News and Events

Diagram illustrates how the hydrogel platform delivers therapy directly to cancer cells

Newly developed gel can be used to treat cancers that form on organ surfaces

Researchers at CCR engineered a hydrogel carrying nanoparticles that can be sprayed or administered by syringe as part of a surgical strategy for cancers that develop on the outer surface of organs. When applied topically, the gel can reach small deposits of cancer cells that might have been missed during surgery. This approach has the potential to change the treatment paradigm for mesothelioma and possibly for other cancers that form on the surface of organs.

Clinical trial studies targeted therapy for PARP-resistant tumors and chemotherapy-resistant small cell lung cancer

Anish Thomas, M.B.B.S., M.D., Lasker Clinical Research Scholar in the Developmental Therapeutics Branch, is leading a study using a berzosertib-sacituzumab govitecan combination to target ATR, a key protein involved in an alternative DNA repair pathway used by chemotherapy and PARP inhibitor-resistant cancer cells.

brain tissue before exposure to the experimental nanoparticles

Immunotherapy studied in clinical trial for glioblastoma or gliosarcoma

Adults with glioblastoma (GBM) or gliosarcoma may be eligible to participate in a clinical trial at the NIH Clinical Center. GBM and gliosarcoma tumors can suppress the immune system so immune cells cannot work effectively within the brain. Mark Gilbert, M.D., Chief of the Neuro-Oncology Branch, is leading a study to see if this suppression can be reversed with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Clinical trial evaluates reduced dosing of cyclophosphamide to prevent severe acute graft-versus-host disease

Christopher G. Kanakry, M.D., Lasker Clinical Research Scholar in the Experimental Transplantation and Immunotherapy Branch, is leading a study that may help people with cancers that begin in blood-forming tissue who are at high risk for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) following bone marrow transplant. This study will evaluate if reduced dosing of cyclophosphamide is effective in preventing severe acute GVHD.

Sandra L. Wolin receives Sandra K. Masur Senior Leadership Award

Sandra L. Wolin, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of the RNA Biology Laboratory, is the 2021 recipient of the Sandra K. Masur Senior Leadership Award from the American Society for Cell Biology. This award is in recognition of a scientist whose outstanding scientific achievements are coupled with a record of active leadership in mentoring women and individuals from underrepresented groups in their scientific careers.

Clinical trial evaluates the effect of Minnelide on advanced pancreatic cancer

Adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas (ASCP) is a rare type of pancreatic cancer that is particularly aggressive. Christine Campo Alewine, M.D., Ph.D., Lasker Clinical Research Scholar in the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, is conducting a study to see if the drug Minnelide can effectively treat ASCP.

Samira M. Sadowski discusses her work at CCR and offers advice for future cancer researchers

Samira M. Sadowski, M.D., is a Physician-Scientist Early Investigator in the Surgical Oncology Program. Along with her role as a surgeon, she studies rare forms of thyroid cancer as well as neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas and gastrointestinal tract. In this Q&A, she talks about her current research interests and offers advice for future cancer researchers.

screenshot of colorectal peritoneal metastasis

Clinical trial studies surgical treatment for adults with peritoneal carcinomatosis

Andrew M. Blakely, M.D., Assistant Research Physician in the Surgical Oncology Program, is leading a surgical study for adults with peritoneal carcinomatosis that tests two chemotherapy treatments, called HIPEC, simulated in a tissue-testing platform.

Blood test reveals when benign NF1 tumors turn cancerous

People with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) often develop non-cancerous, or benign, tumors that grow along nerves. These tumors can sometimes become cancerous, but there hasn’t been a good way to determine whether this transformation to cancer has happened. In a new study, researchers co-led by Jack F. Shern, M.D., Lasker Clinical Research Scholar in the Pediatric Oncology Branch, have developed a blood test that could one day offer a highly sensitive and inexpensive approach to detect cancer early in people with NF1.

Areas of the body affected by von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease. Credit: NCI Visuals

FDA approves belzutifan, first drug for cancers associated with von Hippel-Lindau disease

On August 13, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved belzutifan, a new drug for adult patients with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease-associated renal cell carcinoma (RCC), central nervous system hemangioblastomas, or pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, not requiring immediate surgery.

Ramaprasad Srinivasan, M.D., Ph.D., Investigator in the Urologic Oncology Branch (UOB), designed the ongoing study and played a key leadership role as the principal investigator on the cooperative research and development agreement under which NCI served as a site in the study. Belzutifan is now the first and only approved systemic therapy for certain patients with VHL-associated RCC.

VHL disease is a rare, inherited disorder that causes tumors and cysts to grow in certain parts of the body. Patients with this disease have an increased risk of certain types of cancer, especially kidney cancer and pancreatic cancer. The VHL gene was originally identified by Marston Linehan, M.D., and colleagues in the UOB in the 1990s, and the group continues to define the methods for clinical management of VHL disease.

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