News and Events

FDA approves pomalidomide for AIDS-related Kaposi sarcoma

On May 14, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration expanded the indication of pomalidomide (POMALYST, Celgene Corporation) to include treating adult patients with AIDS-related Kaposi sarcoma after failure of highly active antiretroviral therapy and Kaposi sarcoma in adult patients who are HIV-negative. This oral therapy is the first new treatment option available for those with Kaposi sarcoma in more than 20 years.

In Memoriam: Stephen Oroszlan, Ph.D.

The Center for Cancer Research mourns the recent death of past colleague and friend Stephen Oroszlan. He was an esteemed member of the NCI community from 1976-1995 and served as a Scientist Emeritus since 1995.

Eytan Ruppin quoted in New York Times story on treating COVID-19

The New York Times has reported on a new paper detailing drugs with the potential to treat COVID-19 by researchers from international institutions. Eytan Ruppin, Ph.D., Chief of the Cancer Data Science Laboratory, turned the computer network his lab uses toward analyzing some of the drugs that did best in the screening to predict which are likely to succeed in actual patients and in what combinations.

Ira Pastan selected as a 2020 Sammies finalist

Ira Pastan, M.D., Co-Chief of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, has been selected as one of 27 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal (Sammies) finalists. These finalists are outstanding federal employees who serve the public good and are addressing many of our country’s greatest challenges. Dr. Pastan is nominated for discovering a new class of drugs that can successfully treat a rare form of leukemia and hold promise to be effective therapies for pancreatic and lung cancer as well as mesothelioma.

John Schiller elected to the National Academy of Sciences

John T. Schiller, Ph.D., Deputy Chief of the Laboratory of Cellular Oncology, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences for his distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Dr. Schiller, in close partnership with Dr. Doug Lowy, has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of human papillomavirus (HPV) culminating in the development of the prophylactic vaccines Cervarix and Gardasil, which protect from HPV-related cancers, including cervical cancer.

NCI initiative aims to boost CAR T-cell therapy clinical trials

Researchers at the Center for Cancer Research are part of a new NCI initiative to manufacture CAR T-cell therapies for clinical trials being conducted at multiple hospitals. Nirali N. Shah, M.D., Lasker Clinical Research Scholar in the Pediatric Oncology Branch, is a co-lead investigator on the first trial of this initiative that is testing a CAR T-cell therapy designed to target a protein on cancer cells called CD33 in children and young adults with advanced forms of acute myeloid leukemia.

Andrea Apolo receives Arthur S. Flemming Award

Andrea B. Apolo, M.D., NIH Lasker Clinical Research Scholar in the Genitourinary Malignancies Branch, is a recipient of this year’s Arthur S. Flemming Award, which honors the accomplishments of mid-career federal employees. Dr. Apolo received the award for her work leading a clinical trial demonstrating that avelumab treatment led to prolonged survival in patients with refractory metastatic urothelial carcinoma. She then led the effort to get avelumab approved by the FDA for the treatment of bladder cancer.

Dr. William Dahut discusses coronavirus and cancer patients on Frankly Speaking about Cancer podcast

William L. Dahut, M.D., CCR Clinical Director, was a guest on the Frankly Speaking about Cancer podcast for their spotlight on coronavirus series. He addressed concerns from cancer patients and their caregivers and shared advice on what cancer patients can do to stay safe.

The discovery of selumetinib for children with NF1

When Brigitte Widemann, M.D., Chief of the Pediatric Oncology Branch (POB), saw selumetinib shrinking the first child’s tumor, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Then, when she saw the second patient’s tumor shrinking, “I thought, oh my gosh, it’s working!” she recalls. Over 30 years of NCI-led and NCI-supported research culminated in clinical trials of selumetinib for kids with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and associated tumors called plexiform neurofibromas (PNs). With Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, selumetinib is now the first effective treatment for kids with PNs that can't be removed by surgery.

FDA approves first therapy for children with neurofibromatosis type 1

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved selumetinib (Koselugo) to treat children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and tumors called plexiform neurofibromas. The approval was based on results from a clinical trial, designed and led by Brigitte Widemann, M.D., Chief of the Pediatric Oncology Branch (POB), and Andrea M. Gross, M.D., Assistant Research Physician in POB, that showed the drug shrank neurofibromas in 70 percent of patients. For many children in the trial, treatment with selumetinib also had clinical benefit, improving their pain, function and quality of life.

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