Scientist Woonyoung Choi, Ph.D., who led genomic studies that identified the basal and luminal molecular subtypes of bladder cancer, has discovered that the immune system plays a powerful role in how patients respond to chemotherapy.

“Differences in the numbers and characteristics of the immune cells – in particular, the T lymphocytes – that are present in bladder cancers strongly influence their sensitivity to neoadjuvant chemotherapy,” she says. With a $1.5 million grant from the Department of Defense, she is collaborating with a co-investigator in Texas to develop a new molecular subtyping test, and to perform mechanistic studies to determine whether T lymphocytes are required for bladder cancers to respond to chemotherapy.