Our Discoveries

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.

NIH researchers develop AI tool with potential to more precisely match cancer drugs to patients

In a proof-of-concept study published on April 18, 2024, in Nature Cancer, CCR researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that uses data from individual cells inside tumors to predict whether a person’s cancer will respond to a specific drug. The team, led by Eytan Ruppin, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of the Cancer Data Science Laboratory, suggests that such single-cell RNA sequencing data could one day be used to help doctors more precisely match cancer patients with drugs that will be effective in treating their cancer.

Cellular processing reverses molecule’s effect on anticancer immunity

Immune cells convert an immunosuppressive lipid into an anticancer immunity enhancer.

New 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.

New 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.

India’s First Homegrown CAR T-Cell Therapy Has Roots in NCI Collaboration

In October 2023, India’s counterpart to the US Food and Drug Administration, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization, approved NexCAR19, an effective, low-cost CAR-T cell therapy. The development of the therapy was made possible by a years-long collaborative journey between the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and Tata Memorial Centre in Mumbai with NCI researchers at the NIH Clinical Center. As India’s first approved CAR-T cell therapy, the treatment will be manufactured in Mumbai and is affordable for many.

An image of mouse colon tissue (blue), proliferating stem cells (green) and PEDF (red). Image credit: Girak Kim, et al.

The liver controls intestinal health through the PEDF protein

A new study reveals how the liver and gut communicate to regulate stem cell expansion in the repair of damaged intestinal tissue. The finding, from the lab of Chuan Wu, M.D., Ph.D., has important implications for a lipid-lowering drug that affects that communication.

PROTACtion against resistance of commonly used anti-cancer drug

Drugs known as PIM kinase inhibitors are used to treat a range of cancers, but many patients develop resistance to these medications. Recent research has led to a new class of therapeutics that target the mechanism of this resistance, resulting in increased death of cancer cells.

Molecular signature can identify tumor-targeting immune cells in the blood

Blood samples could be a new source of antitumor T cells for customized cancer immunotherapies.

tumor cells, immune cells, and dead cells

Novel T cell stimulation technique drives potent anti-tumor response

Researchers combined an antibody with an immune-signaling molecule resulting in an agent called STAR0602. A version of the novel agent was designed for and tested in mice, which induced significant tumor shrinkage and increased survival across six different types of cancer while exhibiting little toxicity. The promising lab findings have prompted the launch of a clinical trial in people.

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