Bio

Clinical Focus

  • Medical Oncology

Academic Appointments

Professional Education

  • Fellowship: Stanford University Bone Marrow Transplant Fellowship (2019) CA
  • Fellowship: Stanford University Hematology and Oncology Fellowship (2018) CA
  • Board Certification: American Board of Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology (2017)
  • Board Certification: American Board of Internal Medicine, Internal Medicine (2014)
  • Residency: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Internal Medicine Residency (2013) MA
  • Medical Education: UCLA David Geffen School Of Medicine Registrar (2011) CA
  • BS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Electrical Engineering (2003)
  • MD, The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, medicine (2011)

Contact

  • Blood and Marrow Transplant Program 269 W Campus Dr CCSR 2205 Stanford, CA 94305
    • Tel: (650) 498-8886
    Fax: (650) 724-6182

Teaching

Stanford Advisees

Publications

All Publications

  • Outcomes with Autologous or Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation in Patients with Plasma Cell Leukemia in the Era of Novel Agents. Biology of blood and marrow transplantation : journal of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation Lemieux, C., Johnston, L. J., Lowsky, R., Muffly, L. S., Craig, J. K., Shiraz, P., Rezvani, A., Frank, M. J., Weng, W., Meyer, E., Shizuru, J., Arai, S., Negrin, R., Miklos, D. B., Sidana, S. 2020

    Abstract

    Plasma cell leukemia (PCL) is a rare and very aggressive plasma cell disorder. The optimal treatment approach, including whether to pursue an autologous (autoSCT) or allogeneic (alloSCT) transplant is not clear as there is lack of clinical trial based evidence. This single center retrospective study describes the outcomes of 16 patients with PCL (N=14 primary PCL) who underwent either autoSCT (N=9) or alloSCT (N=7) for PCL in the era of novel agents, between 2007 and 2019. Median age of the cohort was 58 years. High-risk cytogenetics were seen in 50% of patients. All patients received a proteasome inhibitor (PI) and/or immunomodulatory drug (IMiD) based regimen before transplant. At transplant, 10 (62%) patients obtained at least a very good partial response. Response after autoSCT (3 month) was at least VGPR in 6 (67%, CR=5) patients. All patients undergoing alloSCT achieved CR at 3 months. Maintenance was used in 5 patients (56%) after autoSCT. Median PFS from transplant in the autoSCT vs. alloSCT group was 6 vs. 18 months, p=0.09, while median OS from transplant was 19 vs. 40 months (p=0.41), respectively. The median OS from diagnosis was 27 vs. 49 months, p=0.50, respectively. Of all the deaths, 10 (91%) patients died of relapsed disease. In conclusion, alloSCT was not observed to offer any significant survival advantage over autoSCT in PCL, which is comparable to other recent reports and relapse remains the primary cause of death.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.bbmt.2020.08.035

    View details for PubMedID 32961371

  • Autologous tumor cell vaccine induces antitumor T cell immune responses in patients with mantle cell lymphoma: A phase I/II trial. The Journal of experimental medicine Frank, M. J., Khodadoust, M. S., Czerwinski, D. K., Haabeth, O. A., Chu, M. P., Miklos, D. B., Advani, R. H., Alizadeh, A. A., Gupta, N. K., Maeda, L. S., Reddy, S. A., Laport, G. G., Meyer, E. H., Negrin, R. S., Rezvani, A. R., Weng, W. K., Sheehan, K., Faham, M., Okada, A., Moore, A. H., Phillips, D. L., Wapnir, I. L., Brody, J. D., Levy, R. 2020; 217 (9)

    Abstract

    Here, we report on the results of a phase I/II trial (NCT00490529) for patients with mantle cell lymphoma who, having achieved remission after immunochemotherapy, were vaccinated with irradiated, CpG-activated tumor cells. Subsequently, vaccine-primed lymphocytes were collected and reinfused after a standard autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). The primary endpoint was detection of minimal residual disease (MRD) within 1 yr after ASCT at the previously validated threshold of ?1 malignant cell per 10,000 leukocyte equivalents. Of 45 evaluable patients, 40 (89%) were found to be MRD negative, and the MRD-positive patients experienced early subsequent relapse. The vaccination induced antitumor CD8 T cell immune responses in 40% of patients, and these were associated with favorable clinical outcomes. Patients with high tumor PD-L1 expression after in vitro exposure to CpG had inferior outcomes. Vaccination with CpG-stimulated autologous tumor cells followed by the adoptive transfer of vaccine-primed lymphocytes after ASCT is feasible and safe.

    View details for DOI 10.1084/jem.20191712

    View details for PubMedID 32558897

  • A novel antibody-cell conjugation method to enhance and characterize cytokine-induced killer cells. Cytotherapy Frank, M. J., Olsson, N., Huang, A., Tang, S. W., Negrin, R. S., Elias, J. E., Meyer, E. H. 2020; 22 (3): 135?43

    Abstract

    Cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells are an ex vivo-expanded cellular therapy product with potent anti-tumor activity in a subset of patients with solid and hematologic malignancies. We hypothesize that directing CIK cells to a specific tumor antigen will enhance CIK cell anti-tumor cytotoxicity.We present a newly developed method for affixing antibodies directly to cell surface proteins. First, we evaluated the anti-tumor potential of CIK cells after affixing tumor-antigen targeting monoclonal antibodies. Second, we evaluated whether this antibody-conjugation method can profile the surface proteome of CIK cells.We demonstrated that affixing rituximab or daratumumab to CIK cells enhances cytotoxic killing of multiple lymphoma cell lines in vitro. These 'armed' CIK cells exhibited enhanced intracellular signaling after engaging tumor targets. Cell surface proteome profiling suggested mechanisms by which antibody-armed CIK cells concurrently activated multiple surface proteins, leading to enhanced cytolytic activity. Our surface proteome analysis indicated that CIK cells display enhanced protein signatures indicative of immune responses, cellular activation and leukocyte migration.Here, we characterize the cell surface proteome of CIK cells using a novel methodology that can be rapidly applied to other cell types. Our study also demonstrates that without genetic modification CIK cells can be rapidly armed with monoclonal antibodies, which endows them with high specificity to kill tumor targets.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jcyt.2020.01.003

    View details for PubMedID 32171435

  • Outcomes with autologous stem cell transplant vs. non-transplant therapy in patients 70 years and older with multiple myeloma. Bone marrow transplantation Lemieux, C., Muffly, L. S., Rezvani, A., Lowsky, R., Iberri, D. J., Craig, J. K., Frank, M. J., Johnston, L. J., Liedtke, M., Negrin, R., Weng, W. K., Meyer, E., Shizuru, J., Shiraz, P., Arai, S., Miklos, D. B., Sidana, S. 2020

    Abstract

    We evaluated 79 patients with multiple myeloma (MM) ?70 years referred to our blood and marrow transplant clinic, within 1 year of diagnosis from 2010 to 2019, for consideration of autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT). Thirty-eight (48%) of 79 patients underwent ASCT. ASCT was not pursued in 41 (52%) patients due to: patient or physician preference in 80% (n?=?33) or ineligibility in 20% (n?=?8). Baseline characteristics of patients in the two groups were similar. Median PFS from treatment start amongst patients undergoing ASCT (n?=?38) vs. not (n?=?41) was 41 months vs. 33 months, p?=?0.03. There was no difference in OS, with estimated 5-year OS of 73% vs. 83%, respectively (p?=?0.86). Day +100 transplant-related mortality (TRM) was 0%. ASCT was an independent favorable prognostic factor for PFS in multivariate analysis, after accounting for HCT-CI score, performance status, hematologic response, and maintenance. Finally, patients ?70 years undergoing ASCT had similar PFS compared to a contemporaneous institutional cohort of patients <70 years (n?=?631) (median PFS from transplant: 36 vs. 47 months, p?=?0.25). In this retrospective analysis, ASCT was associated with low TRM and better PFS in fit older adults with MM compared to non-transplant therapy, with comparable benefits as seen in younger patients.

    View details for DOI 10.1038/s41409-020-01026-7

    View details for PubMedID 32782351

  • Interim results of a Phase I/II trial of intratumoral CpG, local low-dose radiation, and oral ibrutinib in patients with low-grade B-cell lymphoma Shree, T., Khodadoust, M. S., Czerwinski, D., Frank, M. J., Hong, W. X., Greenstein, R., Guo, S., Long, S., Martin, B. A., Levy, R. AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH. 2019

    View details for DOI 10.1158/1538-7445.AM2019-CT133

    View details for Web of Science ID 000488129900119

  • Monitoring ctDNA in r/r DLBCL patients following the CAR T-cell therapy axicabtagene ciloleucel: Day 28 landmark analysis. Frank, M., Hossain, N. M., Bukhari, A., Dean, E., Spiegel, J. Y., Claire, G. K., Kirsch, I., Jacob, A., Mullins, C. D., Lee, L., Kong, K. A., Craig, J. K., Mackall, C., Rapoport, A., Dahiya, S., Locke, F., Miklos, D. AMER SOC CLINICAL ONCOLOGY. 2019

    View details for Web of Science ID 000487345806314

  • Serial Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) Allows Direct Sampling of Low-grade Lymphoma Tumor Nodules and Subsequent Analysis of the Tumor and Its Microenvironment in Clinical Trial Patients Receiving Immunotherapy Mooney, K., Long, S., Martin, B., Frank, M., Czerwinski, D., Levy, R., Guo, X., Shree, T., Greenstein, R. NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. 2019

    View details for Web of Science ID 000478915500394

  • Serial Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) Allows Direct Sampling of Low-grade Lymphoma Tumor Nodules and Subsequent Analysis of the Tumor and Its Microenvironment in Clinical Trial Patients Receiving Immunotherapy Mooney, K., Long, S., Martin, B., Frank, M., Czerwinski, D., Levy, R., Guo, X., Shree, T., Greenstein, R. NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. 2019

    View details for Web of Science ID 000478081100412

  • Elevated Axicabtagene Ciloleucel (CAR-19) Expansion By Immunophenotyping Is Associated with Toxicity in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma Spiegel, J. Y., Sahaf, B., Hossain, N., Frank, M. J., Claire, G., Abramian, M., Latchford, T., Villa, B., Cancilla, J., Oak, J., Natkunam, Y., Long, S. R., Arai, S., Johnston, L. J., Lowsky, R., Meyer, E. H., Muffly, L. S., Negrin, R. S., Rezvani, A. R., Shizuru, J. A., Weng, W., Kong, K. A., Mackall, C. L., Miklos, D. B. AMER SOC HEMATOLOGY. 2018

    View details for DOI 10.1182/blood-2018-99-113261

    View details for Web of Science ID 000454837601285

  • Phase I Experience with a Bi-Specific CAR Targeting CD19 and CD22 in Adults with B-Cell Malignancies Hossain, N., Sahaf, B., Abramian, M., Spiegel, J. Y., Kong, K., Kim, S., Mavroukakis, S., Oak, J., Natkunam, Y., Meyer, E. H., Frank, M. J., Feldman, S. A., Long, S. R., Qin, H., Fry, T. J., Muffly, L. S., Mackall, C. L., Miklos, D. B. AMER SOC HEMATOLOGY. 2018

    View details for DOI 10.1182/blood-2018-99-110142

    View details for Web of Science ID 000454837601199

  • In Situ Vaccination with a TLR 9 Agonist and Local Low Dose Radiation Induces Systemic Responses in Untreated Indolent Lymphoma. Cancer discovery Frank, M. J., Reagan, P. M., Bartlett, N. L., Gordon, L. I., Friedberg, J. W., Czerwinski, D. K., Long, S. R., Hoppe, R. T., Janssen, R. S., Candia, A. F., Coffman, R. L., Levy, R. 2018

    Abstract

    This multicenter phase 1/2 clinical trial evaluated intratumoral SD-101, a TLR9 agonist, and low-dose radiation in patients with untreated indolent lymphoma. 29 enrolled patients received 4 Gy of radiation followed by five weekly intratumoral injections of SD-101 at a single tumor site. No treatment-related grade 4 or serious adverse events occurred. Nearly all patients had tumor reduction at their treated site. More importantly, 24 patients had tumor reduction at their non-treated sites with 5 patients achieving a partial response and one achieving a complete response. Treatment-related increases of CD8+ and CD4+ effector T-cells and decreases of T Follicular Helper and T regulatory cells (Tregs) were observed in the tumor microenvironment. Low pre-treatment levels of CD4+ Tregs, proliferating CD8+ T-cells, and GranzymeB+ CD8+ T-cells were associated with favorable outcomes. Intratumoral SD-101 in combination with low-dose radiation is well tolerated and results in regression of both treated and untreated sites of disease.

    View details for PubMedID 30154192

  • SD-101, a Novel Class C CpG-Oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) Toll-like Receptor 9 (TLR9) Agonist, Given with Low Dose Radiation for Untreated Low Grade B-Cell Lymphoma: Interim Results of a Phase 1/2 Trial Levy, R., Reagan, P. M., Friedberg, J. W., Bartlett, N. L., Gordon, L. I., Leung, A., Peterkin, J., Xing, B., Coffman, R., Janssen, R., Candia, A., Khodadoust, M., Frank, M. J., Long, S. R., Czerwinski, D. K., Chu, M. AMER SOC HEMATOLOGY. 2016

    View details for Web of Science ID 000394452307156

  • Examining the Heterogeneity of Follicular Lymphoma By Multi-Parameter Flow Cyotmetry in Previously Untreated Patients Czerwinski, D. K., Long, S. R., Khodadoust, M., Frank, M. J., Kardosh, A., Okada, A., Robinson, S., Levy, R. AMER SOC HEMATOLOGY. 2016

    View details for Web of Science ID 000394452307082

  • Phase I/II Clinical Trial of CpG-Activated Whole Cell Vaccine in Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL): Results in Safety and Efficacy from Planned Interim Analysis Chu, M. P., Brody, J., Kohrt, H. E., Frank, M. J., Khodadoust, M., Reddy, S., Advani, R. H., Gupta, N. K., Laport, G., Maeda, L. S., Meyer, E., Miklos, D. B., Negrin, R., Rezvani, A. R., Weng, W., Sheehan, K., Faham, M., Czerwinski, D. K., Okada, A., Levy, R. AMER SOC HEMATOLOGY. 2015

    View details for Web of Science ID 000368019005014

  • Regulatory T Cells Are Depleted in Low-Grade Lymphoma By the Combination of Local Low-Dose Radiation Followed By Intratumoral CpG-ODN Czerwinski, D. K., Long, S. R., Khodadoust, M., Frank, M. J., Chu, M. P., Okada, A., McDonald, K. A., Kohrt, H. E., Bartlett, N. L., Reagan, P. M., Friedberg, J. W., Gordon, L. I., Coffman, R., Janssen, R., Levy, R. AMER SOC HEMATOLOGY. 2015

    View details for Web of Science ID 000368019005017

  • Expression of sprouty2 inhibits B-cell proliferation and is epigenetically silenced in mouse and human B-cell lymphomas. Blood Frank, M. J., Dawson, D. W., Bensinger, S. J., Hong, J. S., Knosp, W. M., Xu, L., Balatoni, C. E., Allen, E. L., Shen, R. R., Bar-Sagi, D., Martin, G. R., Teitell, M. A. 2009; 113 (11): 2478?87

    Abstract

    B-cell lymphoma is the most common immune system malignancy. TCL1 transgenic mice (TCL1-tg), in which TCL1 is ectopically expressed in mature lymphocytes, develop multiple B- and T-cell leukemia and lymphoma subtypes, supporting an oncogenic role for TCL1 that probably involves AKT and MAPK-ERK signaling pathway augmentation. Additional, largely unknown genetic and epigenetic alterations cooperate with TCL1 during lymphoma progression. We examined DNA methylation patterns in TCL1-tg B-cell tumors to discover tumor-associated epigenetic changes, and identified hypermethylation of sprouty2 (Spry2). Sprouty proteins are context-dependent negative or positive regulators of MAPK-ERK pathway signaling, but their role(s) in B-cell physiology or pathology are unknown. Here we show that repression of Spry2 expression in TCL1-tg mouse and human B-cell lymphomas and cell lines is associated with dense DNA hypermethylation and was reversed by inhibition of DNA methylation. Spry2 expression was induced in normal splenic B cells by CD40/B-cell receptor costimulation and regulated a negative feedback loop that repressed MAPK-ERK signaling and decreased B-cell viability. Conversely, loss of Spry2 function hyperactivated MAPK-ERK signaling and caused increased B-cell proliferation. Combined, these results implicate epigenetic silencing of Spry2 expression in B lymphoma progression and suggest it as a companion lesion to ectopic TCL1 expression in enhancing MAPK-ERK pathway signaling.

    View details for DOI 10.1182/blood-2008-05-156943

    View details for PubMedID 19147787

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC2656273

  • Epigenetic silencing of Stk39 in B-cell lymphoma inhibits apoptosis from genotoxic stress. The American journal of pathology Balatoni, C. E., Dawson, D. W., Suh, J., Sherman, M. H., Sanders, G., Hong, J. S., Frank, M. J., Malone, C. S., Said, J. W., Teitell, M. A. 2009; 175 (4): 1653?61

    Abstract

    B-cell lymphomas, the most frequent human immune system malignancies, often contain dysregulated TCL1 oncogene expression. TCL1 transgenic (TCL1-tg) mice develop a spectrum of B-cell malignancies, supporting an oncogenic role for TCL1 in B cells. Our prior global survey of DNA methylation patterns in TCL1-tg B-cell lymphomas identified many lymphoma-specific candidate hypermethylated genes, including Stk39. The Stk39 encoded protein, sterile 20-like-related proline-alanine-rich kinase (SPAK), regulates cell stress responses, and microarray studies identified reduced SPAK expression in metastatic prostate and treatment-resistant breast cancers, suggesting that its loss may have a role in cancer progression. Here we identified DNA hypermethylation and SPAK silencing in TCL1-tg B-cell lymphomas and SPAK silencing without DNA methylation in multiple subtypes of human B-cell lymphomas. SPAK knockdown by shRNA protected B cells from caspase-dependent apoptosis induced by DNA double-strand breaks but not apoptosis in response to osmotic or oxidative cell stressors. Caspase 3 activation by cleavage was impaired with SPAK repression in DNA damaged B cells. Interestingly, c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase is potentially activated by SPAK and pharmacological inhibition of c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase in SPAK-expressing B cells recapitulated the cell-protective phenotype of SPAK knockdown. Taken together, these data indicate that SPAK loss in B-cell lymphomas promotes increased cell survival with DNA damage and provides a potential mechanism for increased resistance to genotoxic stress in cancer.

    View details for DOI 10.2353/ajpath.2009.090091

    View details for PubMedID 19717643

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC2751561

  • High throughput cell nanomechanics with mechanical imaging interferometry NANOTECHNOLOGY Reed, J., Frank, M., Troke, J. J., Schmit, J., Han, S., Teitell, M. A., Gimzewski, J. K. 2008; 19 (23)

    Abstract

    The dynamic nanomechanical properties of a large number of cells (up to hundreds), measured in parallel with high throughput, are reported. Using NIH 3T3 and HEK 293T fibroblasts and actin depolymerizing drugs, we use a novel nanotechnology to quantify the local viscoelastic properties with applied forces of 20 pN-20 nN, a spatial resolution of <20 nm, and a mechanical dynamic range of several Pa up to ~200 kPa. Our approach utilizes imaging interferometry in combination with reflective, magnetic probes attached to cells. These results indicate that mechanical imaging interferometry is a sensitive and scalable technology for measuring the nanomechanical properties of large arrays of live cells in fluid.

    View details for DOI 10.1088/0957-4484/19/23/235101

    View details for Web of Science ID 000255662700001

    View details for PubMedID 20737027

    View details for PubMedCentralID PMC2925287

Footer Links:

Stanford Medicine Resources: