SUMMARY
The research interests of Tina J. Hieken, M.D., are diverse and include translational and clinical investigations focused on breast cancer and melanoma. Dr. Hieken investigates the relationship between the microbiome and the immune system and immunotherapy. She also studies translational and clinical investigations of new therapies, approaches and technologies to personalize cancer care and improve patient outcomes.
Focus areas
- Microbiome-immune-cancer interactions. Dr. Hieken's research includes understanding the role of the microbiome and its interaction with the immune system, cancer risk, disease progression and treatment response.
- Biomarkers for prediction and interception. Dr. Hieken develops biomarkers for risk prediction and treatment response and establishes a foundation for new approaches to cancer interception and treatment.
- Personalized surgical cancer management. Dr. Hieken uses new therapeutic approaches and innovative techniques to facilitate improved, individualized surgical management of cancer.
- Clinical trials on response and toxicity. Dr. Hieken leads clinical trials that explore these approaches to improve patient outcomes and to understand the biological factors underlying response, resistance and toxicity to treatment.
Significance to patient care
Breast cancer and melanoma are major public health concerns. Treatment can take a heavy emotional and physical toll, even when medical teams expect a good outcome. Care that is tailored to each person, often called precision medicine, can help match patients with care that is most likely to benefit them. Precision medicine also can reduce invasive treatments and help avoid care that is not likely to be effective.
Dr. Hieken works to identify new microbiome-based biomarkers that can personalize breast cancer risk prediction. This work could benefit hundreds of thousands of patients who are at risk. It also could lead to new ways to lower risk. Follow-on studies of how cancer develops could have a major impact on public health.
New ways to give whole-body treatment have already changed care and improved outcomes in patients with high-risk melanoma who may still be cured with surgery. Even so, there is still a need to personalize treatment so patients get the most effective care with the fewest side effects. There also is a need for new treatment options for patients in whom current best treatments do not work.
Professional highlights
- Virgil S. Counseller, M.D., Professorship in Surgery, Mayo Clinic, 2026-present.
- Member, Melanoma and Skin Cancer Steering Committee, National Cancer Institute, 2025-present.
- Chair, Cancer Surgery Standards Program, American College of Surgeons Cancer Programs, 2024-present.
- Study chair and co-principal investigator, Catalyst Award for Neoadjuvant Therapy for High-Risk Stage III Melanoma (NeoACTIVATE), Stand Up To Cancer and American Association for Cancer Research, 2017-present.