Mar 17, 2017

CCR had the privilege of welcoming a number of German dignitaries this week. The German Minister of Health, Hermann Gröhe, and the German State Secretary for Education and Research, Dr. George Schütte, toured the NIH Clinical Center on Wednesday, March 15, 2017. They spoke with Brigitte Widemann, M.D., and toured Jack Shern’s lab in the Pediatric Oncology Branch and visited Peter Choyke, M.D., F.A.C.R., in the Molecular Imaging Clinic and discussed clinical trials with Caryn Steakley, R.N., M.S.W, Deputy Clinical Dirctor. Another group of German scientists met with CCR investigators Glenn Merlino, Ph.D., Natasha Caplen, Ph.D., Tim Greten, M.D., Kevin Camphausen, M.D. and Louis Staudt, M.D., Ph.D. The group met to discuss ongoing research in the CCR and explore areas for future collaboration.

Mar 3, 2017

The FDA approved nivolumab for bladder cancer on February 2, and Andrea Apolo, M.D., Investigator in the Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, discussed what this means for patients on the Cancer Currents blog. Nivolumab is a drug that works with the immune system to slow or stop the growth of cancer cells. “The approval of nivolumab is an affirmation of the important role that immunotherapy plays in the treatment of advanced bladder cancer,” Dr. Apolo said in the blog.  Read more...

Feb 8, 2017

We were honored to welcome Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) and members of the House Appropriations Committee, Labor and Health and Human Services (L-HHS) Subcommittee and provide them with a tour of our Molecular Imaging Program. Rep. Cole, Chairman of the L-HHS Subcommittee, was joined by Rep. Andrew Harris (R-MD), Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA), Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI), Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA). 

Feb 6, 2017

Steven Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of the Surgery Branch, was featured on NBC's Today Show on February 6. The segment featured Celine Ryan, one of Rosenberg's clinical trial patients with Stage IV colon cancer, who has been cancer-free for 10 months following her participation in an experimental gene therapy trial. "We can do, and are planning to do, that kind of gene therapy using the exact receptor we got from Celine's cells to treat other people," Rosenberg says. The treatment is not yet widely available, and it doesn't work for everyone, but "from every patient that we treat, whether their cancers go away or not, we learn something," he says. When patients hear they are cancer free, nothing compares to that feeling. Celine says: "NED. No evidence of disease. I love it and want it to continue forever. And I want other people to hear those words, too."  Learn more...

Feb 3, 2017

The Center for Cancer Research is marking World Cancer Day on February 4 with the five ways our research changes the world.  Learn more...

Jan 18, 2017

William Dahut, M.D., CCR Scientific Director for Clinical Research, was joined by Heather Cheng, M.D., of the University of Washington for a discussion about current and future research areas and treatment options for prostate cancer.  The panel was moderated by Ana Fadich, Vice President of the Men's Health Network. Learn more...

Jan 9, 2017

PBS NewsHour’s Hari Sreenivasan interviewed Christian Hinrichs, M.D., on Facebook Live to discuss cancer research and immunotherapy in Hinrichs’ lab. Hinrichs is an investigator who works in the Experimental Transplantation and Immunology Branch and researches immunotherapy for HPV cancers.  He says: “We’re very much on a mission here. It’s not a casual exploration. We’re trying to get better treatments and get them to the patients as quickly as possible. I think this is true of everybody in our lab. We get up and that’s what we’re trying to do is find a better treatment and get it to the patients. We’re trying to get more patients treated, and then the patients we’ve treated we’re trying to understand what’s going on with those patients so we can make better therapies.”

Dec 12, 2016

Sheri McMahon, Senior Research Nurse Specialist with the Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, published an article in the latest issue of the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing on minimizing hazards associatied with live-virus immunotherapeutic cancer vaccine injection sites. She says oncology nurses need to be familiar with how to manage patients' vaccine injection sites to minimize risks for patients and the community at large. Learn more...

Dec 9, 2016

Steven Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of the Surgery Branch, led a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that identified a method for targeting the cancer-causing protein produced by a mutant form of the KRAS gene. The study involved only one patient, Celine Ryan, whose advanced colon cancer was successfully treated. The New York Times featured her treatment and recovery. Read More…

Dec 7, 2016

Edward Cowen, Senior Clinician in the Dermatology Branch, discussed the use of minerals in dermatology as part of the “Minerals in Medicine” exhibit in the NIH Clinical Research Center. The 18-month exhibit is put on by the Clinical Center and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Copper and sulfur are two of the minerals on display at the exhibit, and Cowen described how copper ions have been used for centuries as a disinfecting agent and sulfur is used in many different antibiotics and topical products. Read more...