Research

 
 
 

In Patients with Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma, Immune Checkpoint Inhibition Prior to Enfortumab Vedotin Is Associated with High-grade Skin Toxicity. eur urol. 2023

Enfortumab vedotin (EV), a first-in-class antibody-drug conjugate targeting nectin-4, is approved for use in previously treated locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma [1].

 
 

Yield of sentinel lymph node biopsy in sebaceous carcinoma and predictors of advanced disease: A retrospective analysis of the National Cancer Database J Am Acad Dermatol 2023

To the Editor: Sebaceous carcinoma (SC) is a rare cutaneous malignancy with potential for lymph node or distant metastasis.

 

Health Care Utilization and Costs in Systemic Therapies for Metastatic Melanoma from 2016 to 2020. The oncologist 2022

Widespread implementation of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) and targeted therapies for metastatic melanoma has led to a decline in melanoma-related mortality but increased healthcare costs. We aimed to determine how healthcare utilization varied by systemic, non-adjuvant melanoma treatment from 2016 to 2020.

 

Risk factors for and prognostic impact of positive surgical margins after excision of Merkel cell carcinoma. J Am Acad Dermatol 2022.

Using the National Cancer Database we determined that having a positive surgical margin after excision in localized, stage N0 patients, was still prognostically worse, even when localized radiation was performed after the surgery.  This demonstrates that tumor involved surgical margins after wide local excision of localized tumors is an independent risk factor for decreased survival in Merkel cell carcinoma

 

Histologic subtype of cutaneous immune-related adverse events predicts overall survival in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors. JAAD. 2022

In a retrospective review of 95 cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors who developed treatment related rash who had skin biopsies, we determined that histologic rash subtype correlates with overall survival. Therefore, lichenoid and spongiotic rash histology may be a biomarker for an effective immune response against the tumor.

 

Utility of circulating tumor DNA testing in Merkel cell carcinoma patients.  Abstract 675.  SID May 2021.

A prospective analysis of serum from 25 MCC patients (35 samples) demonstrated 100% sensitivity and specificity for cell free tumor DNA (ctDNA) to identify active MCC disease. The smallest tumor checked was 0.6cm, which is a smaller tumor than can typically be identified using a PET-CT. This suggests that serial ctDNA blood draws may help rapidly identify tumor recurrence in MCC patients.

 

Chromatin accessibility landscapes of skin cells in systemic sclerosis nominate dendritic cells in disease pathogenesis. Nature communications 2020, 11(1):1-12.

Scleroderma is a complex autoimmune disease where it is not clear which cells are dysregulated and causing the skin and other organ fibrosis. We sorted cells out of normal, scleroderma lesional, and scleroderma unaffected skin samples and performed ATAC-seq on the cells to identify pathways, gene signatures and cells types that were correlated with disease activity.  Dendritic cells were ost correlated with skin fibrosis and disease associated SNPs.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Nguyen KA, Maloney NJ, Fonseca A, Nghiem P, Zaba LC: Response to "Mohs surgery for early-stage Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) achieves local control better than wide local excision +/- radiation therapy with no increase in MCC-specific death". Int J Dermatol 2021.

 

Maloney NJ, Yang JJ, Zaba LC: Merkel cell carcinoma patients with solid organ transplant or hematologic malignancy: Demographics, survival, and prognosticators. J Am Acad Dermatol 2021.

 

Winge M, Iberri D, Novoa R, Kwong B, Zaba LC: Telescope punch biopsy of normal-appearing skin to diagnose intravascular lymphoma. The British Journal of Dermatology 2021.

 

Nakamoto R, Zaba LC, Rosenberg J, Reddy SA, Nobashi TW, Ferri V, Davidzon G, Aparici CM, Nguyen J, Moradi F: Imaging Characteristics and Diagnostic Performance of 2-deoxy-2-[18 F] fluoro-d-Glucose PET/CT for Melanoma Patients Who Demonstrate Hyperprogressive Disease When Treated with Immunotherapy. Molecular Imaging and Biology 2021, 23(1):139-147.

 

Nakamoto R, Zaba LC, Liang T, Reddy SA, Davidzon G, Aparici CM, Nguyen J, Moradi F, Iagaru A, Franc BL: Prognostic value of bone marrow metabolism on pretreatment 18F-FDG PET/CT in patients with metastatic melanoma treated with anti-PD-1 therapy. Journal of Nuclear Medicine 2021.

 

Dou DR, Zhao Y, Abe B, Li R, Zaba LC, Aren K, Carns M, Chung LS, Hinchcliff M, Chang HY: Distinct T cell chromatin landscapes in scleroderma subtypes. bioRxiv 2021.

 

Nakamoto R, Zaba LC, Rosenberg J, Reddy SA, Nobashi TW, Davidzon G, Aparici CM, Nguyen J, Moradi F, Iagaru A: Prognostic value of volumetric PET parameters at early response evaluation in melanoma patients treated with immunotherapy. European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging 2020, 47(12):2787-2795.

 

Maloney NJ, Nguyen KA, Bach DQ, Zaba LC: Sites of distant metastasis in Merkel cell carcinoma differ by primary tumor site and are of prognostic significance: A population-based study in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database from 2010 to 2016. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 2020, 84(2):568-570.

 

Liu Q*, Zaba LC*, Satpathy AT, Longmire M, Zhang W, Li K, Granja J, Guo C, Lin J, Li R: Chromatin accessibility landscapes of skin cells in systemic sclerosis nominate dendritic cells in disease pathogenesis. Nature communications 2020, 11(1):1-12. *co-first author

 

Hirotsu KE, Rana J, Wang JY, Raghavan SS, Rieger KE, Srinivas S, Fan AC, Kwong BY, Novoa RA, Zaba LC: Clinicopathologic characterization of enfortumab vedotin-associated cutaneous toxicity in patients with urothelial carcinoma. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 2020:S0190-9622 (0120) 33156-X.

 

Cloutier JM, Shalin SC, Lindberg M, Gardner JM, Fernandez‐Pol S, Zaba L, Novoa R, Brown RA: Cutaneous pleomorphic fibromas arising in patients with germline TP53 mutations. Journal of Cutaneous Pathology 2020, 47(8):734-741.

 

Chung MP, Dontsi M, Postlethwaite D, Kesh S, Simard JF, Fiorentino D, Zaba LC, Chung L: Increased Mortality in Asians With Systemic Sclerosis in Northern California. ACR open rheumatology 2020, 2(4):197-206.

 

Qu K*, Zaba LC*, Satpathy AT, Giresi PG, Li R, Jin Y, Armstrong R, Jin C, Schmitt N, Rahbar Z: Chromatin accessibility landscape of cutaneous T cell lymphoma and dynamic response to HDAC inhibitors. Cancer cell 2017, 32(1):27-41. e24. *co-first author

 

Qu K*, Zaba LC*, Giresi PG, Li R, Longmire M, Kim YH, Greenleaf WJ, Chang HY: Individuality and variation of personal regulomes in primary human T cells. Cell systems 2015, 1(1):51-61. *co-first author

 

Fiorentino DF, Kuo K, Chung L, Zaba L, Li S, Casciola-Rosen L: Distinctive cutaneous and systemic features associated with antitranscriptional intermediary factor-1γ antibodies in adults with dermatomyositis. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 2015, 72(3):449-455.

 

Harden JL, Lewis SM, Pierson KC, Suárez-Fariñas M, Lentini T, Ortenzio FS, Zaba LC, Goldbach-Mansky R, Bowcock AM, Lowes MA: CARD14 expression in dermal endothelial cells in psoriasis. PloS one 2014, 9(11):e111255.

 

Buenrostro JD, Giresi PG, Zaba LC, Chang HY, Greenleaf WJ: Transposition of native chromatin for fast and sensitive mulitmodal analysis of chromatin architecture. Biophysical Journal 2014, 106(2):77a.

 

Hyder LA, Gonzalez J, Harden JL, Johnson-Huang LM, Zaba LC, Pierson KC, Eungdamrong NJ, Lentini T, Gulati N, Fuentes-Duculan J: TREM-1 as a potential therapeutic target in psoriasis. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 2013, 133(7):1742-1751

 

Fiorentino DF, Chung LS, Christopher‐Stine L, Zaba L, Li S, Mammen AL, Rosen A, Casciola‐Rosen L: Most patients with cancer‐associated dermatomyositis have antibodies to nuclear matrix protein NXP‐2 or transcription intermediary factor 1γ. Arthritis & Rheumatism 2013, 65(11):2954-2962.

 

Buenrostro JD, Giresi PG, Zaba LC, Chang HY, Greenleaf WJ: Transposition of native chromatin for fast and sensitive epigenomic profiling of open chromatin, DNA-binding proteins and nucleosome position. Nature methods 2013, 10(12):1213.

 

Fiorentino D, Chung L, Zaba L, Lingala B, Rosen A, Casciola-Rosen L: Immune Responses to NXP-2 and TIF-g Are Associated with Distinct Clinical Phenotypes and Prognosis for Skin Disease in Dermatomyositis Patients.: 1954. Arthritis & Rheumatism 2012, 64.

 

Zaba LC, Fuentes-Duculan J, Eungdamrong NJ, Johnson-Huang LM, Nograles KE, White TR, Pierson KC, Lentini T, Suárez-Fariñas M, Lowes MA: Identification of TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand and other molecules that distinguish inflammatory from resident dendritic cells in patients with psoriasis. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2010, 125(6):1261-1268. e1269.

 

Suárez-Fariñas M, Lowes MA, Zaba LC, Krueger JG: Evaluation of the psoriasis transcriptome across different studies by gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). PloS one 2010, 5(4):e10247.

 

Nograles KE, Suárez-Fariñas M, Shemer A, Fuentes-Duculan J, Chiricozzi A, Cardinale I, Zaba LC, Kikuchi T, Ramon M, Bergman R: Atopic dermatitis keratinocytes exhibit normal TH17 cytokine responses. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2010, 125(3):744-746. e742.

 

Fuentes-Duculan J, Suárez-Fariñas M, Zaba LC, Nograles KE, Pierson KC, Mitsui H, Pensabene CA, Kzhyshkowska J, Krueger JG, Lowes MA: A subpopulation of CD163-positive macrophages is classically activated in psoriasis. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 2010, 130(10):2412-2422.

 

Zaba LC, Suárez-Fariñas M, Fuentes-Duculan J, Nograles KE, Guttman-Yassky E, Cardinale I, Lowes MA, Krueger JG: Effective treatment of psoriasis with etanercept is linked to suppression of IL-17 signaling, not immediate response TNF genes. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2009, 124(5):1022-1030. e1395.

 

Zaba LC, Krueger JG, Lowes MA: Resident and “inflammatory” dendritic cells in human skin. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 2009, 129(2):302-308.

 

Zaba LC, Fuentes-Duculan J, Eungdamrong NJ, Abello MV, Novitskaya I, Pierson KC, Gonzalez J, Krueger JG, Lowes MA: Psoriasis is characterized by accumulation of immunostimulatory and Th1/Th17 cell-polarizing myeloid dendritic cells. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 2009, 129(1):79-88.

 

Nograles KE, Zaba LC, Shemer A, Fuentes-Duculan J, Cardinale I, Kikuchi T, Ramon M, Bergman R, Krueger JG, Guttman-Yassky E: IL-22–producing “T22” T cells account for upregulated IL-22 in atopic dermatitis despite reduced IL-17–producing TH17 T cells. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2009, 123(6):1244-1252. e1242.

 

Bluth MJ, Zaba LC, Moussai D, Suárez-Fariñas M, Kaporis H, Fan L, Pierson KC, White TR, Pitts-Kiefer A, Fuentes-Duculan J: Myeloid dendritic cells from human cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma are poor stimulators of T-cell proliferation. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 2009, 129(10):2451-2462.

 

Zaba LC, Cardinale I, Gilleaudeau P, Sullivan-Whalen M, Suárez-Fariñas M, Fuentes-Duculan J, Novitskaya I, Khatcherian A, Bluth MJ, Lowes MA: Amelioration of epidermal hyperplasia by TNF inhibition is associated with reduced Th17 responses. The Journal of Experimental Medicine 2008, 205(8):1941.

 

Nograles K, Zaba L, Guttman‐Yassky E, Fuentes‐Duculan J, Suárez‐Fariñas M, Cardinale I, Khatcherian A, Gonzalez J, Pierson K, White T: Th17 cytokines interleukin (IL)‐17 and IL‐22 modulate distinct inflammatory and keratinocyte‐response pathways. British Journal of Dermatology 2008, 159(5):1092-1102.

 

Lowes MA, Kikuchi T, Fuentes-Duculan J, Cardinale I, Zaba LC, Haider AS, Bowman EP, Krueger JG: Psoriasis vulgaris lesions contain discrete populations of Th1 and Th17 T cells. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 2008, 128(5):1207-1211.

 

  Liu Y, Helms C, Liao W, Zaba LC, Duan S, Gardner J, Wise C, Miner A, Malloy M, Pullinger CR: A genome-wide association study of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis identifies new disease loci. PLoS Genet 2008, 4(4):e1000041.

 

Liu Y, Helms C, Liao W, Zaba L, Duan S: A Genome-Wide Association Study of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Identifies New Disease. 2008.

 

Haider AS, Lowes MA, Suárez-Fariñas M, Zaba LC, Cardinale I, Khatcherian A, Novitskaya I, Wittkowski KM, Krueger JG: Identification of cellular pathways of “type 1,” Th17 T cells, and TNF-and inducible nitric oxide synthase-producing dendritic cells in autoimmune inflammation through pharmacogenomic study of cyclosporine A in psoriasis. The Journal of Immunology 2008, 180(3):1913-1920.

 

Haider AS, Lowes MA, Suarez-Farinas M, Zaba LC, Cardinale I, Blumenberg M, Krueger JG: Cellular genomic maps help dissect pathology in human skin disease. Journal of investigative dermatology 2008, 128(3):606-615.

 

Haider AS, Cohen J, Fei J, Zaba LC, Cardinale I, Toyoko K, Ott J, Krueger JG: Insights into gene modulation by therapeutic TNF and IFNγ antibodies: TNF regulates IFNγ production by T cells and TNF-regulated genes linked to psoriasis transcriptome. Journal of Investigative Dermatology 2008, 128(3):655-666.

 

Guttman-Yassky E, Lowes MA, Fuentes-Duculan J, Zaba LC, Cardinale I, Nograles KE, Khatcherian A, Novitskaya I, Carucci JA, Bergman R: Low expression of the IL-23/Th17 pathway in atopic dermatitis compared to psoriasis. The Journal of Immunology 2008, 181(10):7420-7427.

 

 Zaba LC, Fuentes-Duculan J, Steinman RM, Krueger JG, Lowes MA: Normal human dermis contains distinct populations of CD11c+ BDCA-1+ dendritic cells and CD163+ FXIIIA+ macrophages. The Journal of clinical investigation 2007, 117(9):2517-2525.

 

Zaba LC, Cardinale I, Gilleaudeau P, Sullivan-Whalen M, Suárez-Fariñas M, Fuentes-Duculan J, Novitskaya I, Khatcherian A, Bluth MJ, Lowes MA: Amelioration of epidermal hyperplasia by TNF inhibition is associated with reduced Th17 responses. The Journal of experimental medicine 2007, 204(13):3183-3194.