May 16, 2018

Nivolumab is a targeted cancer drug that blocks the action of a protein called PD-1 and activates T cells to attack cancer cells without damaging normal cells. Mark Roschewski, M.D., of the Lymphoid Malignancies Branch is leading a study to determine if nivolumab is effective in treating patients with certain diseases of the lymphatic system. Read more...

May 14, 2018

HPV-associated cancers that spread or do not respond to treatment are often incurable. Julius Strauss, M.D., of the Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology is testing a first-in-class bifunctional immunotherapy to see if it can control the growth of HPV-associated tumors by restoring and improving the immune system’s ability to kill cancer cells. Read more...

Apr 24, 2018

A new clinical trial is testing ONC201, an investigational drug that in laboratory studies has been shown to kill breast and endometrial cancer cells most likely by destroying mitochondria within the tumor cells. Mitochondria are the “powerhouse” of the cell, and blocking its activity may kill tumor cells and shrink tumors in human patients. Read more...

Apr 23, 2018

Drs. Tracie Miller and Steve Lipshultz have spent their careers caring for pediatric patients and conducting research at well-known medical institutions across the country. In some ways, those years of providing patient care and conducting medical research prepared the couple for Tracie’s ovarian cancer diagnosis, and in other ways, it didn’t. Read more...

Apr 20, 2018

A new study that is now open is testing combination immunotherapy for men with prostate cancer that are experiencing a rise in PSA after surgery or radiation.  Read more...

Apr 10, 2018

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell immunotherapy targeting the protein CD19 has shown promise in treating acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). CD22-CAR T-cell therapy has yielded similarly encouraging results, but many patients relapse after either therapy. In an upcoming phase I clinical trial, Center for Cancer Research investigators will test a new strategy—treating patients with a CAR T-cell therapy that targets CD19 and CD22 simultaneously. Read more...

Apr 5, 2018

A new clinical trial is studying the effectiveness of an investigational drug combination that looks to see whether reducing the supply of oxygen to the cancer cells can make ovarian cancer shrink or slow its growth in association with an enzyme that repairs DNA damage. Read more...

Apr 3, 2018

Researchers are testing a prime-and-boost approach to safely direct the immune system to kill tumor cells that express brachyury, a protein expressed in high levels in some cancers. A new clinical trial is testing an experimental vaccine in patients whose cancers have not responded to standard treatments. Read more...

Mar 28, 2018

A clinical trial at the National Cancer Institute led by Christian Hinrichs, M.D., Investigator in the Experimental Transplantation and Immunology Branch, offered the first evidence in support of immunotherapy as an effective treatment for cervical cancer. In a recent article, Agence France Presse highlights the journeys of Sue Scott and Arrica Wallace, two women on the trial for whom the experimental cancer treatment worked. Read the full article…

Mar 23, 2018

For the one-year anniversary of the FDA’s approval of avelumab, CCR Communications caught up with Richard Mulcahy to share his success story as a clinical trial patient. Mulcahy was diagnosed with Merkel cell carcinoma in September of 2016. It’s been over a year since he received his first treatment of avelumab as part of a clinical trial led by Isaac Brownell, M.D., Ph.D., formerly an Investigator in the Dermatology Branch, at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda. Read more...