News and Events

Clinical trial researching therapy for aggressive gliomas

A clinical trial led by Sadhana Jackson, M.D., Adjunct Investigator in the Pediatric Oncology Branch, is researching a drug therapy for diffuse midline gliomas, a type of aggressive brain tumor.

NIH study finds that immunotherapy substantially increases survival of people with lymphomatoid granulomatosis

Results from a clinical trial conducted by CCR researchers show that people with low-grade lymphomatoid granulomatosis who are treated with interferon-alpha, a type of immunotherapy, can live for decades after diagnosis. Lymphomatoid granulomatosis is a rare precancerous condition triggered by Epstein-Barr virus infection. The findings suggest that immunotherapy can prevent the progression of low-grade disease to high-grade disease, which has a poorer prognosis and can quickly turn into an aggressive and fatal B-cell lymphoma.

Clinical trial researching therapy for HIV-associated blood cancers

A clinical trial led by Kathryn A. Lurain, M.D., M.P.H., Assistant Research Physician in the HIV and AIDS Malignancies Branch, is researching a combination drug therapy for HIV-associated B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas.

A doctor sits at a table speaking with a patient.

Clinical trial researches combination drug therapy for B-cell lymphoma of the central nervous system

A clinical trial led by Mark Roschewski, M.D., Senior Clinician in the Lymphoid Malignancies Branch, is researching a therapy for B-cell lymphoma of the central nervous system.

Cancer cells that die via apoptosis (larger dark purple structures) expel their nuclear contents (orange and yellow stringy structures) to spur metastasis and growth of living cancer cells (smaller light blue structures). Image credit: Yang Lab

Signals released from dying cancer cells accelerate metastatic tumor growth

The final act of a dying cancer cell may be to spur the growth of other cancer cells.

Aligned Blog: Excerpts from my Chat with Dr. Carol Thiele for Women’s History Month

In honor of Women’s History Month, Shauna Clark, Ph.D., Center for Cancer Research (CCR) Diversity Advisor, sat down with Carol J. Thiele, Ph.D., Deputy Director and Senior Investigator in CCR. Dr. Thiele shares about her career, how inclusion for women in science has changed, and what we can do now to bring more women to the table.

A high-resolution atomic force microscopy (AFM) image showing multiple conformations of identical RNA sequences. Image credit: Wang Lab

Researchers discover the multiple shapes of RNA, a boon for drug design

Using atomic force microscopy, CCR researchers directly observed individual RNA structures in cell-like conditions. They found that one primary RNA sequence can fold into many different conformations, which has important implications for the fundamental understanding of RNA and RNA-targeted drug design.

New Milestones publication now available

Every year, CCR makes remarkable contributions to the understanding, detection, treatment and prevention of cancer. This issue of our annual publication, Milestones, features 10 of our top scientific advances from the past year. These discoveries include advances in precision medicine — such as the identification of biomarkers that predict a patient’s response to immunotherapy or lead to health disparities — as well as research on a widely applicable cancer vaccine that could be employed in low-resource settings. Promising research on T cells provides insights into their resilience, behavior and tumor-reactivity with an eye toward developing better immunotherapies, and technological advances provide close-ups of key components of tumor growth and metastasis.

Aligned Blog: Reflecting on Black History Month

Black History Month reminds me to take time to appreciate those who came before me to pave the way for my success and to celebrate all that we as a people have achieved despite the many obstacles placed before us. This month I enlisted some friends and colleagues to share what they love about Black History Month and although it means something slightly different to each of us, we all delight in celebrating our past, present and future!

Mesothelioma is a rare but aggressive form of cancer which is difficult to treat. Image credit: iStock

A rare look into what makes mesothelioma aggressive, and potentially treatable

Scientists have a limited understanding of mesothelioma and how to treat it effectively, but that’s beginning to change. In a novel study, CCR researchers identified a 48-gene signature associated with a worse prognosis – but also identified a subset of patients who respond to certain immunotherapy and chemotherapy drugs.

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