News and Events

New study overturns conventional understanding of how HIV infection occurs

Researchers have succeeded in imaging where and when the protective coating that surrounds HIV is disassembled, a critical step in the viral replication process. Their observations show that the virus keeps its protective coating after entering the nucleus of a cell and then begins replicating, which is counter to what most scientists have thought for decades.

Jennifer Brudno and James Kochenderfer discuss reduced side effects of remodeled CAR T-cell therapy

Jennifer Brudno, M.D., Assistant Research Physician, and James Kochenderfer, M.D., Investigator, both of the Surgery Branch, discussed their ongoing work to remodel CAR T cells to create a safer, more effective therapy in a recent Cancer Currents blog post. They share that since they tweaked the design of their original CAR T cells, the new therapy caused far fewer neurologic side effects than the original therapy did in an earlier trial but was equally effective.

Potent new LDHI inhibitor disrupts tumor growth in mice

Researchers have identified a potent LDH inhibitor, which can disrupt the energy production of tumors in mice. After exposure to the LDH inhibitor, the cancers cells began to rely on a different form of energy production, which could also be disrupted by using a second drug. Combining the two drugs had a potent anti-cancer effect.

Molecular transporter that helps to assemble the machinery for cellular power generation

Researchers identify protein essential for assembling cells’ energy-producing machine

CCR researchers have discovered that the protein Bcs1 acts as the element that facilitates the transport of iron-sulfur protein, or ISP, across the inner membranes of mitochondria, the cell’s power plant. ISP is needed for the assembly of Complex III, a key element of the respiratory chain, which ensures that nutrients are converted to ATP, energy that cells need.

New tool catalogs thousands of previously unknown viruses

In the quest to study two cancer-causing viruses, a team of researchers has uncovered a wealth of previously unknown viruses, some with very unusual properties. The work could one day help identify viruses associated with cancer and other disease.

James N. Kochenderfer receives Top Ten Clinical Research Achievement Award

James N. Kochenderfer, M.D., Investigator in the Surgery Branch, has been named a Top Ten Clinical Research Achievement Awardee by the Clinical Research Forum. Dr. Kochenderfer received the award for “Development of CAR T-Cell Therapy for Myeloma.”

Clinical trial tests combination immunotherapy for genitourinary tumors

Andrea B. Apolo, M.D., of the Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, is leading a study to recruit patients with each of the nearly 40 rare genitourinary malignancies and treat them with a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy drugs.

T-cell stimulation could be used to target cancers with common TP53 gene mutations

Researchers in the Center for Cancer Research have found that circulating lymphocytes can be stimulated in the laboratory to generate cells that can recognize TP53 gene mutations. Mutations to the TP53 gene are found in about 40 percent of all cancers, making this process a potentially significant step forward in fighting many types of cancer.

New technology elucidates how metabolites interact with proteins to drive cancer

Acyl-coenzyme As (CoAs) are a group of small molecule metabolites that are the building blocks and chemical energy source for all living organisms. Recent evidence indicates that metabolites such as acyl-CoAs can also interact with proteins to drive the development of cancer.

Side effects of CAR T-cell therapy are dramatically reduced with new receptor

A new immunotherapy for lymphoma has been found to cause lower levels of neurologic toxicity than other T-cell therapies for lymphoma. The findings come from the first clinical test of a CAR T-cell therapy using a new anti-cancer T-cell receptor developed in the Center for Cancer Research.

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