Shi-Ming Tu, MD

Research Program: Cancer Therapeutics Faculty Rank: Professor Campus: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College: College of Medicine Department: Internal Med Hem-Onc

Cancer Research Interest

• Disease Site Focus: GU
• Research Focus Area: Carcinogenesis
• Type of Research: Translational
• Research Keywords: cancer stem cells, germ cell tumor, prostate cancer
• Research Interest Statement: My clinical research focuses on a stem-cell origin and nature of cancers as it pertains to intratumoral heterogeneity in germ cell tumors and the microenvironment in prostate cancer bone metastasis. I have developed laboratory protocols that enable us to evaluate the clinical features and biological characteristics of germ cell tumor with respect to its stem-like origins, lethal phenotypes, and somatic transformation. I have designed clinical trials that have established the feasibility and indicated the clinical efficacy of bone-targeted therapy and maintenance regimens for patients with prostate cancer. My other area of research interest concerns the origin and nature of variant GU tumors, such as atypical germ cell tumors and ductal prostate cancer.　These studies may help us elucidate a stem-cell origin and nature of cancers and explore improved therapeutic strategies for specific cancer subtypes and pertinent tumor phenotypes.

Contact Information

• Email Address: STU@UAMS.EDU
• Profiles Research Networking Software: View Profile

Open Clinical Trials

• “A Randomized Open-Label Phase 2/3 Study of BT8009 as Monotherapy or in Combination in Participants with Locally Advanced or Metastatic Urothelial Cancer (Duravelo-2)” (NCT06225596)
• “A feasibility Study Evaluating a Role for Maintenance therapy in Patients with Biochemically Progressive Castration Sensitive Prostate Cancer on Intermittent Androgen Deprivation Therapy” (NCT06044025)
• “S2200, A Phase II Randomized Trial of Cabozantinib (NSC #761968) with or without Atezolizumab (NSC #783608) in Patients with Advanced Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma (PAPMET2).” (NCT05411081)
• “A031701 A Phase II Study of Gemcitabine Plus Cisplatin Chemotherapy in Patients with Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer with Bladder Preservation for Those Patients Whose Tumors Harbor Deleterious DNA Damage Response (DDR) Gene Alterations” (NCT03609216)
• “S1802 “Phase III Randomized Trial of Standard Systemic Therapy (SST) versus Standard Systemic Therapy plus Definitive Treatment (Surgery or Radiation) of the Primary Tumor in Metastatic Prostate Cancer.”” (NCT03678025)

Recent Publications

• Tabet GC, Zheng L, Hosseini H, [et al., including Tu SM]. Epithelioid trophoblastic tumor in male patients with germ cell tumor: A clinicopathologic analysis of five cases. Human pathology. 2024 153:105673. PMID: 39461379.
• Xiang JJ, Campbell MT, Tu SM, [et al.]. Doxorubicin, Paclitaxel, and Cisplatin (ATP) for Relapsed/Refractory Germ Cell Tumors. Clinical genitourinary cancer. 2024 22(6):102242. PMID: 39532049.
• Ercanbrack CW, Kwok AS, Chauhan MZ, [et al., including Tu SM]. Early Optical Coherence Tomography Signs of Erdafitinib-Induced Retinopathy. Cureus. 2024 16(8):e66968. PMID: 39280433. PMCID: PMC11401776.
• Jackson JC, Sanchez D, Johns AC, [et al., including Tu SM]. Germ Cell Tumor of the Testis: Lethal Subtypes of a Curable Cancer. Journal of clinical medicine. 2024 13(12). PMID: 38929965. PMCID: PMC11205088.
• Tu SM, Trikannad AK, Vellanki S, [et al.]. Stem Cell Origin of Cancer: Clinical Implications beyond Immunotherapy for Drug versus Therapy Development in Cancer Care. Cancers. 2024 16(6). PMID: 38539487. PMCID: PMC10969562.
• Tu SM, Chen JZ, Singh SR, [et al.]. Stem Cell Theory of Cancer: Clinical Implications for Cellular Metabolism and Anti-Cancer Metabolomics. Cancers. 2024 16(3). PMID: 38339375. PMCID: PMC10854810.
• El Zarif T, Nassar AH, Pond GR, [et al., including Tu SM]. Safety and efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in advanced penile cancer: report from the Global Society of Rare Genitourinary Tumors. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2023 115(12):1605-1615. PMID: 37563779. PMCID: PMC11032703.
• Tu SM, Chen JZ, Singh SR, [et al.]. Stem Cell Theory of Cancer: Clinical Implications of Epigenomic versus Genomic Biomarkers in Cancer Care. Cancers. 2023 15(23). PMID: 38067237. PMCID: PMC10705798.
• Tu SM, Aydin AM, Maraboyina S, [et al.]. Stem Cell Origin of Cancer: Clinical Implications for Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy. Cancers. 2023 15(22). PMID: 38001645. PMCID: PMC10670143.
• Tu SM, Aydin AM, Maraboyina S, [et al.]. Stem Cell Origin of Cancer: Implications of Oncogenesis Recapitulating Embryogenesis in Cancer Care. Cancers. 2023 15(9). PMID: 37173982. PMCID: PMC10177345.
• Moore JA, Lehner MJ, Anfossi S, [et al., including Tu SM]. Predictive capacity of a miRNA panel in identifying teratoma in post-chemotherapy consolidation surgeries. BJUI compass. 2023 4(1):81-87. PMID: 36569509. PMCID: PMC9766861.
• Tu SM, Singh SR, Arnaoutakis K, [et al.]. Stem Cell Theory of Cancer: Implications for Translational Research from Bedside to Bench. Cancers. 2022 14(14). PMID: 35884406. PMCID: PMC9321703.
• Tu SM, Moran C, Norton W, Zacharias NM. Stem Cell Theory of Cancer: Origin of Metastasis and Sub-clonality. Seminars in diagnostic pathology. 2022. PMID: 35729019.
• Tu SM, Guo CC, Chow DS, Zacharias NM. Stem Cell Theory of Cancer: Implications for Drug Resistance and Chemosensitivity in Cancer Care. Cancers. 2022 14(6). PMID: 35326699. PMCID: PMC8946169.
• Tu SM, Pisters LL. Stem-Cell Theory of Cancer: Implications for Antiaging and Anticancer Strategies. Cancers. 2022 14(5). PMID: 35267646. PMCID: PMC8909197.
• Moore JA, Slack RS, Lehner MJ, [et al., including Tu SM]. Very Late Recurrence in Germ Cell Tumor of the Testis: Lessons and Implications. Cancers. 2022 14(5). PMID: 35267435. PMCID: PMC8909729.
• Tu SM, Estecio MR, Lin SH, Zacharias NM. Stem Cell Theory of Cancer: Rude Awakening or Bad Dream from Cancer Dormancy?. Cancers. 2022 14(3). PMID: 35158923. PMCID: PMC8833524.
• Hwang MJ, Hamza A, Zhang M, [et al., including Tu SM]. Somatic-type Malignancies in Testicular Germ Cell Tumors: A Clinicopathologic Study of 63 Cases. The American journal of surgical pathology. 2022 46(1):11-17. PMID: 34334690. PMCID: PMC8671201.
• Spetsieris N, Boukovala M, Alafis I, [et al., including Tu SM]. Abiraterone acetate plus prednisone in non-metastatic biochemically recurrent castration-naïve prostate cancer. European journal of cancer (Oxford, England : 1990). 2021 157:259-267. PMID: 34536949.
• Hahn AW, Chahoud J, Campbell MT, [et al., including Tu SM]. Pembrolizumab for advanced penile cancer: a case series from a phase II basket trial. Investigational new drugs. 2021 39(5):1405-1410. PMID: 33770291.
• Tu SM, Zhang M, Wood CG, Pisters LL. Stem Cell Theory of Cancer: Origin of Tumor Heterogeneity and Plasticity. Cancers. 2021 13(16). PMID: 34439162. PMCID: PMC8394880.
• Li R, Duplisea JJ, Petros FG, [et al., including Tu SM]. Robotic Postchemotherapy Retroperitoneal Lymph Node Dissection for Testicular Cancer. European urology oncology. 2021 4(4):651-658. PMID: 31412007.
• Tsimberidou AM, Vo HH, Subbiah V, [et al., including Tu SM]. Pembrolizumab in Patients with Advanced Metastatic Germ Cell Tumors. The oncologist. 2021 26(7):558-e1098. PMID: 33491277. PMCID: PMC8265349.
• von Eyben FE, Parraga-Alava J, Tu SM. Testicular germ cell tumors type 2 have high RNA expression of LDHB, the gene for lactate dehydrogenase subunit B. Asian journal of andrology. 2021 23(4):357-362. PMID: 33565425. PMCID: PMC8269830.
• Tu SM. Stem Cell Theory of Cancer: Implications of a Viral Etiology in Certain Malignancies. Cancers. 2021 13(11). PMID: 34205851. PMCID: PMC8199000.
• Ranasinghe W, Shapiro DD, Zhang M, [et al., including Tu SM]. Optimizing the diagnosis and management of ductal prostate cancer. Nature reviews. Urology. 2021 18(6):337-358. PMID: 33824525.
• Tsimberidou AM, Hong DS, Fu S, [et al., including Tu SM]. Precision medicine: preliminary results from the Initiative for Molecular Profiling and Advanced Cancer Therapy 2 (IMPACT2) study. NPJ precision oncology. 2021 5(1):21. PMID: 33742104. PMCID: PMC7979841.
• Tu SM. The Cancer Genome: Paradigm or Paradox?. Cancers. 2021 13(4). PMID: 33567511. PMCID: PMC7915243.
• Tu SM, Pisters LL. Curing Cancer: Lessons from a Prototype. Cancers. 2021 13(4). PMID: 33562202. PMCID: PMC7915721.
• Ranasinghe W, Shapiro DD, Hwang H, [et al., including Tu SM]. Ductal Prostate Cancers Demonstrate Poor Outcomes with Conventional Therapies. European urology. 2021 79(2):298-306. PMID: 33279304.
• Spetsieris N, Boukovala M, Weldon JA, [et al., including Tu SM]. A Phase 2 Trial of Abiraterone Followed by Randomization to Addition of Dasatinib or Sunitinib in Men With Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer. Clinical genitourinary cancer. 2021 19(1):22-31.e5. PMID: 32675015. PMCID: PMC10014037.
• Tu SM, Campbell M, Shah A, Logothetis CJ. Application of a Successful Germ Cell Tumor Paradigm to the Challenges of Common Adult Solid Cancers. Journal of cell science & therapy. 2021 12(6). PMID: 34367724. PMCID: PMC8341073.
• Umbreit EC, Siddiqui BA, Hwang MJ, [et al., including Tu SM]. Origin of Subsequent Malignant Neoplasms in Patients with History of Testicular Germ Cell Tumor. Cancers. 2020 12(12). PMID: 33327406. PMCID: PMC7764868.
• Umbreit EC, McIntosh AG, Suk-Ouichai C, [et al., including Tu SM]. Intraoperative and early postoperative complications in postchemotherapy retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy among patients with germ cell tumors using validated grading classifications. Cancer. 2020 126(22):4878-4885. PMID: 32940929. PMCID: PMC9379780.
• Ranasinghe WKB, Brooks NA, Elsheshtawi MA, [et al., including Tu SM]. Patterns of metastases of prostatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Cancer. 2020 126(16):3667-3673. PMID: 32453443.
• Pan T, Martinez M, Hubka KM, [et al., including Tu SM]. Cabozantinib Reverses Renal Cell Carcinoma-mediated Osteoblast Inhibition in Three-dimensional Coculture In Vitro and Reduces Bone Osteolysis In Vivo. Molecular cancer therapeutics. 2020 19(6):1266-1278. PMID: 32220969. PMCID: PMC7272308.
• McIntosh AG, Tu SM. Editorial Comment. The Journal of urology. 2020 203(6):1154. PMID: 32176596.
• Chen B, Bathala TK, Xu G, [et al., including Tu SM]. Comparison of Diagnostic Utility of Fluciclovine PET/CT Versus Pelvic Multiparametric MRI for Prostate Cancer in the Pelvis in the Setting of Rising PSA After Initial Treatment. Clinical nuclear medicine. 2020 45(5):349-355. PMID: 31977495.
• Naing A, Meric-Bernstam F, Stephen B, [et al., including Tu SM]. Phase 2 study of pembrolizumab in patients with advanced rare cancers. Journal for immunotherapy of cancer. 2020 8(1). PMID: 32188704. PMCID: PMC7078933.
• Corn PG, Zhang M, Nogueras-Gonzalez GM, [et al., including Tu SM]. A Phase II Study of Cabozantinib and Androgen Ablation in Patients with Hormone-Naïve Metastatic Prostate Cancer. Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. 2020 26(5):990-999. PMID: 31941830.
• Boukovala M, Spetsieris N, Weldon JA, [et al., including Tu SM]. A candidate androgen signalling signature predictive of response to abiraterone acetate in men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. European journal of cancer (Oxford, England : 1990). 2020 127:67-75. PMID: 31986451. PMCID: PMC7350510.
• Siddiqui BA, Zhang M, Pisters LL, Tu SM. Systemic therapy for primary and extragonadal germ cell tumors: prognosis and nuances of treatment. Translational andrology and urology. 2020 9(Suppl 1):S56-S65. PMID: 32055486. PMCID: PMC6995840.