Jun 5, 2018

A preclinical study by Center for Cancer Research investigators and colleagues shows that a drug guided by an attached target-seeking antibody can recognize cells infiltrating tumors, the tumor stroma, and cause various types of tumors to shrink, and in many cases, disappear. Their findings suggest that when stromal cells take up the ADC, they cleave the drug from the antibody and release it to kill neighboring tumor cells. Read more...

Jun 4, 2018

Findings from a clinical trial led by Steve Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of the Surgery Branch, were recently published in Nature Medicine. The ongoing phase II trial explores a novel approach to immunotherapy that led to the complete regression of breast cancer in a patient who was unresponsive to all other treatments. Using a modified form of adoptive cell transfer, investigators aim to target tumor cell mutations to shrink tumors in patients with common epithelial cancers. According to Dr. Rosenberg, “This research is experimental right now. But because this new approach to immunotherapy is dependent on mutations, not on cancer type, it is in a sense a blueprint we can use for the treatment of many cancer types.”  Read more...

Jun 1, 2018

In January 2016, Sarah Rosenfeld had such severe pain shooting down her legs she couldn’t walk, sleep or care for her young daughters. After weeks of physical therapy for what she thought was sciatica, she had an MRI. Thirty-seven-year-old Rosenfeld learned she had something far worse: myxopapillary ependymoma, a rare cancerous tumor in her spinal cord. She came to the NIH for treatment options and enrolled in a clinical trial with Mark Gilbert, M.D., Chief of the Neuro-Oncology Branch at the Center for Cancer Research. Read more...

Jun 1, 2018

Doug Lowy, M.D., Chief of the Laboratory of Cellular Oncology, has received the 2018 Science of Oncology Award and Lecture from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). According to ASCO, this annual award is given in recognition of a recipient’s outstanding contributions to basic or translational research in cancer. Along with receiving an honorarium, commemorative plagque and support to attend the ASCO Annual Meeting held June 1-5, 2018 in Chicago, Dr. Lowy will deliver a 30-minute lecture, “Preventing HPV-Associated Cancers by Vaccination” during the plenary session on Sunday, June 3.  Read more...

May 31, 2018

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is an enzyme released by the prostate gland and is found in abnormally high concentrations in the blood of men with prostate cancer. “Biochemical recurrence” is when PSA levels continue to rise after initial treatment for prostate cancer, such as surgery or radiation. Marijo Bilusic, M.D., of the Genitourinary Malignancies Branch is leading the Center for Cancer Research’s effort in a study to treat men with biochemically recurrent prostate cancer with a combination drug therapy. Read more...

May 30, 2018

The American Society of Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO) Conquer Cancer Foundation recently announced the recipients of the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting Merit Awards. Among those receiving the awards are CCR researchers Andrea Gross, M.D., Clinical Fellow in the Pediatric Oncology Branch and Jack Shern, M.D., Assistant Clinical Investigator in the Pediatric Oncology Branch. Dr. Gross will receive the Bradley Stuart Beller Endowed Merit Award for the highest ranking abstract at an ASCO scientific meeting, and Dr. Shern will receive the James B. Nachman Endowed ASCO Junior Faculty Award in Pediatric Oncology. All recipients will be recognized at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting held June 1-5 in Chicago.  Read more...

May 29, 2018

Twenty-five years ago, NCI scientists uncovered the VHL gene, a gene whose mutation can lead to the development of kidney tumors. The discovery, the result of a decade-long partnership between CCR scientists, including W. Marston Linehan, M.D., Chief of CCR’s Urologic Oncology Branch, and families affected by the disease, paved the way for new targeted therapies that have improved the prognosis for patients with advanced kidney cancers.  Read more...

May 29, 2018

Mesothelioma is an aggressive form of cancer caused by asbestos with no known cure and a very poor prognosis. Raffit Hassan, M.D., of the Thoracic and GI Malignancies Branch is leading a study to determine a safe dose of a combination drug therapy in patients with advanced mesothelioma.  Read more...

May 29, 2018

Giorgio Trinchieri, M.D., NIH Distinguished Investigator and Program Director of the Cancer and Inflammation Program, received the 2018 ICIS-BioLegend William E. Paul Award for Excellence in Cytokine Research for his contributions to cytokine biology. According to the ICIS website, this award represents the pinnacle of scientific achievement in cytokine research. Read more...

May 24, 2018

Scientists led by Tim Greten, M.D., Deputy Chief of the Thoracic and GI Malignancies Branch, have found a connection between bacteria in the gut and antitumor immune responses in the liver. The study published May 24, 2018, in Science and showed that bacteria found in the gut of mice affect the liver’s antitumor immune function. The findings have implications for understanding the mechanisms that lead to liver cancer and for therapeutic approaches to treat them. Read more...