Mayer Fishman, MD, PhD

Dr. Fishman’s area of interest is the measurement and therapeutic modulation of the capacity for anticancer immunotherapy. He focuses on the translational application of novel immune therapy to treatment of genitourinary cancer. Further translational clinical trials in kidney cancer therapy focused on dendritic cells and myeloid derived suppressor cell (MDSC) balance and function, during IL-2 immunotherapy. In a completed, phase 1 trial of a novel modified IL-2 drug, ALT-801, in which a T cell receptor epitope specific for the 264-272 peptide of p53 protein in the context of HLA-A2 was tested (M Fishman, 1R01FD003452-01.), the correlative immune pharmacodynamic testing was conducted at ALTOR, finding that the new drug induced the expected changes from IL-2 receptor maximal ligation. The drug went to phase 1b testing in melanoma, and a kidney cancer trial is in development.A pilot trial of intraprostatic injection of autologous dendritic cells during external beam therapy of localized, but high risk prostate cancer, demonstrated the feasibility of intratumor DC injection.Dr. Fishman’s future work is anticipated to address immune therapies in superficial bladder cancer, and application of DC phenotypic modulation in prostate cancer.

• Youn JI, Kumar V, Collazo M, Nefedova Y, Condamine T, Cheng P, Villagra A, Antonia S, McCaffrey JC, Fishman M, Sarnaik A, Horna P, Sotomayor E, Gabrilovich DI. Epigenetic silencing of retinoblastoma gene regulates pathologic differentiation of myeloid cells in cancer. Nat Immunol. 2013 Mar;14(3):211-220. Pubmedid: 23354483. Pmcid: PMC3578019.
• Shore ND, Mantz CA, Dosoretz DE, Fernandez E, Myslicki FA, McCoy C, Finkelstein SE, Fishman MN. Building on sipuleucel-T for immunologic treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer. Cancer Control. 2013 Jan;20(1):7-16. Pubmedid: 23302902.
• Larkin J, Fishman M, Wood L, Negrier S, Olivier K, Pyle L, Gorbunova V, Jonasch E, Andrews L, Staehler M. Axitinib for the Treatment of Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma: Recommendations for Therapy Management to Optimize Outcomes. Am J Clin Oncol. 2013 Jan. Pubmedid: 23357974.
• Rini B, Szczylik C, Tannir NM, Koralewski P, Tomczak P, Deptala A, Dirix LY, Fishman M, Ramlau R, Ravaud A, Rogowski W, Kracht K, Sun YN, Bass MB, Puhlmann M, Escudier B. AMG 386 in combination with sorafenib in patients with metastatic clear cell carcinoma of the kidney: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 study. Cancer. 2012 Dec;118(24):6152-6161. Pubmedid: 22692704.
• Jacobsen PB, Phillips KM, Jim HS, Small BJ, Faul LA, Meade CD, Thompson L, Williams CC, Loftus LS, Fishman M, Wilson RW. Effects of self-directed stress management training and home-based exercise on quality of life in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy: a randomized controlled trial. Psychooncology. 2012 Jun. Pubmedid: 22715124.
• Finkelstein SE, Rodriguez F, Dunn M, Farmello MJ, Smilee R, Janssen W, Kang L, Chuang T, Seigne J, Pow-Sang J, Torres-Roca JF, Heysek R, Biagoli M, Shankar R, Scott J, Antonia S, Gabrilovich D, Fishman M. Serial assessment of lymphocytes and apoptosis in the prostate during coordinated intraprostatic dendritic cell injection and radiotherapy. Immunotherapy. 2012 Apr;4(4):373-382. Pubmedid: 22512631.
• Finkelstein SE, Fishman M, Conley AP, Gabrilovich D, Antonia S, Chiappori A. Cellular immunotherapy for soft tissue sarcomas. Immunotherapy. 2012 Mar;4(3):283-290. Pubmedid: 22401634.
• Basanta D, Scott JG, Fishman MN, Ayala G, Hayward SW, Anderson AR. Investigating prostate cancer tumour-stroma interactions: clinical and biological insights from an evolutionary game. Br J Cancer. 2012 Jan;106(1):174-181. Pubmedid: 22134510. Pmcid: PMC3251863.
• McNab P, Quigley B, Mendoza T, Hakam A, Khalil F, Fishman M, Altiok S. The histogenic origin of melanoma arising in respiratory epithelium of a teratomatous germ cell tumor of the mediastinum: an enigma unraveled from an unlikely source. Int J Clin Exp Pathol. 2012;5(9):982-990. Pubmedid: 23119117.
• Finkelstein SE, Fishman M. Clinical opportunities in combining immunotherapy with radiation therapy. Front Oncol. 2012;2:169. Pubmedid: 23233905. Pmcid: PMC3515996.
• Gupta S, Fishman M. Progress and contrasts of the development of tivozanib for therapy of kidney cancer. Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2011 Dec;12(18):2915-2922. Pubmedid: 22098229.
• Fishman MN, Thompson JA, Pennock GK, Gonzalez R, Diez LM, Daud AI, Weber JS, Huang BY, Tang S, Rhode PR, Wong HC. Phase I Trial of ALT-801, an Interleukin-2/T-Cell Receptor Fusion Protein Targeting p53 (aa264-272)/HLA-A*0201 Complex, in Patients with Advanced Malignancies. Clin Cancer Res. 2011 Dec;17(24):7765-7775. Pubmedid: 21994418.
• Hong DS, Kurzrock R, Oh Y, Wheler J, Naing A, Brail L, Callies S, André V, Kadam SK, Nasir A, Holzer TR, Meric-Bernstam F, Fishman M, Simon G. A Phase 1 Dose Escalation, Pharmacokinetic, and Pharmacodynamic Evaluation of eIF-4E Antisense Oligonucleotide LY2275796 in Patients with Advanced Cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2011 Oct;17(20):6582-6591. Pubmedid: 21831956.
• Faul LA, Jim HS, Minton S, Fishman M, Tanvetyanon T, Jacobsen PB. Relationship of exercise to quality of life in cancer patients beginning chemotherapy. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2011 May;41(5):859-869. Pubmedid: 21330097.
• Carballido E, Fishman M. Sipuleucel-T: Prototype for development of anti-tumor vaccines. Curr Oncol Rep. 2011 Apr;13(2):112-119. Pubmedid: 21243538.
• Bellmunt J, Eisen T, Fishman M, Quinn D. Experience with sorafenib and adverse event management. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2011 Apr;78(1):24-32. Pubmedid: 20399677.
• Fishman M. Review: therapy for kidney cancer with a sarcomatoid component. Clin Adv Hematol Oncol. 2011 Jan;9(1):67-69. Pubmedid: 21326150.
• Gupta S, Carballido E, Fishman M. Sipuleucel-T for therapy of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic, castrate-refractory prostate cancer: an update and perspective among other treatments. Onco Targets Ther. 2011;4:79-96. Pubmedid: 21792315.
• Finkelstein SE, Carey T, Fricke I, Yu D, Goetz D, Gratz M, Dunn M, Urbas P, Daud A, DeConti R, Antonia S, Gabrilovich D, Fishman M. Changes in dendritic cell phenotype after a new high-dose weekly schedule of interleukin-2 therapy for kidney cancer and melanoma. J Immunother. 2010 Oct;33(8):817-827. Pubmedid: 20842055.
• Spiess PE, Fishman MN. Cytoreductive Nephrectomy vs Medical Therapy as Initial Treatment: A Rational Approach to the Sequence Question in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma. Cancer Control. 2010 Oct;17(4):269-278. Pubmedid: 20861814.
• Herber DL, Cao W, Nefedova Y, Novitskiy SV, Nagaraj S, Tyurin VA, Corzo A, Cho HI, Celis E, Lennox B, Knight SC, Padhya T, McCaffrey TV, McCaffrey JC, Antonia S, Fishman M, Ferris RL, Kagan VE, Gabrilovich DI. Lipid accumulation and dendritic cell dysfunction in cancer. Nat Med. 2010 Aug;16(8):880-886. Pubmedid: 20622859. Pmcid: PMC2917488.
• Bellmunt J, Fishman M, Eisen T, Quinn D. Expert opinion on the use of first-line sorafenib in selected metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients. Expert Rev Anticancer Ther. 2010 Jun;10(6):825-835. Pubmedid: 20553208.
• Nagaraj S, Youn JI, Weber H, Iclozan C, Lu L, Cotter MJ, Meyer C, Becerra CR, Fishman M, Antonia S, Sporn MB, Liby KT, Rawal B, Lee JH, Gabrilovich DI. Anti-inflammatory triterpenoid blocks immune suppressive function of MDSCs and improves immune response in cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 2010 Mar;16(6):1812-1823. Pubmedid: 20215551. Pmcid: PMC2840181.
• Fishman M. A changing world for DCvax: a PSMA loaded autologous dendritic cell vaccine for prostate cancer. Expert Opin Biol Ther. 2009 Dec;9(12):1565-1575. Pubmedid: 19916735.
• Love J, Bernard EJ, Cockeram A, Cohen L, Fishman M, Gray J, Morgan D. A multicentre, observational study of sodium picosulfate and magnesium citrate as a precolonoscopy bowel preparation. Can J Gastroenterol. 2009 Oct;23(10):706-710. Pubmedid: 19826647. Pmcid: PMC2776615.
• Correa JJ, Fishman M, Chuang ST, Spiess PE. Surgery Plus Targeted Therapy for Renal Cell Carcinoma With Isolated Spermatic Cord Metastasis. Clin Genitourin Cancer. 2009 Oct;7(3):E101-E103. Pubmedid: 19815479.
• Fishman M, Hunter T, Soliman H, Thompson P, Dunn M, Smilee R, Farmelo M, Noyes D, Mahany J, Lee J, Cantor A, Messina J, Seigne J, Pow-Sang J, JanssenW, Antonia S. Phase II Trial of B7-1 (CD-86) Transduced, Cultured Autologous Tumor Cell Vaccine Plus Subcutaneous Interleukin-2 for Treatment of Stage IV Renal Cell Carcinoma. J Immunother (1997). 2008 Jan;31(1):72-80. Pubmedid: 18157014.
• Rodriguez A, Fishman M. Growing opportunities for adjuvant therapy of renal cell carcinoma: targeted drugs and vaccines. Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2007 Dec;8(17):2979-2990. Pubmedid: 18001257.
• Nefedova Y, Fishman M, Sherman S, Wang X, Beg A, Gabrilovich D. Mechanism of all-trans retinoic acid effect on tumor-associated myeloid-derived suppressor cells. Cancer Res. 2007 Nov;67(22):11021-11028. Pubmedid: 18006848.
• Romero S, Stanton G, Defelice J, Schreiber F, Rago R, Fishman M. Phase II trial of thalidomide and daily oral dexamethasone for treatment of hormone refractory prostate cancer progressing after chemotherapy. Urol Oncol. 2007 Jul;25(4):284-290. Pubmedid: 17628293.
• Münster P, Marchion D, Bicaku E, Schmitt M, Lee JH, DeConti R, Simon G, Fishman M, Minton S, Garrett C, Chiappori A, Lush R, Sullivan D, Daud A. Phase I trial of histone deacetylase inhibition by valproic acid followed by the topoisomerase II inhibitor epirubicin in advanced solid tumors: a clinical and translational study. J Clin Oncol. 2007 May;25(15):1979-1985. Pubmedid: 17513804.
• Sullivan P, Mulani P, Fishman M, Sleep D. Quality of life findings from a multicenter, multinational, observational study of patients with metastatic hormone-refractory prostate cancer. Qual Life Res. 2007 May;16(4):571-575. Pubmedid: 17294287.
• Motzer R, Bolger G, Boston B, Carducci M, Fishman M, Hancock S, HaukeRJ, Hudes G, Jonasch E, Kantoff P, Kuzel T, Lange P, Levine E, Logothetis C, Margolin K, Pohar K, Redman B, Robertson C, Samlowski W, Sheinfeld J. Kidney cancer. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2006 Nov;4(10):1072-1081. Pubmedid: 17112454.
• Ryan DP, Appleman LJ, Lynch T, Supko J, Fidias P, Clark JW, Fishman M, Zhu AX, Enzinger PC, Kashala O, Cusack J, Eder JP. Phase I clinical trial of bortezomib in combination with gemcitabine in patients with advanced solid tumors. Cancer. 2006 Nov;107(10):2482-2489. Pubmedid: 17036355.
• Motzer R, Bolger G, Boston B, Carducci M, Fishman M, Hancock S, HaukeRJ, Hudes G, Jonasch E, Kantoff P, Kuzel T, Lange P, Levine E, Logothetis C, Margolin K, Pohar K, Redman B, Robertson C, Samlowski W, Sheinfeld J. Testicular cancer. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2006 Nov;4(10):1038-1058. Pubmedid: 17112452.
• Mirza N, Fishman M, Fricke I, Dunn M, Neuger AM, Frost TJ, Lush RM, Antonia S, Gabrilovich DI. All-trans-retinoic acid improves differentiation of myeloid cells and immune response in cancer patients. Cancer Res. 2006 Sep;66(18):9299-9307. Pubmedid: 16982775. Pmcid: PMC1586106.
• Simon G, Lush R, Gump J, Tetteh L, Williams C, Cantor A, Antonia S, Garrett C, Rocha-Lima C, Fishman M, Sullivan D, Munster P. Sequential oral 9-nitrocamptothecin and etoposide: a pharmacodynamic- and pharmacokinetic-based phase I trial. Mol Cancer Ther. 2006 Aug;5(8):2130-2137. Pubmedid: 16928835.
• Simon GR, Garrett CR, Olson SC, Langevin M, Eiseman IA, Mahany JJ, Williams CC, Lush R, Daud A, Munster P, Chiappori A, Fishman M, Bepler G, Lenehan PF, Sullivan DM. Increased bioavailability of intravenous versus oral CI-1033, a pan erbB tyrosine kinase inhibitor: results of a phase I pharmacokinetic study. Clin Cancer Res. 2006 Aug;12(15):4645-4651. Pubmedid: 16899614.
• Cella D, Petrylak DP, Fishman M, Teigland C, Young J, Mulani P. Role of quality of life in men with metastatic hormone-refractory prostate cancer: how does atrasentan influence quality of life?. Eur Urol. 2006 May;49(5):781-789. Pubmedid: 16458417.
• Fishman M, Garrett C, Simon G, Chiappori A, Lush R, Dinwoodie W, Mahany J, Dellaportas A, Cantor A, Gollerki A, Cohen M, Sullivan D. Phase I study of the taxane BMS-188797 in combination with carboplatin administered every 3 weeks in patients with solid malignancies. Clin Cancer Res. 2006 Jan;12(2):523-528. Pubmedid: 16428495.
• Garrett CR, Fishman MN, Rago RR, Williams CC, Dellaportas AM, Mahany JJ, Lush RM, Dalton WS, Gollerkeri A, Cohen MB, Sullivan DM. Phase I study of a novel taxane BMS-188797 in adult patients with solid malignancies. Clin Cancer Res. 2005 May;11(9):3335-3341. Pubmedid: 15867232.
• Fishman M, Antonia S. Specific antitumour vaccine for renal cancer. Lancet. 2004;363(9409):583-584. Pubmedid: 14987879.
• Yen Y, Margolin K, Doroshow J, Fishman M, Johnson B, Clairmont C, Sullivan D, Sznol M. A phase I trial of 3-aminopyridine-2-carboxaldehyde thiosemicarbazone in combination with gemcitabine for patients with advanced cancer. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 2004;54(4):331-342. Pubmedid: 15148626.
• Fishman M. Phase I trials of liposome encapuslated mitoxantrone (LEM) and SN-38. Cancer Invest. 2004;22:86-88.
• Fishman M, Antonia S. Cell-based immune therapy for metastatic renal cancer. Expert Rev Anticancer Ther. 2003;3(6):837-849. Pubmedid: 14686706.
• Fishman M, Antonia S. Novel therapies for renal cell carcinoma - an update. Expert Opin Investig Drugs. 2003;12(4):593-609. Pubmedid: 12665415.
• Fishman M, Seigne J. Immunotherapy of metastatic renal cell cancer. Cancer Control. 2002;9(4):293-304. Pubmedid: 12228755.
• Fishman M, Seigne J, Antonia S. Novel therapies for renal cell carcinoma. Expert Opin Investig Drugs. 2001;10(6):1033-1044. Pubmedid: 11772233.
• Fishman M, Dalton W. Considerations in the management of myeloma. Oncology (Huntingt). 2000;14:72-81. Pubmedid: 11195422.
• Fishman M, Dalton W. Considerations in the management of myeloma. Oncology (Williston Park). 2000;14(11A):72-81. Pubmedid: 11195422.
• Fishman M, Bennett-Tate C. Vinblastine with or without estramustine in hormone refractory prostate cancer: no increased survival with the combination. Evidence Based Oncology. 2000;1:55-57.
• Fishman M, Sullivan D. Application of resistance reversal agents in hematologic malignancies; malignancy; current clinical practice. Hematology. 2000;5(5):343-358. Pubmedid: 11399634.