News and Events

CCR scientists receive the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers

John Brognard, Ph.D., Investigator in the Laboratory of Cell and Developmental Signaling, Romina Goldszmid, Ph.D., Investigator in the Cancer and Inflammation Program, and Anish Thomas, M.D., Investigator in the Developmental Therapeutics Branch, are recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). The PECASE is the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government to outstanding scientists and engineers who are beginning their independent research careers and who show exceptional promise for leadership in science and technology. Established in 1996, the PECASE acknowledges the contributions scientists and engineers have made to the advancement of science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and to community service as demonstrated by scientific leadership, public education and community outreach.

Clinical Trial Conversation: Jonathan Hernandez describes metastatic colorectal cancer clinical trial

Colorectal cancer (CRC) starts in the colon and/or rectum and often metastasizes, or spreads, to many sites in the body. In a certain set of patients, however, CRC metastasizes only to the liver. Jonathan Hernandez, M.D., of the Surgical Oncology Program, is leading a new clinical trial to study how well CRC patients with liver-only metastases respond to treatment with a hepatic artery infusion pump. Dr. Hernandez describes the trial in this new video.

Jonathan Hernandez discusses surgical oncology with Behind the Knife podcast

Jonathan Hernandez, M.D., Investigator in the Surgical Oncology Program, was recently featured in a Behind the Knife podcast. During the episode, Dr. Hernandez discussed the surgical oncology match process and his research on ex vivo tissue preservation to study tumors. The full podcast is available online.

Clinical trial tests immunotherapy combination to treat T-cell cancers

The Center for Cancer Research’s Lymphoid Malignancies Branch is testing a combination treatment for patients whose mature T-cell cancer has returned after therapy or has not responded to therapy using avelumab, an immunotherapy agent that enhances the activity of immune cells and blocks a protein pathway that allows cancer cells to hide from the immune system.

Clinical trial will test immunotherapy against precancerous vulvar lesions

Scientists at the Center for Cancer Research are launching a phase II clinical trial to evaluate the effect of a single immunotherapy treatment on precancerous lesions that put women at risk for vulvar cancer. Like the cell-based immunotherapies now used to treat certain blood cancers, the experimental treatment aims to use patients’ own immune cells to fight disease.

Gastrointestinal tumors harbor T cells that recognize patients’ unique tumor antigens

CCR scientists, led by Steven A. Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., have determined that many common gastrointestinal tumors bear mutations capable of eliciting an immune response, suggesting that immunotherapy could be an effective way to treat these common cancers.

Human T cell (blue) is under attack by HIV (yellow)

Research shows long noncoding RNA influences expression of key HIV receptor

New research from the Center for Cancer Research has identified a long noncoding RNA that influences the expression of CCR5, a receptor that HIV uses to infect immune cells. The finding points to the molecule as a potential marker that indicates a patient’s susceptibility to the virus.

Pediatric Oncology Branch patient shares neurofibromatosis journey at NIH

Xavier, a patient in the Pediatric Oncology Branch, was born with an incompletely formed leg bone and a large number of dark spots all over his body. When Xavier broke his weak leg at only 11 months of age, he was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). He came to the NIH for treatment, and his tumors have shrunk by more than 20 percent thanks to treatment with selumetinib.

Live-cell fluorescence imaging showing Rabin8, labeled green, binding to Rab11a, labeled red, minutes after serum starvation in

Akt protein kinase pathway regulates key step in the initiation of cilia formation

CCR investigators have discovered that activating the Akt protein kinase pathway stabilizes the binding of the WDR44 protein to the Rab11 protein. This prevents Rab11 from binding to the Rabin8 protein, thereby blocking cilia formation. When Akt is inactive, though, Rab11 instead is bound by FIP3, enhancing its binding to Rabin8, which helps initiate cilia formation. Since abnormalities in cilia formation are associated with a number of types of cancer, these findings point to several potential targets for cancer therapy.

Registration now open for Cancer and Inflammation: From Micro to Macro

The Cancer and Inflammation: From Micro to Macro conference, hosted by the CCR Center of Excellence in Immunology, will take place October 17-18, 2019. This two-day national symposium addresses recent advances in the field and should be an exciting forum for discussion and debate on the current understanding of cancer and inflammation.

Breadcrumb