Our Discoveries

Combination immunotherapy shrank a variety of metastatic solid cancers

Results of a clinical trial led by Steven A. Rosenberg, M.D., Chief and Senior Investigator in the Surgery Branch, showed that a new form of tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy dramatically improved the treatment’s effectiveness in patients with metastatic gastrointestinal cancers. The findings, published April 1, 2025, in Nature Medicine, offer hope that this personalized immunotherapy regime could be used to treat a variety of solid tumors, which has so far eluded researchers developing cell-based therapies.

Targeting two proteins leaves some cancer cells vulnerable to chemotherapy

Targeting two proteins that cancer cells rely on to sustain their metabolism and DNA repair capabilities can double the survival rate of mice with lung cancer tumors. Cross referencing with data from The Cancer Genome Atlas of human tumors suggests that these findings could translate to people.

DNA breakage and synthesis in the cell nucleus

Research uncovers a novel mechanism for cells to recover from DNA damage

A newly discovered cellular mechanism sheds light on how cancer cells proliferate despite damage from anti-cancer treatments, providing a target for new therapies.

An illustration of papillomas in the throat

Innovative gene therapy shows promise in treating patients with recurrent respiratory papillomatosis

A clinical trial led by CCR researchers demonstrated the effectiveness of the novel treatment, PRGN-2012, against recurrent respiratory papillomatosis in adults. The results serve as the foundation for an application for accelerated approval to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Image of the BRCA2 protein with a sliding scale of color indicating the regions containing certain variants. Blue regions contain benign variants, while red regions contain pathogenic regions.

Researchers categorize thousands of BRCA2 mutations as cancerous or benign

Researchers used CRISPR gene editing technology to determine whether over 6,000 variants of BRCA2 were likely to cause cancer.

Drug shrinks nerve tumors in adults with neurofibromatosis type 1 in a clinical trial

Until recently, no effective treatments existed for non-cancerous inoperable nerve tumors, called plexiform neurofibroma, in adults. A clinical trial of the drug selumetinib shows it can cause tumor shrinkage and relieve symptoms, such as pain.

Mutant RAS can shift other proteins’ positions inside cancer cells

Mutant RAS proteins help shuttle other proteins out of the cell nucleus and into the cytoplasm, where some can promote cancerous growth.

Immunotherapy after surgery helps people with high-risk bladder cancer live cancer-free longer

Results from a large CCR clinical trial show that treatment with an immunotherapy drug may nearly double the length of time people with high-risk, muscle-invasive bladder cancer are cancer-free following surgical removal of the bladder. Researchers led by Andrea B. Apolo, M.D., Senior Investigator in the Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, found that postsurgical treatment with pembrolizumab (Keytruda), which is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating at least 18 different cancers, was superior compared with observation.

NIH study links neighborhood environment to prostate cancer risk in men with West African genetic ancestry

CCR researchers led by Stefan Ambs, Ph.D., M.P.H., Senior Investigator in the Laboratory of Human Carcinogenesis, found that West African genetic ancestry was associated with increased prostate cancer among men living in disadvantaged neighborhoods but not among men living in more affluent neighborhoods. The findings suggest that neighborhood environment may play a role in determining how genetic ancestry influences prostate cancer risk.

Understanding the Risk of Second Cancers After CAR T-Cell Therapy

Two recent reports in the New England Journal of Medicine are seeking to determine if there may be a causal link between CAR T-cell treatment and second cancers. In this Q&A, Stephanie L. Goff, M.D., Senior Research Physician in the Surgery Branch, discusses the findings and what this issue may mean in general for patients and this area of research.

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