Elsa Quintana

Elsa Quintana studies the plasticity and heterogeneity of melanoma with focus on understanding whether all melanoma cells or a restricted cancer stem cell subpopulation can initiate tumor growth. Her laboratory has used xenograft models to characterize the frequency and properties of melanoma tumor-initiating cells and examine how cancer stem cell plasticity contributes to therapy resistance. She has investigated the relationship between cancer stem cell states and responses to immunotherapy in melanoma. Her work has refined the cancer stem cell concept in solid tumors.