Dr. Yvonne Saenger is an expert in cancer immunotherapy with a focus on melanoma and gastro-intestinal tumors

The Saenger laboratory researches immune biomarkers for melanoma recurrence to stratify patients for adjuvant immunotherapy.  Digital pathology and artificial intelligence methods are used.

A second area of focus is analysis of the tumor immune micro-environment in liver cancer, particularly on studying human specimens and organoids to define the role of immune cell populations and complement in tumor progression.

Gartrell-Corrado RD, Chen A, Rizk EM , Marks DK, Bogardus M, Hart TD, Silverman AM, Bayan CA, Finkel G, Barker L , Komatsubara KM, Carvajal RD, Horst BA, Chang R, Monod A , Rabadán R, Saenger Y, “Linking transcriptomic and imaging data defines features of a favorable tumor immune microenvironment and identifies a combination biomarker for primary melanoma,” Cancer Research. 2020 Mar 1;80(5):1078-1087. PMID: 31948941

Kulkarni PM, Robinson EJ, Pradhan JS, Gartrell-Corrado RD, Rohr B, Kluger HM, Wong PF, Acs B, Rizk EM, Yanc C, Mondal M, Moore M, Phelps R, Hoorst BA, Ferringer T, Rimm DL, Wang J, Saenger Y, “Deep learning based on standard H&E images of primary melanoma tumors identifies patients at risk for visceral recurrence and death,” Clinical Cancer Research. 2019 Oct 21. Clinical Cancer Research.1495.2019. PMID: 31636101

Gartrell RD, Marks DK, Rizk EM, Bogardus M, Gerard CL, Barker LW, Fu Y, Esancy CL, Li G, Ji J, Rui S, Ernstoff MS, Taback B, Pabla S, Chang R, Lee SJ, Krolewski JJ, Morrison C, Horst B, Saenger YM, “Validation of Melanoma Immune Profile (MIP), a Prognostic Immune Gene Prediction Score for Stage II-III Melanoma,” Clinical Cancer Research, 2019 Jan 15 PMID: 30647081

Zhao J, Chen AX, Gartrell RD, Silverman A, Aparicio L, Chu T, Bordbar D, Shan D, Samanamud J, Goetz M, Yagamuchi JT, Cloney M, Horbinski C, Lukas RV, Raizer J, Rae AI, Yun J, Canoll P, Bruce JN, Saenger YM, Sims P, Iwamoto FB, Sonabend AM, Rabadan, R. “Longitudinal genomic study of response to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy in Glioblastoma Multiforme,” Nature Medicine 2019 Mar 25(3):462-469 PMID: 30742119

Gartrell RD, Marks DK, Hart TD, Li G, Davari DR, Wu A, Blake Z, Lu Y, Askin KN, Monod A, Esancy CL, Stack EC, Jia DT, Armenta PM, Fu Y, Izaki D, Taback B, Rabadan R, Kaufman HL, Drake CG, Horst BA, Saenger YM, “Quantitative Analysis of Immune Infiltrates in Primary Melanoma,” Cancer Immunol Res. 2018 Apr;6(4):481-493 PMID: 29467127

Gartrell RD, Enzler T, Kim PS, Fullerton BT, Fazlollahi L, Chen AX, Minns HE, Perni S, Weisberg SP, Rizk EM, Wang S, Oh EJ, Guo XV, Chiuzan C, Manji GA, Bates SE, Chabot J, Schrope B, Kluger M, Emond J, Rabadán R, Farber D, Remotti HE, Horowitz DP, Saenger YM. Neoadjuvant chemoradiation alters the immune microenvironment in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, Oncoimmunology. 2022 May 5. PMID: 35558160