Our physicians strive to improve patient outcomes through projects that span the spectrum between basic, translational, and clinical research. Our doctors work closely with scientists, with the hope of using our basic and translational research findings to improve the treatments and the clinical outcomes of patients with advanced skin cancers.
Melanoma and Advanced Skin Cancers
The Duke Cancer Institute melanoma and advanced skin cancer disease group includes a multi-disciplinary team of surgical, radiation, and medical oncologists, as well as dermatologists. Our team specializes in the treatment of melanoma as well as advanced cutaneous squamous cell, basal cell, and Merkel cell carcinomas. We seek to individualize treatment based on a patient’s needs and offer a wide array of clinical trials to provide access to the latest therapies.
Learn more about melanoma treatment at Duke
Donate to Support Melanoma & Skin Cancer Research at Duke
Make a Gift- About
- Team
- Treatment and Research
- Clinical Trials
- Events
- News
- None
Contacts
Tonya Miltier
Administrative Director
tonya.miltier@duke.edu 919-660-4124Emily Bolch
Assistant Research Practice Manager
Emily.Bolch@duke.edu 919-668-6359Learn more about melanoma treatment at Duke
Donate to Support Melanoma & Skin Cancer Research at Duke
Make a GiftMedical Oncology
Medical Oncology Deputy Director
Jonathan Weeks
Physician Assistant
Surgical Oncology
Meg Leddy
Physician Assistant
Associate Professor of Surgery
Radiation Oncology
Dermatology
Dermatopathology
Ophthalmology
Research Results
Treatment options for patients with melanoma have rapidly expanded in recent years, with some of the biggest advances coming in the development of new immunotherapies. Despite this promise, many patients with advanced melanoma do not respond to the medications that are currently available. As a result, one of our primary translational research goals is to better understand how melanomas develop resistance to these types of agents. We believe that a fundamental understanding of these mechanisms will lead to the identification of novel immunotherapy strategies as well as the discovery of biomarkers capable of improving the management of patients with advanced melanoma.
With this goal in mind, we use pre-clinical models as well as clinical tissue specimens to investigate these questions and to develop novel immunotherapy approaches for patients with melanomas that have been refractory (resistant) to standard treatment. This work includes projects to identify pharmacological targets capable of enhancing the activity of and overcoming resistance to checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy. This initiative also extends to the identification of useful markers capable of predicting which patients are more likely to respond to current immunotherapy options as well as those patients more likely to develop immunotherapy-associated side effects.
DCI scientists are also working in the lab to develop therapies that stimulate immune responses that target and kill melanoma cells by releasing tumor antigens and activating immune cells that infiltrate the tumor. To achieve these goals, basic research scientists and clinical investigators within the program collaborate closely to generate a clinically meaningful impact on patients with advanced skin cancer.
For more information on Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy, visit:
Clinical Trials Results
Phase 3 Study of Adjuvant V940 and Pembrolizumab in Resected Melanoma
OncoCHAT (Advanced Solid Cancer)
Dapansutrile Plus Pembrolizumab in Melanoma (DREAM)
Nivolumab + Ipilimumab Comparison Study (Melanoma)
X-PACT Immunolight (Breast Cancer, Head & Neck Cancer, Melanoma, and Sarcoma)
Replimune (Melanoma and Other Skin Cancers)
Replimune (Melanoma and Other Skin Cancers)
SWOG S2015: Comparing Resection Options in Melanoma Removal
Synthekine STK-012 (Solid Tumors)
Neoadjuvant Daromun + Surgery (Melanoma)
Melanoma research (MERLIN_001)
MEM-288 (solid tumors)
Events Results
Related News Results
Hanks Elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation
Duke Cancer Institute physician scientist Brent Hanks, MD, PhD, has been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), one of the nation's oldest medical honor societies. The ASCIsupports the scientific efforts, educational needs, and clinical aspirations of physician-scientists to improve health.In 2019, Hanks was first recognized by ASCI with a Young Physician-Scientist Awardin 2019 — one of 35 “outstanding physician-scientists” named that year by the society.“This is a great honor demonstrating the value that Dr. Hanks’ physician-scientist colleagues place on the high quality of his laboratory work designed to understand the mechanisms of resistance to immunotherapy,” said then-Chief of the Division of Medical Oncology James L. Abbruzzese, MD FACP FASCO DSc (hon) at the time. “Dr. Hanks’ work has the potential to extend the impact of immunotherapy to diseases that have not yet been able to take advantage of this new treatment modality.” “I have a ton of respect for the mission of the ASCI and their support for the development and training of future physician scientists,” Hanks said upon receiving the Young Physician-Scientist Award. “I believe the role of the physician scientist to be critical for advancing medicine and healthcare into the future and this type of support is vital for making sure this challenging career path remains viable.” A DCI member since 2013, Hanks is an associate professor in the Department of Medicine and an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology.He has dedicated more than 20 years of his career to research in the fields of tumor immunology and immunotherapy. In his lab, he explores how cancers have evolved to suppress the generation of tumor antigen-specific immune responses and how to exploit that knowledge to develop more effective cancer immunotherapy strategies. He is working to develop new pharmacologic and genetic strategies to overcome immunotherapy resistance and investigating the mechanisms that contribute to some immunotherapy-associated toxicities. (READ:School of Medicine Faculty Elected to American Society for Clinical Investigation) In addition to managing an independent research lab, Hanks sees gastroesophageal and gastric cancer patients in DCI's Gastrointestinal Cancer clinic. He made the clinical shift to GI towards the end of 2023 after several years of treating patients with skin cancers, particularly melanoma and Merkel cell carcinoma, in order to address the prevalent problem of immunotherapy resistance in these patient populations.Hanks serves as associate director of Basic/Translational Research in DCI's Center of Cancer Immunotherapy.He's currently an investigator on 16 different grant projects — including in melanoma, gastroesophageal cancer, gastric cancer, immunotherapy-associated toxicities, immunotherapy resistance, immune evasion, non-small cell lung cancer, and prostate cancer — including six grants funded by the National Institutes of Health (he's PI on three, and a mentor or preceptor on the other three), one by the U.S. Department of Defense (he's PI), four by pharmaceutical companies (he's the PI on all four),and one each bythe Conquer Cancer Foundation (he's PI), American Association for Cancer Research (he's PI), Cancer Research Institute (he's PI), and Melanoma Research Foundation (he's PI).Hanks received his PhD (2004) and MD (2006) from Baylor College of Medicine, and completed both his residency in Internal Medicine (2008) and fellowship in Hematology/Oncology (2012) at Duke University School of Medicine.
Leukemia Survivor and Duke Heart NP Plans ‘Be The Match’ Drive
Leukemia survivor and Duke Heart NP Dayana Ramos will hold a Be The Match drive at Duke University Hospital on June 24
Beasley Receives 2022 ASCI Young Physician-Scientist Award
Co-leader of the Duke Cancer Institute Melanoma Disease Group Georgia Beasley, MD, MHSc, is among 40 recipients nationally of a Young Physician-Scientist Award from The American Society for Clinical Investigation. The annual award, according to ASCI, "recognizes excellent physician-scientists who are early in their first faculty appointment and have made notable achievements in their research." As part of the award ASCI "seeks to encourage and inspire these physician-scientists" through their participation in the Joint Meeting of ASCI/The Association of American Physicians (AAP)/The American Physician-Scientists Association (APSA), which was held April 8-10 in Chicago this year Over the course of the next two years, early-career awardees will also have the opportunity to participate in leadership development workshops, topical panel discussions with ASCI members, peer review groups, and virtual poster sessions Beasley is an associate professor in the Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology, Duke University School of Medicine, and has a secondary appointment as an associate professor in the Department of Medicine. She is board certified in both general surgery and surgical oncology and has an active clinical practice treating patients with melanoma. As a surgeon-scientist, Beasley is actively involved in clinical and translational research with a primary focus on utilizing the innate immune system to both predict and enhance response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in melanoma. The site PI for several national clinical trials, she also leads investigator-initiated homegrown trials at DCI, and has presided over independent laboratory projects in oncolytic viral therapy and application of immune therapy. She has authored more than 90 publications centered on melanoma and has received multiple internal and external funding awards including the Society of Surgical Oncology Young Investigator Award and an NIH K08 mentored physician-scientist award. Beasley obtained her undergraduate degree from Duke University. While an undergraduate, she was a two-time conference player of the year for the Duke Women’s basketball team and was inducted into the Duke Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014. After playing three years in the WNBA, she returned to Duke for medical school; obtaining her MD in 2008 and a Masters of Health Science in Clinical Research in 2010 from Duke University School of Medicine. She completed General Surgery residency at Duke in 2015, during which time she was awarded an NCI postdoctoral trainee-ship grant (Surgical Oncology T32 grant). After completing her fellowship in Complex Surgical Oncology at The Ohio State University in 2017, she returned to Duke as a faculty member and was named co-director of the Duke Cancer Institute Melanoma Disease Group in 2019.