Peter Forsyth

Pics from March 13.

On March 13 we discussed what we learn from autopsies on patients with leptomeningeal disease (LMD) and how important they are for discovering new and better treatments for this disease. It's an emotional issue, and it's not for everyone-but it's a precious gift that will help us develop cures. I'm going to donate my body to science when my turn comes, but it's a personal decision. We had the first example where we gathered as a group medically and talked about the patient's clinical history. We analyzed what we thought was going on in life, reviewed the radiology studies in detail, and finally the autopsy findings to see what was actually happening in the leptomeningeal. In this case, as we suspected clinically, it wasn't real LMD. So we have refined our diagnostic accuracy. And more to the point, we would not use these tissues to test and discover new targets for effective LMD treatment. A critical critical component in discovering cures for this terrible disease.

We are very grateful to Moffitt for recognizing our success in building (and funding) our LMD Program as one of the Top Research Stories of the year! And very lucky to be in this rich environment of discovery and super enthusiastic collaborations make our transdisciplinary work possible! It’s a magical place for discovery in cancer. Thank you all for the great Team and Dr. Brian Czernicki’s MD PhD. fundamental discoveries in Dendritic Cell Therapies that drive our collaborations. And the other top story is from Dr. Greg Sawyer PhD and his wonderful engineering and imaging center which is unique and world class. We are working now on developing models and new treatments for LMD that are unique and exploiting engineering expertise to understanding this major clinical challenge. It is really, fundamentally an engineering problem so best to get engineers working on it. @MoffittNews

Golfers Vs. Brain Cancer in Oldsmar was an incredible event! @MoffittNews

Great Miles for Moffitt turn out. @MoffittNews

Miles for Moffitt. Go Team Transformers! @MoffittNews

Miles for Moffitt. Great Event! @MoffittNews

At #SNO2025, Vincent Law (@Binzento) shares a first-in-human trial of intrathecal cDC1 therapy for breast cancer leptomeningeal disease. Early results show safety and Th1-driven immune activation, with expanded T and B cells, reduced CSF tumor burden. Eighty-three percent of patients maintained or improved their performance status. #MoffittSNO2025

What an incredible few days at #SITC25 with the @MoffittNews team and colleagues from around the world! ✨ I’m truly inspired by the science, passion, and collaboration driving the future of immunotherapy. Catch the highlights from the conference in the latest ImmunoVerse Podcast Bonus Episode, recorded live at the @sitcancer Annual Meeting with @DemariaLab_WCM! 🎙️ Tune in today: bit.ly/3JqfSfb #MoffittSITC25 #Immunotherapy #CancerResearch

What is leptomeningeal disease? Peter Forsyth, MD (@PeterForsyth27) joins Patrick Hwu, MD (@PatrickHwuMD) to discuss the latest immunotherapy research for the treatment of leptomeningeal disease.

Great meeting at SITC and the Melanoma Research Foundation had their fourth meeting dedicated to basic, translational and clinical research on melanoma brain metastases. The first one I attended was in 2015. The meeting started with a patient testimony from a long-term survivor from symptomatic melanoma brain mets that was treated on checkmate 204 with ipi + nivo and is apparently cured. He is an inspiration and reminded us why we do what we do. Great research talks and summaries by the worlds experts and leaders in the field. Great talk from Dr. Inna Smalley about LMD! Great meeting and I learned a lot. Very grateful to MRF for arranging this important meeting! @MoffittNews

This paper started it all in medullos & LMD where the fantastic Michael Taylor showed, using parabiotic mice (ie two mice sewn together with shared blood circulation; and one had a medullo tumor in the cerebellum and the other didn’t) that both mice developed LMD in the spine proving that while LMD may happen as a “drop met” it also is spread hematogenously and is CCL2 and CCR2 dependent. Beautiful, novel, exciting and therapeutically relevant! @MoffittResearch

I had an amazing talk at EANO Prague with my partners in LMD research! More pics to come. @MoffittNews @MoffittResearch

More news and views about our work in Leptomeningeal Disease from Breast Cancer, cited in The Cancer Letter October 10, 2025 issue, comments posted here. Working towards a cure and extremely grateful for Department of Defense funding the science of LMD and two clinical trials in LMD from Breast Cancer. These women need help, hope and the discoveries that drive cancer cures. @MoffittNews @MoffittResearch The Cancer Letter Newsletter