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Our Discoveries

Tumor cells are identified by islands of blue nuclei surrounded by the support cells.

Researchers exploit novel vulnerability to deprive solid tumors of nutrients

Rapidly dividing cancer cells in solid tumors can outgrow their supply of nutrients. New research suggests that tumor support cells produce collagen-derived glutamine as a source of energy for nutrient-deprived tumors. This work reveals a novel approach for designing anti-cancer drugs that can starve solid tumors.

New insights into why smoking causes fatty liver disease

A new study using nicotine-metabolizing bacteria sheds light on the cellular processes triggered by tobacco use and helps explain why smoking can lead to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Tobacco cessation is the best way to reduce the harmful effects of smoking. These findings could help researchers develop additional approaches to address smoking-related liver damage.

Three-dimensional illustration of a T cell attacking a cancer cell.

T-cell imbalance can impact immunotherapy outcomes

The rapid growth of a patient’s cancer following immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy, known as hyperprogressive disease, is an unexpected treatment outcome that is challenging to predict or study. New results show that a T-cell imbalance in the tumor microenvironment can trigger the condition.

A spheroid of breast cancer cells grown in a three-dimensional matrix.

Mapping cells’ mechanical properties for insight into metastasis

A new approach allows researchers to investigate cells’ mechanical properties in tissue-like environments.

Scan of bone marrow from mice with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Liver cancer may unexpectedly be influenced by platelets

Platelets have long been associated with more aggressive cancers; however, new results show that these cell fragments release molecules with anti-tumor properties against liver cancer, reducing tumor burden in mice. The results provide detailed insights into the mysterious role of platelets in cancer progression.

TOP3B (pink structure) and DDX5 (green structure) are working together to unwind and cut a tangled R-loop.

Study finds that enzyme can disentangle strands of DNA and RNA

R-loops are three-stranded hybrid structures of DNA and RNA that play important regulatory functions in cells. Tangled R-loops can cause a number of issues in the genome and subsequently affect people’s health. CCR researchers have uncovered the mechanisms that the enzyme topoisomerase 3B uses to disentangle problematic R-loops.

Photomicrograph of a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

New insights into the origins of an aggressive form of lymphoma

A new study sheds light on the origin of an aggressive subtype of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The findings could help researchers develop more targeted therapies for this form of blood cancer.

Bacteria inside lung tumors concentrate within cancer cells

Researchers discovered that tumor-promoting signals are elevated in lung tumor cells with high concentrations of bacteria. These findings support the idea that reducing bacteria in the lungs might be beneficial for patients with lung cancer.

Cytotoxic T cells (red) are shown attacking a squamous cancer cell (white).

Immune receptors recognizing mutations in p53 could guide immunotherapies for solid tumors

CCR scientists have assembled a library of immune receptors that direct T cells to target cells with mutations in p53, the most commonly mutated gene in human cancers.

Microscopic view of a tissue sample of ductal cell carcinoma from human breast cancer. Image credit: Allan Weissman, M.D., Senior Investigator in the Cancer Innovation Laboratory at CCR, and Kevin Gardner, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology at Columbia University.

A protein predicts poor breast cancer survival for women of African descent

CCR and Columbia University researchers have discovered that large amounts of the gp78 protein in breast cancer tumors predict worse outcomes for patients of African ancestry. Their findings provide some new understanding of a significant health disparity in breast cancer.

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Our Discoveries