Klopp Laboratory

We aim to understand how the tumor microenvironment evolves during radiation treatment in order to develop new strategies to enhance radiation response. Our long-term goal is to rationally combine targeted or immune therapies with advanced radiation techniques to increase radiation treatment response, facilitating both improved disease control and reducing toxicity of treatment.

Together with colleagues at UT MD Anderson, we developed techniques to non-invasively sample cervical cancers undergoing radiation therapy for longitudinal molecular profiling. With this approach we have characterized the kinetics of immune infiltration in cervical cancers, identified microbiome predictors of response and used TCR sequencing to define candidate HPV reactive T-cell clones that expand in treatment responders. 

Our current focus is determining if tumor directed vaccination will improve outcomes in women with cervical cancers. In our clinical trial, Immunocerv, we are collecting tumor specimens in patients treated with vaccination and chemoradiation to understand how these two therapies may synergize to generate anti-tumor immune response.

Current projects in the Klopp Laboratory include: 

• Evaluate serial changes in the immune response during radiation therapy in patients with cervical cancer treated with standard of care approach or HPV direct vaccine coupled with chemoradiation. Our clinical trial, Immunocerv, is a single-arm Phase 2 clinical trial (NCT04580771) testing the combination of HPV vaccine with radiation therapy. Small volume samples are collected from tumor specimens and used for multi-spectral flow cytometry, T-cell receptor sequencing, whole exome sequencing and function expansion assays to characterize the impact of radiation on immune activation.

• Impact of HIV on Immune Activation and Microbiome in Cervical Cancers during Radiation Therapy. The major goal of this work is to determine if microbiome features present in cervical cancer patients in Houston are shared with patients around the world with cervical cancers. We are investigating the relationship of microbiome with tumor response. We are investigating whether HIV status and tumor microbiome features are associated with failure to expand intratumoral T-cells. 

• MRI guided brachytherapy. We are investigating the impact of intraprocedural MRI on improving tumor dose. Using advanced gynecologic brachytherapy applicators, we aim to determine if interstitial needles placement can be placed to increase dose and maximize tumor control. Eligible patients can be enrolled on our single arm study aiming to optimize tumor dosimetry during brachytherapy.