PITTS RESEARCH LAB

Research Focus

The Pitts (GI Translational Research) Lab is focused on developing new novel therapies for colorectal and pancreatic cancers. The lab is interested in finding rational combination partners for molecularly-targeted anticancer and immunotherapy agents.  The Pitts lab has a special interest in predictive biomarker and resistance mechanisms using correlative biological assays for early phase clinical trials.  

Selected Publications

Tentler JJ, Lang J, Capasso A, Kim DJ, Benaim E, Lee YB, Eisen A, Bagby SM, Hartman SJ, Yacob BW, Gittleman B, Pitts TM, Pelanda R, Eckhardt SG, Diamond JR. RX-5902, a novel β-catenin modulator, potentiates the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in preclinical models of triple-negative breast Cancer. BMC Cancer. 2020 Nov 4;20(1):1063. doi: 10.1186/s12885-020-07500-1. PubMed PMID: 33148223; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7641792.

Dhar D, Raina K, Kumar D, Wempe MF, Bagby SM, Pitts TM, Orlicky DJ, Agarwal C, Messersmith WA, Agarwal R. Bitter melon juice intake with gemcitabine intervention circumvents resistance to gemcitabine in pancreatic patient-derived xenograft tumors. Mol Carcinog. 2020 Oct;59(10):1227-1240. doi: 10.1002/mc.23251. Epub 2020 Aug 20. PubMed PMID: 32816368; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7735206.

Davis SL, Ionkina AA, Bagby SM, Orth JD, Gittleman B, Marcus JM, Lam ET, Corr BR, O'Bryant CL, Glode AE, Tan AC, Kim J, Tentler JJ, Capasso A, Lopez KL, Gustafson DL, Messersmith WA, Leong S, Eckhardt SG, Pitts TM, Diamond JR. Preclinical and Dose-Finding Phase I Trial Results of Combined Treatment with a TORC1/2 Inhibitor (TAK-228) and Aurora A Kinase Inhibitor (Alisertib) in Solid Tumors. Clin Cancer Res. 2020 Sep 1;26(17):4633-4642. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-19-3498. Epub 2020 May 15. PubMed PMID: 32414750; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7864382.

Duff MR, Redzic JS, Ryan LP, Paukovich N, Zhao R, Nix JC, Pitts TM, Agarwal P, Eisenmesser EZ. Structure, dynamics and function of the evolutionarily changing biliverdin reductase B family. J Biochem. 2020 Aug 1;168(2):191-202. doi: 10.1093/jb/mvaa039. PubMed PMID: 32246827.

Abbott JM, Zhou Q, Esquer H, Pike L, Broneske TP, Rinaldetti S, Abraham AD, Ramirez DA, Lunghofer PJ, Pitts TM, Regan DP, Tan AC, Gustafson DL, Messersmith WA, LaBarbera DV. First-in-Class Inhibitors of Oncogenic CHD1L with Preclinical Activity against Colorectal Cancer. Mol Cancer Ther. 2020 Aug;19(8):1598-1612. doi: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-20-0106. Epub 2020 Jun 4. PubMed PMID: 32499299; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7665848.

Full List of Publications