News and Events

New fluorescent probes developed that can help clinicians pinpoint cancer metastases

New chemical compounds developed by CCR researchers and clinicians are safe and highly effective in fluorescently highlighting microscopic metastases. The new compounds could have great utility in complex living systems based on experiments done in mouse models of metastatic human ovarian cancer.

Stem cell transplant after CAR T-cell therapy effective for young leukemia patients

In a clinical trial, CCR physician-scientists found that long-term survival for young patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia was significantly better for those who received CD19-CAR T-cell therapy followed by a stem cell transplant. As a result of these findings, use of stem cell transplant is now recommended following CAR T-cell therapy.

Manufactured CAR T cells ready for infusion into a patient

FDA approves BCMA-targeted CAR T-cell therapy for multiple myeloma

The Food and Drug Administration approved idecabtagene vicleucel (Abecma) for people with multiple myeloma that has not responded to or has returned after at least four different prior cancer treatments. The approval is based, in part, on earlier clinical work led by James N. Kochenderfer, M.D., Senior Investigator in the Surgery Branch.

In Memoriam: George Vande Woude, Ph.D. (1935-2021)

The CCR community mourns the recent death of longtime National Cancer Institute colleague, George Vande Woude, Ph.D. He was an expert in molecular oncology and discovered the human MET oncogene.

New tool predicts which treatments may work best in cancer patients

A new precision oncology software tool, called SELECT, analyzes tumor transcriptomics data to predict which therapies are most beneficial for an individual patient. When applied to data from over 30 different clinical trials, SELECT was predictive of patient responses to targeted and immune therapies in about 80 percent of the trial datasets.

CCR scientists and alumni honored by the American Association for Cancer Research

Several CCR scientists and alumni will be awarded for their exceptional contributions to cancer research at this year’s American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting. The meeting will be held virtually April 10-15 and May 17-21.

Drug combination leads to durable responses in patients with small cell lung cancer

Relapse after chemotherapy is common among patients with small cell neuroendocrine cancers, including small cell lung cancer. In a new clinical study, CCR scientists found a combination of berzosertib and topotecan led to durable tumor responses in patients with these cancers.

Brigitte Widemann named a Top Ten Clinical Research Achievement Awardee

Brigitte C. Widemann, M.D., Chief of the Pediatric Oncology Branch, has been named a Top Ten Clinical Research Achievement Awardee by the Clinical Research Forum, and she was awarded a Distinguished Clinical Research Achievement Award for her study “Selumetinib in Children with Inoperable Plexiform Neurofibromas.”

Engineered myeloid cells have promise as a potential treatment for metastatic cancer

A team led by Rosandra N. Kaplan, M.D., Investigator in the Pediatric Oncology Branch, genetically engineered immune cells, called myeloid cells, to deliver an anti-cancer signal to organs where cancer may spread. The results of the treatment, reported in Cell, shrank tumors and prevented metastasis in mice.

Anish Thomas featured in The Cancer Letter for SCLC study

In a conversation with The Cancer Letter, Anish Thomas, M.B.B.S., M.D., NIH Lasker Clinical Research Scholar and Investigator in the Developmental Therapeutics Branch, discussed his study, published in Science Translational Medicine, that found some patients with small cell lung cancer may have actionable germline mutations, which may be used to inform personalized screening and targeted therapies. The study challenges the notion that small cell lung cancer is exclusively tied to smoking.

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