Sanjay Adhikary, DVM

Affiliate Member

Research Program:

Cancer Therapeutics

Faculty Rank:

Graduate Assistant

Campus:

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

College:

College of Medicine

Department:

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Cancer Research Interest

Disease Site Focus: Cutaneous/Melanoma
Research Focus Area: Treatment
Type of Research: Translational
Research Keywords: Adjuvant of ICB Therapy, Metastatic melanoma
Research Interest Statement: Advanced melanoma is the most fatal of skin cancer, with a five-year overall survival rate of approximately 20% using conventional treatments such as chemotherapy and targeted therapy. However, immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy has revolutionized the clinical care of advanced melanoma, raising the five-year survival rate to around 52% in patients with advanced melanoma. The major problem with ICB therapy is that around 50% melanoma patients don't respond to ICB therapy due innate resistance. The primary goal of Dr. Tackett laboratory is to investigate tumor cell–intrinsic mechanisms to reprogram the tumor microenvironment for enhancing the efficacy of ICB therapy and inhibiting the ICB resistance in advanced melanoma. Recently, our lab discovered that activation of the adaptive unfolded protein response (UPR) can contribute to improved ICB response in melanoma. My current research focuses on elucidating the molecular mechanisms by which the adaptive UPR regulates ICB efficacy, utilizing cutting-edge molecular biology techniques, multi-omics approaches, and preclinical in vivo studies.

Adhikary S, Roy S, Budhathoki S, [et al.]. Correction: Thiazole-fused androstenone and ethisterone derivatives: potent β- and γ-actin cytoskeleton inhibitors to treat melanoma tumors. RSC medicinal chemistry. 2025 16(4):1842. PMID: 40190420. PMCID: PMC11966533.
Adhikary S, Roy S, Budhathoki S, [et al.]. Thiazole-fused androstenone and ethisterone derivatives: potent β- and γ-actin cytoskeleton inhibitors to treat melanoma tumors. RSC medicinal chemistry. 2024. PMID: 39703801. PMCID: PMC11653411.
Roy S, Raj Kc H, Adhikary S, [et al.]. Efficient Synthesis of Thiazole-Fused Bisnoralcohol Derivatives as Potential Therapeutic Agents. ACS omega. 2024 9(22):23283-23293. PMID: 38854539.
Nisar R, Adhikary S, Ahmad S, Alam MA. In Vitro Antimelanoma Properties of Verbena officinalis Fractions. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland). 2022 27(19). PMID: 36234866.