The David Cornfield Melanoma Fund is thrilled to announce Dr. Sofia Genta as the recipient of the 2022 David Cornfield Melanoma Fund Research Award.

Dr. Genta is a Medical Oncologist currently working as a Clinical Research Fellow at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network. We are proud to support Dr. Genta’s research project: “Prognostic and predictive value of circulating tumor DNA kinetics in high-risk melanoma patients – Serial ctDNA Monitoring as a Predictive Biomarker in Advanced Neoplasms (SAMBA) study”.

High risk, surgically-resected melanoma is a complex disease with a wide range of survival outcomes. Currently, there are no reliable criteria to predict disease relapse and identify patients who will benefit the most from systemic anti-cancer therapies.

Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) is a promising biomarker that can measure the presence of tumor genetic material in the blood through a simple blood draw. The 2022 DCMF Research Award will help to support Dr. Genta’s important study to evaluate the potential role of ctDNA as a predictive/prognostic biomarker in high-risk melanoma patients. Preliminary results of the study have been presented at the 2022 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

Dr. Genta’s work could result in the identification of an additional criterion for selecting patients for systemic therapy. Furthermore, by analyzing the ctDNA kinetics during adjuvant treatment, Dr. Genta will establish if the clearance of ctDNA is predictive of longer relapse-free survival. The results of this study will generate hypotheses for a prospective cancer interception clinical trial to explore novel therapeutic strategies in high-risk melanoma.

“The overreaching goal of my career as medical oncologist and researcher is to improve the care of cancer patients. The prestigious David Cornfield Melanoma Fund Research Award will be an important support for the successful finalization of the SAMBA study and will help consolidate my achievements in the melanoma research field,” said Dr. Genta.

The David Cornfield Melanoma Fund Research Award was established in 2015 at the University of Toronto in David Cornfield’s memory. Jointly funded by the David Cornfield Melanoma Fund and the University of Toronto, this $100,000 endowed award supports excellence in melanoma research. The award is available to residents and fellows in the Department of Medicine and students at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health who have demonstrated special interest and research achievements in the field of melanoma.