Jessica Chacon, PhD.

Education

• Research mentor:  Daniel J. Powell, Jr. Ph.D.; University of Pennsylvania

• Teaching mentors: Bela Dadrich, Ph.D., Delaware County Community College

Research Topic: Investigating the role of Tumor-Infiltrating lymphocytes in Ovarian Cancer

My project focus on utilizing and expanding my knowledge of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in an ovarian cancer model. Powerful immunotherapy approaches are being developed for ovarian cancer treatment that may change the face of this disease. Immunotherapy treatment of ovarian cancer often relies upon the activation of TILs. The presence of intraepithelial CD3+ T cells and CD8+ T cells in ovarian cancer correlates with patient survival, suggesting an active role for T cells in ovarian cancer control. However, not all TILs are responsive to tumor due to the tumor adapting sophisticated mechanisms to evade immune recognition. Therefore, it is vital to characterize the subpopulation of TILs that possess the capacity for antitumor recognition. We identified CD137 as a biomarker for naturally-occurring tumor-reactive TILs in ovarian and melanoma cancers. CD137⁺ TILs demonstrate superior anti-tumor effects in vitro and in vivo, in comparison to the CD137^- and bulk TILs. However, the CD137⁺ TIL population failed to completely abolish cancer in vivo, suggesting other factors may dampen their antitumor activity. My work will conduct the first in-depth investigation inhibitory molecule expression by bona fide tumor-reactive T cells in ovarian cancer. We will test the hypothesis that specific blockade of newly identified inhibitory molecules will augment the tumor reactivity, expansion, and overall “fitness” phenotype of ovarian cancer CD137⁺ TIL.

Courses Taught

• BIO-110 –51L Introductory Biology I; Instructor; Delaware County Community College, Media, PA

 
Publications

Journal Publications

• Jessica Chacon, Krit Ritthipichai, Geok Sim, Michiko Harao, Jie Qing Chen, Caitlin Creasy, Chantale Bernatchez, Patrick Hwu and Laszlo Radvanyi. Clinical success of adoptive cell  transfer therapy using tumor infiltrating lymphocytes. In: Cancer Drug Discovery and Development: Developments in T Cell Based Cancer Immunotherapies. Wang, Ascierto, and  Stroncek. NYC, NY, 2015.

• Jessica Ann Chacon, Amod A Sarnaik, Shari Pilon-Thomas, and Laszlo RadvanyiTriggering co-stimulation directly in melanoma tumor fragments drives CD8+ tumor-  infiltrating lymphocyte expansion with improved effector-memory properties. OncoImmunology, 4:12, e1040219. 2015.

• Jessica Ann Chacon, Amod A Sarnaik, Jie Qing Chen, Caitlin Creasy, Charuta Kale, John Robinson, Jeffrey Weber, Patrick Hwu, Laszlo Radvanyi, and Shari Pilon-Thomas.Manipulating the tumor microenvironment ex vivo for enhanced expansion of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes for adoptive cell therapy. Clin Cancer Res. 2015 Feb 1;21(3):611-21.

• Geok Choo Sim, Jessica Chacon, Cara Haymaker, Krit Ritthipichai, Manish Singh, Patrick Hwu, Laszlo Radvanyi. Tumor-infiltrating Lymphocyte (TIL) Therapy for Melanoma: Rationale and Issues for Further Clinical Development. BioDrugs. 2014 Oct;28(5):421-37. doi: 10.1007/s40259-014-0097-y.

• Jessica Chacon, Shari Pilon-Thomas, Amod Sarnaik, and Laszlo Radvanyi. Continuous 4-1BB co-stimulation signals for the optimal expansion of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes for Adoptive T-cell Therapy. OncoImmunology. 2013 Sept; Vol2 Issue 9: eID: e25581.

• Jessica Ann Chacon, Richard Wu, Pariya Sukhumalchandra, Jeffrey J. Molldrem, Amod Sarnaik, Shari Pilon-Thomas, Jeffrey Weber, Patrick Hwu, and Laszlo Radvanyi. Co-stimulation Through 4-1BB/CD137 Improves the Expansion and Function of CD8⁺ Melanoma Tumor-infiltrating Lymphocytes for Adoptive T-cell Therapy. PLoS ONE. 2013;8(4):e60031.

Contact info:
Jessica Chacon Ph.D.

IRACDA Postdoctoral Fellow
Center for Cellular Immunotherapies
Ovarian Cancer Research Center
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Email: jchacon@upenn.edu

Complete List of Published Work in MyBibliography:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/1tOjm4RqZqpkJ/bibliography/43561262/public/?sort=date&direction=ascending