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City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center City of Hope announces the hiring of Stanley Hamilton, MD, and Alexey Danilov, MD, PhD. Dr. Hamilton brings more than four decades of expertise to his new role as chair of the Department of Pathology. Dr. Danilov is now associate director of the Toni Stephenson Lymphoma Center.   Read More

This bill, which requires state Medicaid programs to cover routine patient costs for items and services that are provided in connection with a qualifying clinical trial regarding cancer or other life-threatening conditions, was signed into law on December 27, 2020 as a part of H.R.133 - Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021.

UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center Prior to COVID-19, video visits at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center were used sparingly. UC San Diego Health had completed just 870 telehealth appointments in the preceding three-year period. But days before California issued a stay-at-home ordinance, a plan was put in motion to provide health care providers with the tools and training they needed to convert in-person appointments to video visits. In just four days, 1,000 face-to-face clinic appointment…

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah Scientists at Huntsman Cancer Institute and collaborators at the University of California, San Francisco have published research extending our understanding of the intricate process of cell division. They discovered the protein LEM2 has two important functions during cell division. First, LEM2 creates seals in the protective coating of forming nuclei that keep the two sets of DNA shielded from damage. Second, LEM2 recruits factors that …

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Innovent Biologics, Inc. has announced a strategic collaboration agreement to co-develop TYVYT® (sintilimab injection), Innovent’s anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody, in rare cancers in the U.S. Read More

University of Florida Health Cancer Center Christopher R. Cogle, MD, a professor of hematology and oncology at the University of Florida, is among the 10 leaders announced by the National Academy of Medicine as 2020 Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine Scholars. Dr. Cogle discovered that adult blood stem cells make blood vessels. He used that discovery to invent and patent new therapeutics for patients with blood cancers and cardiovascular diseases. Read More

This bill includes certain lymphedema compression treatment items as covered durable medical equipment under Medicare. (Lymphedema is a condition of localized fluid retention and tissue swelling that is caused when the lymphatic system is damaged or blocked.) 

AACI members have elected Caryn Lerman, PhD, as vice president/president-elect of the association. Cornelia Ulrich, MS, PhD, and Robert Winn, MD, have been elected as new board members, and Charles S. Fuchs, MD, MPH, has been appointed to fill the remainder of Dr. Lerman’s term as a regular board member. Drs. Ulrich and Winn will replace outgoing board members Gerold Bepler, MD, PhD, and Timothy L. Ratliff, PhD. Read More

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Roswell Park staff and patients are mourning a devastating loss. Oscar Colegio, MD, PhD, the Lawrence P. & Joan Castellani Family Endowed Chair in Dermatology, died unexpectedly last month. He was 47. Dr. Colegio relocated to Buffalo when he was recruited to head Roswell Park’s dermatology program in 2018. He had previously served as associate professor of Dermatology, Pathology, and Surgery at Yale University. Read More

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center In the first study to look at objective measures of sedentary behavior and cancer mortality, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found that greater inactivity was independently associated with a higher risk of dying from cancer. Susan Gilchrist, MD, is lead author of the study. Read More

Siteman Cancer Center Siteman Cancer Center has been recognized once again as "exceptional" by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) after having received a nearly perfect score on its most recent evaluation. Siteman also received an exceptional rating in 2015, when it last underwent an NCI review. Timothy J. Eberlein, MD, is the center's director. Read More

The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center The American Association for Cancer Research has named Michelle M. Le Beau, PhD, director of the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center and a former AACI president, as the recipient of the 2020 AACR-Margaret Foti Award for Leadership and Extraordinary Achievements in Cancer Research. Read More

Last month AACI welcomed University of Puerto Rico Comprehensive Cancer Center (UPRCCC) and Cancer Center at Brown University to its membership roster, bringing the association’s total number of members to 102. The cancer centers are directed by Marcia Cruz-Correa, MD, PhD, and Wafik S. El-Deiry, MD, PhD, FACP, respectively. Read More

UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center A new study by researchers at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has identified what they believe to be a key reason behind patients’ treatment-resistance in the rare inflammatory disorder hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). The finding could offer additional insights into other immune conditions, including a type of childhood leukemia and the severe inflammation response in some children …

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Royal Philips are collaborating to provide oncologists with evidence-based therapy and clinical trial guidance through Philips’ oncology informatics solutions and MD Anderson’s Precision Oncology Decision Support system. Read More

Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center Flags were lowered to half-staff across Duke University for Neil Spector, MD, a nationally recognized physician-scientist, translational research leader, and oncology mentor who passed away on June 14. He was 63. Read More

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center David Cortez, PhD, has been named associate director for basic science research at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. He is an expert in the field of DNA damage response and repair and made seminal discoveries about the mechanisms that maintain genome integrity. Read More

UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center To help identify people who have inherited genes for genitourinary cancers, UCLA Health and the Department of Urology at UCLA have created a new telehealth cancer genetics program that will provide rapid access to high-quality genetic counseling and testing. Read More

The University of Kansas Cancer Center For many medical researchers, studying and combating disease means going to work in exam rooms, offices and laboratories. For Megha Ramaswamy, PhD, MPH, it means going to jails and hitting the streets. Read More

Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Health The Fox Chase-Temple University Hospital Bone Marrow Transplant Program will soon become the newest department at Fox Chase. It will be chaired by Henry Chi Hang Fung, MD, FACP, FRCPE. Read More

The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute A new center at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute gives patients direct, expedited access to diagnostic testing for cancer. Read More

Cancer Center at Illinois Benita S. Katzenellenbogen, PhD, has been appointed senior advisor to the director of the Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL), Rohit Bhargava, PhD. She will counsel strategic, cancer-focused directions of CCIL research programs and educational activities, in addition to aiding in the growth of cancer researchers at the University of Illinois. Read More

UK Markey Cancer Center The University of Kentucky and ArtemiLife Inc., will collaborate on a clinical study using the extract of a medicinal plant grown in Kentucky to test for anti-cancer activity of Artemisia annua and to determine the recommended dose for future clinical trials. The clinical study, conducted by the UK Markey Cancer Center, will focus on ovarian cancer. Read More

Cedars-Sinai Cancer The team tasked with designing the new Samuel Oschin Cancer Center at Cedars-Sinai had one overarching goal: creating a safe, soothing patient environment. The new facility includes easily navigated "neighborhoods" – designated areas in the unit where patients with a particular cancer type occupy the same waiting room and clinical exam area. Read More

City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center Health care leader Glenn D. Steele Jr., MD, PhD, has been elected the new board chair of City of Hope, effective June 1. He joined the board in January 2016. Dr. Steele is former chairman of xG Health Solutions and former president and chief executive officer of Geisinger Health System. He also held leadership positions at the University of Chicago. Read More

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah About 15 percent of lung cancers are classified as small cell lung cancer. Recent studies have indicated that four major subtypes of small cell lung cancer exist, yet approaches to tailor treatment of these subtypes have not yet become standard of care. Scientists at Huntsman Cancer Institute have outlined new findings about the origins of these lung cancer subtypes, paving the way for a new foundation to study this disease. R…

UMMC Cancer Center and Research Institute William Russel "Rusty" Robinson, MD, has joined the University of Mississippi Medical Center Cancer Center and Research Institute as a professor in gynecologic oncology and hematology/oncology and head of its cancer clinical trials program. Read More

WVU Cancer Institute Using a $3.62 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the West Virginia University Cancer Institute will continue working with clinics across the state to increase colorectal cancer screenings. The grant is a continuation of an existing grant which supports the West Virginia Program to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening. Read More

UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers analyzed gene-expression patterns in the most aggressive prostate cancer grade group and found that this grade can actually be subdivided into four subtypes with distinct differences. The study’s lead author is Amar Kishan, MD. Read More

University of Florida Health Cancer Center For years, evidence has shown the negative effects of smoking cigarettes on cancer patients’ health outcomes, but sometimes quitting is easier said than done. Now University of Florida researchers have found that medications that help people quit smoking are the most effective method used by cancer survivors to stop tobacco use. Ramzi Salloum, PhD, is lead author of the study. Read More

University of Virginia Cancer Center An innovative use of focused ultrasound is showing promise against glioblastoma and could prove useful against other difficult-to-treat cancers. The technique hits cancer cells with a drug that sensitizes them to sound waves, then blasts them with focused ultrasound. The sound waves create tiny bubbles inside the cancer cells, causing them to die. Read More

UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute A research team led by cancer researcher Justin Leung, PhD, at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has uncovered the role of the protein RNF168 in DNA damage repair and shown how mutations of the protein affect people with a rare genetic condition. Read More

Moffitt Cancer Center Eric B. Haura, MD, and Nikhil Khushalani, MD, have been named to new leadership positions in Moffitt Cancer Center’s clinical science research division. Read More

Moffitt Cancer Center Susan Vadaparampil, PhD, MPH, associate center director of community outreach, engagement and equity at Moffitt Cancer Center, has been selected to serve on the National Cancer Advisory Board. Read More

VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center Rebecca Martin, PhD, and two of her students have developed an extremely rapid experimental molecular diagnostic assay that decreases the amount of time required to diagnose COVID-19. Read More

Yale Cancer Center, Yale School of Medicine Treatment with the targeted therapy osimertinib following surgery improves disease-free survival in patients with early-stage, non-small cell lung cancer with EGFR gene mutations. The benefit was so substantial that the independent data monitoring committee recommended early unblinding of the trial. Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, chief of medical oncology at Yale Cancer Center and Smilow Cancer Hospital, co-led the study. Read More

UK Markey Cancer Center A new UK Markey Cancer Center study finds that many Kentucky patients with colon cancer are not receiving the recommended standard of care therapy for their disease. Avinash Bhakta, MD, is lead author on the study. Read More

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center New preclinical work by a team of researchers from Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program suggests that the risk of developing acute graft vs. host disease during allogeneic blood/marrow transplant can be decreased using an existing class of drugs called beta adrenergic agonists.  Read More

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center Disease hits Black and brown people harder. Same for Indigenous people, individuals in rural areas, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and others who are medically underserved. It’s true for cancer, for cardiovascular disease, and diabetes, and in these times, for COVID-19. Read More

Yale Cancer Center, Yale School of Medicine Yale Cancer Center researchers were awarded a $2.8 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to evaluate and model cytokine signaling related to immunotherapy for cancer. Read More

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center People with inoperable anal cancer treated with carboplatin-paclitaxel had fewer complications and lived longer than those who received another chemotherapy that has been more often administered. The results from an international trial suggest that carboplatin-paclitaxel become the standard of care for anal cancer. Read More

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah Researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute have presented the first outcomes evaluation of patients participating in an adult oncology hospital-at-home program, Huntsman at HomeTM. The data demonstrate improved patient outcomes, including reduced hospitalizations and decreased emergency department visits. Kathi Mooney, PhD, RN, is lead author on the study. Read More

Stanford Cancer Institute Researchers have shown that women related to a patient with a breast cancer caused by a hereditary mutation—but who don’t have the mutation themselves—have no higher risk of getting cancer than relatives of patients with other types of breast cancer. Allison Kurian, MD, is the study's first author. Read More

Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers from the Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences identified a lipid-regulating protein that conveys what the researchers describe as "superpowers" onto prostate cancer cells, causing them to aggressively spread. In studies of human prostate cancer cell and stromal cell lines, when the lipid-regulating protein, CAVIN1, was removed from stromal cell…

Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health Andrew E. Aplin, PhD, has been recognized with the Melanoma Research Foundation Humanitarian Award. His research focuses on better understanding the mechanisms that cause aberrant cell growth and invasion in subsets of melanoma and identify novel therapeutic targets. Read More

UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center Cancer treatment has advanced with the advent of immunotherapies that, in some cancers, can overcome tumors’ ability to evade the immune system by suppressing local immune responses. But a new study in mice by UC San Francisco researchers has found that, depending on a cancer’s tissue of origin, tumors cause widespread and variable disruption of the immune system throughout the body, not just at the primary tumor site. Read …

The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center Physician-scientists at the UChicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center have been working not only to improve the results of chemotherapy, but also to improve the quality of life during and after treatment. A recent breakthrough has shown promise for treating gastroesophageal cancer. Read More

University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center Efforts in recent years to reduce four procedures deemed low value for early stage breast cancer patients have met with only mixed success, according to a Michigan Medicine analysis of nearly 60 studies. As part of the national Choosing Wisely campaign, the American College of Surgeons, the Society for Surgical Oncology, and the American Society for Breast Surgeons identified four low value procedures used in cases of early stage breast cancer t…

The University of Kansas Cancer Center A nanochip created by researchers at The University of Kansas Cancer Center and the University of Kansas has the potential to detect and track breast cancer tumor progression and metastasis. The chip was able to detect early early-stage and metastatic tumors using plasma from 100 individuals. Read More

UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center Using induced pluripotent stem cells and deleting a key gene, researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have created natural killer cells—a type of immune cell—with measurably stronger activity against a form of leukemia, both in vivo and in vitro. Read More

There is still time to register for the 12th Annual AACI Clinical Research Innovation Meeting, next Tuesday and Wednesday, July 7-8. Although the meeting will be virtual due to safety concerns amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it will still provide an innovative and quality educational experience that aligns with AACI’s strategic goal of stimulating cancer center interactions to maximize resources by creating opportunities for peer-to-peer networking and collaboration. Read More

The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute A new study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute has identified a protein within certain immune cells that is required for optimal immune responses to cancer. Read More

Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center Scott Soderling, PhD, has founded a Duke spinout company, CasTag BioSciences, based on a technology developed in his lab that marks proteins of interest in an entirely new way, using the genome-editing tool CRISPR Read More

Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center Daratumumab, a treatment for multiple myeloma, only increases patient survival by a few months, with cancer cells quickly developing resistance to the drug, New findings from the lab of Jianjun Zhao, MD, PhD, suggest that daratumumab sensitivity may be rescued and restored using miR-26a, which has been shown to be a tumor suppressor in other cancers. Read More

To prioritize the health and well-being of AACI meeting attendees, supporters, and cancer center patients, AACI's Board of Directors and the 2020 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting Program Committee have decided not to move forward with an in-person meeting in Kansas City. Instead, the annual meeting will take place Monday and Tuesday, October 12-13 in a virtual format.  Read More

City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center Scientists at City of Hope, working in collaboration with researchers at Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and other colleagues across the country, have found that the actions of circulating immune cells—namely how they differentiate and signal—at the start of immunotherapy treatment for cancer can inform how a patient will respond to the therapy. Read More

Stanford Cancer Institute By making two different alterations to a single messenger protein, a research team led by Jennifer Cochran, PhD, has induced the body’s biochemical control system to target two very different conditions. Read More

Siteman Cancer Center A blood test developed by Washington University researchers at Siteman Cancer Center could help determine next steps for patients whose prostate cancer has spread despite treatment. Called EnhanceAR-Seq, this "liquid biopsy" test involves looking for fragments of DNA in the blood called "cell-free DNA." Read More

VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center Someday, hundreds of millions of vaccinations against the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could show up in people’s mailboxes and be applied as simply as slapping on a Band-Aid. That’s the vision of Guizhi "Julian" Zhu, PhD. Read More

Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Health Fox Chase Cancer Center researcher Carolyn Y. Fang, PhD, has been appointed to serve as an associate editor for the journal Health Psychology. Read More

AACI encourages you to write your representatives in Washington to express concern about two recent presidential proclamations that suspend visa processing for individuals from China and for certain categories of high-skilled, non-immigrant visas from around the world. Prohibiting the entry of valued STEM students, postdoctoral associates, scientists, and researchers does not address our nation’s public health needs or stimulate economic recovery.  Read More

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center The findings of the first large observational study of nearly 1,000 patients with cancer who contracted COVID-19—gleaned from over 100 institutions participating in the international COVID-19 & Cancer Consortium, or CCC19, patient registry—underscore how deadly the new coronavirus can be for patients with active cancer and other underlying health conditions. Read More

WVU Cancer Institute COVID-19 tests are in short supply. The companies that make the necessary chemicals—called reagents—can’t keep up with demand. But researchers at West Virginia University are developing new tests on their own to identify who has COVID-19 now and who had it in the past but recovered. Read More

UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute KIYATEC, Inc., has announced that the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute has joined the growing roster of institutions participating in its 3D-PREDICT clinical study to validate the company’s test as a patient-specific predictor of response to recommended drug therapies for patients with ovarian cancer. Read More

Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health An international panel led by researchers and thought leaders at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health and the Department of Urology at Jefferson have published the first multidisciplinary, consensus-driven prostate cancer genetic implementation framework for the precision medicine era. Read More

The AACI Physician Clinical Leadership Initiative (PCLI) will host "Implementation of Germline Testing for Prostate Cancer" at 1:00 pm eastern time on Wednesday, July 22. The webinar will highlight a recent consensus statement regarding guidelines for genetic prostate cancer testing and implications for clinical practice. Read More

University of Virginia Cancer Center Scientists have found that diet can cause microbes in the gut to trigger changes in the host’s response to a chemotherapy drug. Common components of our daily diets (for example, amino acids) could either increase or decrease both the effectiveness and toxicity of the drugs used for cancer treatment, the researchers found. Read More

Princess Margaret Cancer Centre welcomes back renowned multiple myeloma clinician and researcher, Keith Stewart, MB, ChB, from the Mayo Clinic. Effective June 1, Dr. Stewart is the vice president, cancer; director of the Princess Margaret Cancer Program, UHN; and regional vice president, Toronto Central South Regional Cancer Program, Ontario Health. Read More

Stanford Cancer Institute Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, MD, PhD, professor and chair of radiology at Stanford School of Medicine and an internationally recognized pioneer in molecular imaging, died July 18 of cancer. He was 57. Read More

UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center An international team of researchers has developed a non-invasive blood test that can detect whether an individual has one of five common types of cancers, four years before the condition can be diagnosed with current methods. The test detects stomach, esophageal, colorectal, lung, and liver cancer. Kun Zhang, PhD, is a corresponding author on the study. Read More

Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University Amy Overby has been named director of the clinical trials office at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. Joining Winship from the University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center, Overby will lead a team of more than 180 clinical research professionals and manage a portfolio of more than 300 ongoing trials.  Read More

Joann Sweasy, PhD, has been named director of the University of Arizona Cancer Center, and the inaugural holder of the Nancy C. and Craig M. Berge Endowed Chair for the director of the cancer center. Dr. Sweasy joined the cancer center in June 2019 as associate director for basic sciences and served as interim director for the past nine months. Read More

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has renewed the designation of Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah as a Comprehensive Cancer Center. This grant awards HCI more than $29 million over seven years, an increase of 84 percent in annual funding from the previous award cycle. Read More

The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) has announced the appointment of MUSC College of Medicine Dean Raymond N. DuBois, MD, PhD, to the additional role of director for the MUSC Hollings Cancer Center. Dean DuBois has led the College of Medicine for more than four years. He will assume the added leadership responsibilities effective August 17. Read More

Yale Cancer Center, Yale School of Medicine Yale Cancer Center researchers were awarded an $11 million grant renewal from the National institutes of Health (NIH) for the Yale Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Lung Cancer. The program aims to reduce mortality by quickly bringing research advances from the laboratory to patients with lung cancer. Read More

Edward Chu, MD, MMS, has been named director of the National Cancer Institute-designated Albert Einstein Cancer Center, effective October 1, 2020. Dr. Chu currently serves as the deputy director of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. Read More

Cedars-Sinai Cancer Renal cancer specialist Robert A. Figlin, MD, has been named deputy director of Cedars-Sinai Cancer. The Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology-Oncology will oversee all research planning and the administration and development of Cedars-Sinai Cancer. Read More

Moffitt Cancer Center Dave Summitt, chief information security officer at Moffitt Cancer Center, has been selected for the Federal Communication Commission’s newly formed federal advisory committee, the Hospital Robocall Protection Group. Summitt will also serve as chairperson for the committee. Read More

University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center Dana Dolinoy, PhD, received a $6.9 million R35 award from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The award is granted from the NIEHS Revolutionizing Innovative, Visionary Environmental Health Research (RIVER) program. Read More

Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center of The Wistar Institute The Wistar Institute and Cheyney University of Pennsylvania have launched a strategic collaboration uniting the nation’s first independent biomedical research institute and the nation’s first historically Black college and university in order to expand life science research education, training, and business development opportunities in Pennsylvania. Read More

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center The Tauber Bioinformatics Research Center at University of Haifa and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center have launched a collaboration that will couple the expertise in cancer, genomics, and biomedical research at Roswell Park and in bioinformatics at University of Haifa. Read More

The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute IntraOp Medical Corporation has announced delivery of its pre-clinical high dose rate electron beam linear accelerator to OSUCCC – James for the study of FLASH radiotherapy. Read More

VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center Faculty members at VCU Massey Cancer Center and the VCU C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research are expanding the curriculum for the Cancer and Molecular Medicine PhD program at VCU to better meet the nation’s needs for the next generation of cancer scientists. Read More

UK Markey Cancer Center A study led by UK Markey Cancer Center researchers showed that patients who already used opioids, sedatives, or antidepressants prior to colorectal surgery experience significantly more complications post-surgery. Patients showed an increase in infections, prolonged intubation, longer length of stay, readmissions, respiratory failure, and even mortality. Read More

Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health Black patients with esophageal cancer are at a higher risk of death compared to white patients. Although many reasons have been suggested, a new study from SKCC at Jefferson Health finds that Black patients were less likely to receive surgery for treatable diseases, which could contribute to higher rates of death. Nathaniel Evans, MD, is senior author on the study. Read More

Moffitt Cancer Center Issam El Naqa, PhD, joins Moffitt Cancer Center as the founding chair of its new Machine Learning Department. The new department is focused on accelerating scientific discovery in cancer research through the design, development, and clinical translation of state-of-the-art patient-centered machine and deep learning algorithms. Read More

UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute The radiation oncology residency program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has received accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. When efforts to launch the program began in 2017, there was no residency training for radiation oncology in the state, and Arkansas was one of the few states that didn’t offer specialty training in radiation oncology. Read More

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Ronald Chen, MD, MPH, has been elected radiation oncology co-chair of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) National Clinical Trials Network Prostate Cancer Task Force. It is overseen by the Genitourinary Cancers Steering Committee, which meets monthly to address the design, prioritization and evaluation of concepts for Phase II and Phase III clinical trials in genitourinary cancers. Read More

Registration is now open for the 2020 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting, which will take place October 12-13 in a virtual format. Meeting registration is free for AACI cancer center members and sustaining members. Please visit the meeting website to register, view the virtual session details, read speaker profiles, and learn about support opportunities. Read More

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Sanofi have announced a five-year strategic collaboration to accelerate the development of investigational treatments, including targeted and immune therapies, for patients with cancer. Read More

University of Illinois Cancer Center Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker has enacted a health care package that includes a proposal requiring the state’s Medicaid program to cover routine care costs incurred for an approved clinical trial involving the prevention, detection, or treatment of cancer or any other life-threatening disease, as long as Medicaid would normally cover those same routine care costs for a non-clinical procedure. Read More

Cancer Center at Illinois In a new study, researchers report that they have dramatically broadened the potential targets of CAR T therapy — their engineered T-cells attack a variety of solid-tumor cancer cells from humans and mice. Read More

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Debra Friedman, MD, MS, is expanding her leadership role in improving cancer outcomes both within and beyond the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center catchment area. She has been named associate director of Community Science and Health Outcomes. Read More

UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The American Society of Clinical Oncology honored Hyman B. Muss, MD, FASCO, with the 2020 Allen S. Lichter Visionary Leader Award for his career-long dedication to improving the care of older patients with cancer. Read More

William G. Kaelin, Jr., MD, will receive AACI's Distinguished Scientist Award on October 12, during the 2020 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting. AACI is recognizing Dr. Kaelin, the Sidney Farber Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School; and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, for his long-term research on how cells sense and adapt to changing oxygen levels. Read More

City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center Experts at City of Hope and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) are using one of the world’s most comprehensive genomic analysis tools to map out personalized treatment plans for metastatic kidney cancer patients. Read More

USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center A $5 million gift from the Rosalie and Harold Rae Brown Charitable Foundation will create and support the Rosalie and Harold Rae Brown Center for Cancer Drug Discovery at USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.   Read More

Cedars-Sinai Cancer A new study sheds light on proteins in particles called extracellular vesicles, which are released by tumor cells into the bloodstream and promote the spread of cancer. The findings suggest how a blood test involving these vesicles might be used to diagnose cancer in the future, avoiding the need for invasive surgical biopsies. Read More