News and Events
Study sheds light on diversity of study participants at CCR
Diversity in clinical trials is critical for understanding how well a treatment may work in different populations. A new study describes representation based on sex, age and ethnicity in clinical trials done at CCR.
Read MoreCellular processing reverses molecule’s effect on anticancer immunity
Immune cells convert an immunosuppressive lipid into an anticancer immunity enhancer.
Read MoreLeah Cook appointed Senior Investigator at CCR
The CCR community welcomes Leah M. Cook, Ph.D., who has been appointed as a Senior Investigator in the Cancer Innovation Laboratory. She is a cancer biologist with a focus on metastasis and the metastasis microenvironment. The goal of her research program is to identify mechanisms associated with bone metastatic prostate cancer and specifically, the underpinnings of the immune-tumor bone environment that contribute to metastatic disease.
Read MoreClinical trial researching post-treatment care for prostate cancer
A trial led by Deborah E. Citrin, M.D., Senior Investigator in the Radiation Oncology Branch, is studying the use of a device for improving urinary issues after prostate cancer treatment.
Read MoreFirst Cancer TIL Therapy Gets FDA Approval for Advanced Melanoma
On February 16, 2024, the Food and Drug Administration approved lifileucel (Amtagvi), the first cancer treatment that uses immune cells called tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), for some people with advanced melanoma. TIL therapy was pioneered in the 1980s by Steven A. Rosenberg, M.D., Chief of the Surgery Branch, and the final approval of this treatment has taken years of clinical trial research and ongoing partnerships among multiple institutions.
Read MoreClinical trial researching prostate cancer in African American adults
Ismail Baris Turkbey, M.D., Senior Clinician in the Molecular Imaging Branch, is leading a clinical trial to study and improve diagnostic outcomes for prostate cancer in African American adults.
Read MoreIn Memoriam: C. Norman Coleman, M.D.
The CCR community is deeply saddened by the recent passing of C. Norman Coleman, M.D., Senior Investigator in the Radiation Oncology Branch.
Read MoreNew Milestones publication now available
Every year, CCR makes remarkable contributions to the understanding, detection, treatment and prevention of cancer. This issue of our annual publication, Milestones, features 10 of our top scientific advances from the past year. These discoveries fall everywhere on the spectrum from basic science to clinical research, ranging from a change in our understanding of how cells replicate and divide to the first FDA-approved treatment for a rare cancer based on the results of an NCI trial. Our researchers have developed a novel drug delivery system inspired by bacterial spores, identified prognostic gene signatures for patients with different cancers and gathered data over 30 years to show that an immunotherapy essentially cures a rare precancerous disease.
Read MoreNew research on liver cell diversity could help scientists understand tumor complexity
Hepatocytes, the main cell type in the liver, differ in function according to their location in the liver. A new study shows that mitochondrial responses to nutrients drive this diversity — a finding that could help researchers better understand tumor cell heterogeneity.
Read MoreClinical trial researching therapy for esophageal cancers
A clinical trial led by David S. Schrump, M.D., MBA., FACS, Chief and Senior Investigator in the Thoracic Surgery Branch, is researching a combination vaccine and drug therapy for esophageal cancers.
Read MoreNew biomaterial enhances cancer vaccine effectiveness to help eliminate cancer in mice
Scientists have created a new type of cancer vaccine approach that uses a biomaterial that attracts immune cells and localizes the delivery of the vaccines. In mice, the biomaterial combined with a cancer vaccine was able to cure 50 to 75% of their tumors.
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