WILKY RESEARCH LAB

 Research Focus

The Wilky Lab studies the interaction between sarcomas, cancers of bones and soft tissues with the immune system. We study how sarcomas can avoid detection and kill by T cells and try to overcome this resistance using combinations of immune-boosting therapies with chemotherapies. New combination therapies are explored by analyzing patient samples of tissue and blood after treatment on cutting edge clinical trials but are also modeled in mice models of sarcoma. 

Selected Publications

Moreno Tellez C, Leyfman Y, D'Angelo SP, Wilky BA, Dufresne A. Immunotherapy in Sarcoma: Where Do Things Stand? Surg Oncol Clin N Am. 2022 Jul;31(3):381-397. doi: 10.1016/j.soc.2022.03.004. PMID: 35715140.

Florou V, Wilky BA. Emerging mechanisms of immunotherapy resistance in sarcomas. Cancer Drug Resist. 2022 Mar 5;5(1):199-213. doi: 10.20517/cdr.2021.111. PMID: 35582530.

Nathenson MJ, Hu J, Ratan R, Somaiah N, Hsu R, DeMaria PJ, Catoe HW, Pang A, Subhawong TK, Amini B, Sweet K, Feister K, Malik K, Jagannathan J, Braschi-Amirfarzan M, Sheren J, Caldas Y, Moreno Tellez C, Rosenberg AE, Lazar AJ, Maki RG, Benedetto P, Cohen J, Trent JC, Ravi V, Patel S, Wilky BA. Systemic Chemotherapies Retain Antitumor Activity in Desmoid Tumors Independent of Specific Mutations in CTNNB1 or APC: A Multi-institutional Retrospective Study. Clin Cancer Res. 2022 Sep 15;28(18):4092-4104. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-21-4504. PMID: 35180772.

Wilky BA, Trucco MM, Subhawong TK, Florou V, Park W, Kwon D, Wieder ED, Kolonias D, Rosenberg AE, Kerr DA, Sfakianaki E, Foley M, Merchan JR, Komanduri KV, Trent JC. Axitinib plus pembrolizumab in patients with advanced sarcomas including alveolar soft-part sarcoma: a single-centre, single-arm, phase 2 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2019 Jun;20(6):837-848. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(19)30153-6. Epub 2019 May 8. PMID: 31078463.