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Melissa Perrino, MD
Melissa Perrino, MD

Melissa Perrino, MD

Assistant Member, St. Jude Faculty

Departments

Divisions

Education

BS (Microbiology; Philosophy) – The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
MD – Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, Dayton, Ohio
Residency (Pediatrics) – University of Tennessee Health Sciences, Memphis, Tennessee
Fellowship (Pediatric Hematology/Oncology) – Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio

Research Interests

  • Identification of germline variants and their role in driving tumor formation
  • Refining surveillance guidelines for patients with underlying germline predisposition
  • Targetability of tumor and germline variants in cancer therapy and prevention
  • Effects of tumor and germline genomic variants on treatment outcome

Selected Publications

Lee JC, Gajjar A, Perrino MR, Delaney A, Tinkle CL, Klimo P, Furtado LV, Liu YC, Breuer A, Pinto SN, Bag AK, Ellison DW, Orr BA. Concurrent Pit-1 and SALL4 staining in primitive component of pituitary blastoma: A case report with clinicopathologic features including Cushing syndrome presentation, germline DICER1 mutation, and significant therapeutic response to chemoradiation. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2024 Dec 5:nlae126. doi: 10.1093/jnen/nlae126. Online ahead of print.PMID: 39656999 No abstract available.

Michaeli O, Kim SY, Mitchell SG, Jongmans MCJ, Wasserman JD, Perrino MR, Das A, MacFarland SP, Scollon SR, Greer MC, Sobreira N, Gallinger B, Lupo PJ, Malkin D, Schneider KW, Schultz KAP, Foulkes WD, Woodward ER, Stewart DR. Update on cancer screening in children with syndromes of bone lesions, hereditary leiomyoma and renal cell carcinoma syndrome, and other rare syndromes. Clin Cancer Res. 2024 Nov 27. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-24-2171. Online ahead of print.PMID: 39601780

Schultz KAP, MacFarland SP, Perrino MR, Mitchell SG, Kamihara J, Nelson AT, Mallinger PHR, Brzezinski JJ, Maxwell KN, Woodward ER, Gallinger B, Kim SY, Greer MC, Schneider KW, Scollon SR, Das A, Wasserman JD, Eng C, Malkin D, Foulkes WD, Michaeli O, Bauer AJ, Stewart DR. Update on Pediatric Surveillance Recommendations for PTEN Hamartoma Tumor Syndrome, DICER1-Related Tumor Predisposition, and Tuberous Sclerosis Complex. Clin Cancer Res. 2024 Nov 14. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-24-1947. Online ahead of print.PMID: 39540884

Schultz KAP, Nelson AT, Mallinger PHR, Harris AK, Kamihara J, Baldinger S, Chen KS, Pond D, Hatton JN, Dybvik AG, Mitchell SG, Perrino MR, Ben-Ami T, Kachanov D, Su Y, Duan C, Olson DR, Watson D, Field AL, Harney LA, Garrity Carr A, Frazier AL, Schneider DT, Wilson DB, MacFarland SP, Schoettler PJ, Bauer AJ, Dehner LP, Hill DA, Stewart DR, Messinger YH. DICER1-Related Tumor Predisposition: Identification of At-risk Individuals and Recommended Surveillance Strategies. Clin Cancer Res. 2024 Dec 16;30(24):5681-5692. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-24-1532.PMID: 39400264

Perrino MR, Das A, Scollon SR, Mitchell SG, Greer MC, Yohe ME, Hansford JR, Kalish JM, Schultz KAP, MacFarland SP, Kohlmann WK, Lupo PJ, Maxwell KN, Pfister SM, Weksberg R, Michaeli O, Jongmans MCJ, Tomlinson GE, Brzezinski J, Tabori U, Ney GM, Gripp KW, Gross AM, Widemann BC, Stewart DR, Woodward ER, Kratz CP. Update on Pediatric Cancer Surveillance Recommendations for Patients with Neurofibromatosis Type 1, Noonan Syndrome, CBL Syndrome, Costello Syndrome, and Related RASopathies. Clin Cancer Res. 2024 Nov 1;30(21):4834-4843. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-24-1611.PMID: 39196581 Review.

Fleming AM, Gehle DB, Perrino MR, Graetz DE, Bissler JJ, McCarville B, Krasin MJ, Brennan RC, Zhang J, Yang W, Sapkota Y, Hudson MM, Davidoff AM, Green DM, Murphy AJ. Concomitant Wilms tumor and autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2024 Oct;71(10):e31230. doi: 10.1002/pbc.31230. Epub 2024 Jul 31.PMID: 39085996

Blake A, Perrino MR, Morin CE, Taylor L, McGee RB, Lewis S, Hines-Dowell S, Pandey A, Turner P, Kubal M, Su Y, Tang L, Howell L, Harrison LW, Abramson Z, Schechter A, Sabin ND, Nichols KE. Performance of Tumor Surveillance for Children With Cancer Predisposition. JAMA Oncol. 2024 Aug 1;10(8):1060-1067. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2024.1878.PMID: 38900420

Greengard EG, Perrino MR, Park JR.2010 Jan 5 [updated 2024 May 23]. In: Adam MP, Feldman J, Mirzaa GM, Pagon RA, Wallace SE, Amemiya A, editors. ALK-Related Neuroblastic Tumor Susceptibility. GeneReviews® [Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993–2024. PMID: 20301782 

Lee JC, Tran QT, McGee RB, Perrino MR, Upadhyaya SA, Hanzlik EM, Pytel N, Carroll AJ, Orisme W, Eldomery M, Wang L, Blackburn PR, Furtado LV, Viaene AN, Luo M, Kalish JM, Pinto SN, Bag AK, Orr BA. Atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumour-TYR subtype arising in the setting of germline ring chromosome 22: An uncommon form of tumour predisposition. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol. 2024 Apr;50(2):e12971. doi: 10.1111/nan.12971.PMID: 38488196 No abstract available.

Perrino MR, Ahmari N, Hall A, Jackson M, Na Y, Pundavela J, Szabo S, Woodruff TM, Dombi E, Kim MO, Köhl J, Wu J, Ratner N. C5aR plus MEK inhibition durably targets the tumor milieu and reveals tumor cell phagocytosis. Life Sci Alliance. 2024 Mar 8;7(5):e202302229. doi: 10.26508/lsa.202302229. Print 2024 May.PMID: 38458648 

Nagel MB, Perrino MR, Nuccio R, Blake AK, Harrison L, Nichols KE, Pappo AS. Germline genomic findings in children and young adults with melanocytic tumors. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2023 Jul;70(7):e30361. doi: 10.1002/pbc.30361. Epub 2023 Apr 19. PMID: 37073685.

Kershner LJ, Choi K, Wu J, Zhang X, Perrino M, Salomonis N, Shern JF, Ratner N. Multiple Nf1 Schwann cell populations reprogram the plexiform neurofibroma tumor microenvironment. JCI Insight. 2022 Sep 22;7(18):e154513. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.154513. PMID: 36134665; PMCID: PMC9675562.

MacFarland SP, Maese L, Rednam SP, Kamihara J, Perrino MR, Nichols KE, Brodeur GM, Schiffman JD, Plon SE, Diller LR, Malkin D, Porter CC, Villani A. Collaboration to Promote Research and Improve Clinical Care in the Evolving Field of Childhood Cancer Predisposition. Cancer Prev Res (Phila). 2022 Oct 4;15(10):645-652. doi: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-22-0215. PMID: 36001348.

Perrino MR, Nichols KE, Meade J. Genetic Predisposition to Thyroid Cancer. Advanced Pediatric Thyroid Cancer, Springer Nature 2021 (in press).

Thomson CS, Pundavela J, Perrino MR, Coover RA, Choi K, Chaney KE, Rizvi TA, Largaespada DA, Ratner N. WNT5A inhibition alters the malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor microenvironment and enhances tumor growth. Oncogene Jun;40(24):4229-4241, 2021. PMID: 34079083

Chaney KE, Perrino MR, Kershner LJ, et al. Cdkn2a loss in a model of neurofibroma demonstrates stepwise tumor progression to atypical neurofibroma and MPNST. Cancer Res Nov 1;80(21):4720-4730, 2020. PMID: 32816910

Perrino M, Cooke-Barber J, Dasgupta R, Geller JI. Genetic predisposition to cancer: Surveillance and intervention. Seminars in Pediatric Surgery 28(6):150858, 2019. PMID: 31931963

Last update: January 2025

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