol. 2024 Mar 11; 22(1):77.  View on PubMed
  11. Ballesteros O, Mark S, Block A, Mackin L, Paul S, Cooper B, Abbott M, Chang S, Hammer MJ, Levine J, Pozzar R, Snowberg K, Tsai K, Van Blarigan E, Van Loon K, Miaskowski CA. COVID-19 pandemic stress and cancer symptom burden. BMJ Support Palliat Care. 2024 Jan 08; 13(e3):e1351-e1362.  View on PubMed
  12. Hun Kwak J, Mackin LA, Block A, Paul SM, Cooper BA, Abbott M, Chang SM, Hammer MJ, Kober KM, Levine JD, Pozzar R, Rhoads KF, Snowberg KE, Tsai KK, Van Blarigan EL, Van Loon K, Miaskowski C. Risk Factors for a Higher Symptom Burden in Patients With Cancer During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Oncol Nurs Forum. 2023 08 17; 50(5):647-664.  View on PubMed
  13. Seth R, Agarwala SS, Messersmith H, Alluri KC, Ascierto PA, Atkins MB, Bollin K, Chacon M, Davis N, Faries MB, Funchain P, Gold JS, Guild S, Gyorki DE, Kaur V, Khushalani NI, Kirkwood JM, McQuade JL, Meyers MO, Provenzano A, Robert C, Santinami M, Sehdev A, Sondak VK, Spurrier G, Swami U, Truong TG, Tsai KK, van Akkooi A, Weber J. Systemic Therapy for Melanoma: ASCO Guideline Update. J Clin Oncol. 2023 10 20; 41(30):4794-4820.  View on PubMed
  14. Vasudevan HN, Delley C, Chen WC, Mirchia K, Pan S, Shukla P, Aabedi AA, Nguyen MP, Morshed RA, Young JS, Boreta L, Fogh SE, Nakamura JL, Theodosopoulos PV, Phillips J, Hervey-Jumper SL, Daras M, Pike L, Aghi MK, Tsai K, Raleigh DR, Braunstein SE, Abate AR. Molecular Features of Resected Melanoma Brain Metastases, Clinical Outcomes, and Responses to Immunotherapy. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 08 01; 6(8):e2329186.  View on PubMed
  15. Vasudevan HN, Susko MS, Ma L, Nakamura JL, Raleigh DR, Boreta L, Fogh S, Theodosopoulos PV, McDermott MW, Tsai KK, Sneed PK, Braunstein SE. Mutational Status and Clinical Outcomes Following Systemic Therapy with or without Focal Radiation for Resected Melanoma Brain Metastases. World Neurosurg. 2023 02; 170:e514-e519.  View on PubMed
  16. Smith JL, Menzies AM, Cohen JV, Mut-Lloret M, Ozgun A, Spain L, Park J, Quach HT, Pallan L, McQuade J, Feng S, Sandhu S, Atkinson V, Tsai K, Long GV, Larkin J, Eroglu Z, Johnson DB, Sullivan R, Herkes GK, Henderson A, Carlino MS. Neurological adverse effects associated with anti-PD1 antibodies alone or in combination with ipilimumab: a multicenter case series. Melanoma Res. 2022 12 01; 32(6):451-459.  View on PubMed
  17. Friedman CF, Spencer C, Cabanski CR, Panageas KS, Wells DK, Ribas A, Tawbi H, Tsai K, Postow M, Shoushtari A, Chapman P, Karakunnel J, Bucktrout S, Gherardini P, Hollmann TJ, Chen RO, Callahan M, LaVallee T, Ibrahim R, Wolchok J. Ipilimumab alone or in combination with nivolumab in patients with advanced melanoma who have progressed or relapsed on PD-1 blockade: clinical outcomes and translational biomarker analyses. J Immunother Cancer. 2022 01; 10(1).  View on PubMed
  18. Hepner A, Atkinson VG, Larkin J, Burrell RA, Carlino MS, Johnson DB, Zimmer L, Tsai KK, Klein O, Lo SN, Haydon A, Bhave P, Lyle M, Pallan L, Pires da Silva I, Gerard C, Michielin O, Long GV, Menzies AM. Re-induction ipilimumab following acquired resistance to combination ipilimumab and anti-PD-1 therapy. Eur J Cancer. 2021 08; 153:213-222.  View on PubMed
  19. Baik AH, Oluwole OO, Johnson DB, Shah N, Salem JE, Tsai KK, Moslehi JJ. Mechanisms of Cardiovascular Toxicities Associated With Immunotherapies. Circ Res. 2021 05 28; 128(11):1780-1801.  View on PubMed
  20. Miaskowski C, Paul SM, Snowberg K, Abbott M, Borno HT, Chang SM, Chen LM, Cohen B, Cooper BA, Hammer MJ, Kenfield SA, Kober KM, Laffan A, Levine JD, Pozzar R, Rhoads K, Tsai KK, Van Blarigan EL, Van Loon K. Loneliness and symptom burden in oncology patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cancer. 2021 09 01; 127(17):3246-3253.  View on PubMed

Go to UCSF Profiles, powered by CTSI