Hargadon Publishes Cancer Research
Source: OncLive, February 2025
Trinkle Professor of Biology Kristian M. Hargadon ’01 and two alumni co-authors published research on anti-tumor immune dysfunction in Cancer Reports.
The article, “Lymph Node Invasion by Melanoma Cells Is Not Required for the Induction of Incomplete Differentiation by Tumor-Specific CD8+ T Cells,” examines a key form of anti-tumor immune dysfunction that arises early in tumor progression. Using genetically engineered mouse models of melanoma, Hargadon analyzed T cell responses in lymph nodes draining both aggressive and stable tumors. In every case, anti-tumor T cells failed to fully develop the functions needed to control tumor growth, suggesting that immune subversion occurs early and may contribute to tumor progression. These findings highlight the need for immunotherapy strategies that strengthen T cell activation in the early stages of cancer, rather than focusing solely on advanced disease.
This multi-year study includes contributions from two of Hargadon’s former students, Travis Goodloe ’16 and Stephen Woodall ’15. Both worked with Hargadon through Hampden-Sydney’s Faculty/Student Summer Research Fellowship Program and the College Honors Program. Goodloe, who studied lymph node invasion by melanoma, received the Best Poster Award at the 2015 State Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, whereas Woodall contributed to developing and characterizing one of the genetically engineered melanoma cell lines used in the study, earning a Best Poster Award at the 2016 national meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.