News and Events

Clinical trial tests a PARP inhibitor in urothelial cancer with DNA-repair defects

Urothelial carcinoma (UC), or bladder cancer, is the most common cancer of the urinary tract with limited treatment options. A new clinical trial aims to see how this type of cancer reacts to olaparib, a drug designed to target cancers that have defective DNA-repair mechanisms in their cells by inhibiting the action of PARP, an enzyme that can repair breaks in DNA.

African Postdoctoral Training Initiative fellow looks forward to collaborating within NCI

Rania Labib, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow in the NIH African Postdoctoral Training Initiative (APTI) working in the lab of Beverly Mock, Ph.D., Deputy Chief of the Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics. As part of the fellowship, she will spend two years at NCI conducting initial experiments in Dr. Mock’s lab, where she hopes to make a difference in possible treatment options for children with Burkitt’s lymphoma.

Three-dimensional structure of HIV infected and uninfected T cells interacting

Envelope glycoprotein mutations allow HIV-1 to escape antiretroviral therapy in a lab-based study

CCR investigators have discovered that HIV-1 can compensate for a variety of mutations that block its replication by acquiring mutations in the envelope glycoprotein. Because antiretroviral therapies work by inhibiting viral replication, these findings may have implications for HIV-1 drug resistance.

MEK inhibitor selumetinib granted breakthrough designation by FDA to treat neurofibromatosis type 1 in pediatric patients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week granted breakthrough therapy designation for the MEK 1/2 inhibitor selumetinib. The designation is for the treatment of pediatric patients aged three years and older with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) symptomatic and/or progressive, inoperable plexiform neurofibromas (PN), a rare, incurable genetic condition.

Elaine Jaffe receives the 2019 USCAP Board’s Distinguished Pathologist award

Elaine Jaffe, M.D., Senior Investigator in the Laboratory of Pathology, has received the 2019 United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP) Board’s Distinguished Pathologist award. The award recognizes an individual for making major contributions to pathology over the years.

New study delivers chemotherapy to the liver for metastatic colorectal cancer patients

In some patients, colorectal cancer spreads only to the liver. Patients with previously treated colorectal cancer that has spread only to the liver may be eligible to participate in a new clinical trial at the NIH Clinical Center.

CCR staff receive funding from the Department of Defense

Congratulations to the CCR staff who have received funding from the Department of Defense (DoD) Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP). The CDMRP office manages medical research programs in breast, prostate and ovarian cancers, neurofibromatosis, military health and other specified areas.

Stephanie Goff featured in an episode of The Doctors

Stephanie Goff, M.D., Associate Research Physician in CCR’s Surgery Branch, was recently featured on The Doctors. In the clip, she discusses how harnessing the body’s own immune system and adoptive cell transfer (ACT) can treat certain types of cancer.

New clinical trial will determine if gliomas respond to immunotherapy

Gliomas make up about 80 percent of all malignant brain tumors. A new clinical trial at the Center for Cancer Research is investigating if the immunotherapy drug nivolumab is beneficial to patients with gliomas.

Artistic rendering of a T cell immersed in the tumor microenvironment exposed to high levels of potassium

Harnessing T-cell “stemness” could enhance cancer immunotherapy

A new study led by Nicholas Restifo, M.D., Senior Investigator in CCR’s Surgery Branch, sheds light on one way tumors may continue to grow despite the presence of cancer-killing immune cells. The findings, published March 29, 2019, in Science, suggest a way to enhance the effectiveness of immunotherapies for cancer treatment.

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