Our Discoveries

Acute myeloid leukemia. Image credit: iStock

Researchers uncover why a leukemia treatment can cause problems with movement and balance

Ara-C, also known as cytarabine, is the most common chemotherapy to cause cerebellar toxicity. Researchers discovered how the treatment leaves certain neurons with double-strand breaks in their DNA.

Blood from wildtype mice (left) showing blast-like T-ALL cells with characteristic blue nuclear staining; blood from mice in which CHMP5 is deficient in thymocytes (right) showing no evidence of T-ALL cells in the blood.

Protein shown to promote transcription factors that support cancer genes in leukemia

CCR researchers have discovered that the CHMP5 protein promotes transcription factors that initiate and sustain the expression of cancer genes in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia models.

In people with VHL disease, HIF protein complexes accumulate and promote tumor growth. By binding to HIF-2α (green portion of the HIF protein complex), belzutifan (purple hexagon) inhibits HIF’s tumor-promoting activity.

Belzutifan works steadily in people with VHL-associated tumors

In a recent clinical trial, belzutifan shows long-lasting benefits for patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease.

Phylogenetic tree of 94 viral strains corresponding to 153 viral peptides that are beneficial virus-related antigens. Colors in the circles indicate different virus classifications at the species (inner circle) and genus (outer circle) level.

Protein found on the common cold virus can activate anti-cancer immune response

Researchers found a viral protein that can activate certain immune cells to produce robust anti-cancer responses against liver cancer.

engineered natural killer cells (yellow) can expand in solid tumors and kill tumor cells (red)

Stem cell–derived natural killer cells engineered to attack solid tumors

Cancer-killing natural killer cells could pave the way to off-the-shelf immunotherapy for solid tumors.

Stock image depicting a CAR T cell (blue) attacking a cancer cell (orange). Image: iStock

T-cell receptors can help CAR T cells steer clear of healthy tissue while they attack tumors

Adding a specific T-cell receptor to CAR T cells may reduce side effects of immunotherapies designed to target solid tumors.

CD45R-stained IHC image depicting B cells within a tertiary lymphoid structure in a triple-treated cholangiocarcinoma tumor

Study uncovers mechanism behind effectiveness of three-drug combination in patients with a rare bile duct cancer

Combining anti-VEGF therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors stimulated the production of B cells to fight cholangiocarcinoma, a rare bile duct cancer.

Microscopy image of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Condition of patients’ immune cells can affect how they respond to immunotherapy

Researchers found that T cells in patients whose cancers did not respond to CD22 CAR T-cell therapy showed markers of cellular exhaustion and were in a later stage of development.

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.

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