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Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Eunyoung Choi, PhD, and colleagues identified for the first time that Trop2+/CD133+/CD166+ dysplastic stem cells are a key source of clonal evolution of dysplasia to multiple types of gastric cancer. Their investigation further showed that pyrvinium blocked regeneration of dysplastic stem cells by controlling the CK1a signaling protein in mouse models and in human organoids. Read More

Moffitt Cancer Center To analyze images of tissue specimens to their fullest potential, scientists ideally need an application that enables multiple images to be viewed simultaneously. In a recently published article, Moffitt Cancer Center researchers describe a new open-source software program they developed that allows users to view many multiplexed images at the same time. Read More

Wilmot Cancer Institute, UR Medicine Two new innovations could make it easier to decipher when cancers that impact women are present and need urgent attention. A system to detect circulating tumor cells in the bloodstream earlier and less invasively was recently granted FDA approval, and additional research at the University of Rochester confirms that ultrasounds are an effective predictor of ovarian cancer in women of average risk who develop a mass in the pelvic region. Read M…

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has announced that Donna Hansel, MD, PhD, has been named division head of pathology and laboratory medicine. A distinguished pathologist, researcher, and leader, Dr. Hansel will join MD Anderson September 12. Read More

Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health The American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) announced that nine outpatient oncology group practices have achieved certification through the new ASCO Patient-Centered Cancer Care Certification pilot based on their adherence to oncology medical home standards. The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center is part of the first cohort of health systems participating in the pilot that achieves this certification. Read More

President Joe Biden has appointed Carol Brown, MD, FACOG, FACS;Elizabeth Jaffee, MD; and Mitchel Berger, MD, FACS, FAAN, to the President’s Cancer Panel. Dr. Brown is senior vice president and chief health equity officer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Dr. Jaffee is deputy director of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Berger directs the University of California San Francisco Brain Tumor Center. Read More

The AACI-endorsed CLINICAL TREATMENT Act, which took effect January 1, 2022, requires all states and territories to cover and reimburse routine costs of care for treating a Medicaid enrollee who is participating in a qualifying clinical trial. While the law brings needed coverage and access to clinical trials to more than 42 million Medicaid patients, some states have yet to finalize implementation plans. Read More

Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center Duke Cancer Institute (DCI) surgeon-scientist Tammara Lynn Watts, MD, PhD, has been named associate director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). She will be responsible for strategic oversight of EDI across DCI’s clinical and academic workforce. Read More

UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center While children receiving chemotherapy routinely undergo hearing tests, adults don’t, and a new study by UC San Francisco reports for the first time that significant hearing issues often occur among adult survivors of the most common forms of cancer. Researchers found that more than half the survivors in their study who had been treated with chemotherapy experienced significant hearing problems. Read More

From July 12-14, AACI’s Clinical Research Innovation (CRI) convened its 14th annual meeting. The 444 in-person attendees (with an additional 117 joining online) participated in meeting sessions focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); barriers to clinical trial participation; technology; clinical trial feasibility; and preparing for the National Cancer Institute Cancer Center Support Grant. Read More

By the end of World War I, the use of chemical weapons had resulted in over 1,000,000 casualties on both sides. Through a series of events these weapons set in motion discoveries that led to the development of chemotherapy. Matthew Naylor, PhD, will describe these discoveries and their impact on modern cancer treatment during the opening keynote at the 2022 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting. Read More

Last month AACI welcomed the Houston Methodist Dr. Mary and Ron Neal Cancer Center as its 105th member. The center serves eight counties in Southeast Texas and is led by Jenny Chang, MD. The center recently announced a $25 million philanthropic gift from Dr. Mary and Ron Neal; the funding will further bolster current efforts to create impactful research, training, and outreach efforts for the communities that the center serves. Read More

Association of American Cancer Institutes In an interview with HemOnc Today, AACI President Caryn Lerman, PhD, said, "There’s an awareness of limited diversity at the highest levels of leadership, such as cancer center directors, but we didn’t know as much about the level of diversity among emerging leaders, such as associate directors of cancer centers, deputy directors and even program leaders." Dr. Lerman is director of USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. Read More

Association of American Cancer Institutes AACI was saddened to learn that Mary "Dicey" Jackson Scroggins passed away on August 1. In her keynote at the 2021 AACI CRI Annual Meeting, she advocated for eliminating health disparities in cancer clinical trials. The news of her death came just a few weeks before her 26th ovarian cancer survivorship anniversary. In January 2021, Dicey was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and later underwent a bone marrow transplant. Read More

The University of Arizona Cancer Center The National Cancer Institute (NCI) recently renewed the University of Arizona Cancer Center’s status as an NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and the corresponding support grant for a new five-year period. Joann Sweasy, PhD, is the center's director. Read More

Cedars-Sinai Cancer Cedars-Sinai investigators have created bio-realistic and complex computer models of individual brain cells, in unparalleled quantity. Their research details how these models could one day answer questions about neurological disorders—and even human intellect—that aren’t possible to explore through biological experiments. Read More

University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center Arul Chinnaiyan, MD, PhD, and his team from the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, studying the molecular landscape of over 500 patients with an aggressive form of multiple myeloma, discovered a prevalence of activated key oncogenic pathways in these patients. Read More

UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center After a decade of researching inequities in clinical trials with a team of researchers and physicians in cancer digital health, Hala Borno, MD, introduced Trial Library, a new, tech-enabled approach that prioritizes the need for diverse and underrepresented patient groups. Read More

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center The James P. Allison Institute at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center today announced the establishment of its scientific advisory board to provide strategic guidance and evaluation of its research portfolio and programs. The 11-person advisory board, which brings together global leaders in immunotherapy and immunobiology, held its inaugural meeting in August. Read More

UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute Pebbles Fagan, PhD, MPH, a leading expert on tobacco-related health disparities and co-founder of the National Cancer Institute’s Tobacco Research Network on Disparities, has assumed the role of associate director for Cancer Prevention and Control for the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Read More

University of Virginia Cancer Center A gift of more than $5.75 million from anonymous donors will allow UVA Cancer Center to speed the development of new treatments for rare blood cancers and provide more patients with these cancers access to cutting-edge clinical trials. UVA will use the donation to establish a new Translational Orphan Blood Cancer Research Initiative Fund. Read More

Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami Researchers at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center have received a $9.5 million National Cancer Institute Program Project grant to investigate esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). While only around 2-3 percent of patients progress from Barrett’s esophagus to EAC during their lifetimes, these cancers have a dismal, 15 percent five-year survival rate. In the past 30 years, EAC prevalence has increased 600 percent. Read More

Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center Following a national search, David Darr has been named associate director of administration and senior director for research strategy and operations for Duke Cancer Institute (DCI). As part of this role, Darr will serve as the direct administrator for DCI's Cancer Center Support Grant. Read More

UK Markey Cancer Center Physicians and researchers from UK HealthCare's Transplant Center and the UK Markey Cancer Center conducted a study of patients over the age of 70 with hepatocellular carcinoma and how the outcomes of ablative treatments compare to liver transplants. Read More

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center New research from Vanderbilt investigators suggests that clinicians should take a deeper dive into distinguishing EGFR mutations when prescribing targeted therapies for non-small-cell lung cancers. Read More

Hollings Cancer Center, Medical University of South Carolina Family medicine doctor Nicholas Shungu, MD, focuses on reducing health disparities, patient by patient, day by day, in his practice. Now, he’ll get to expand his reach as the newly appointed associate director for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center. Read More

Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine received a five-year, $5.5 million-plus grant from the National Cancer Institute for research on liver cancer risk factors and prevention, with the goal of reducing the burden of liver cancer in patients with metabolic dysfunction. Read More

Wilmot Cancer Institute, UR Medicine A Wilmot Cancer Institute scientist published data that show a new microchip-like device that his lab developed can reliably model changes in the bone marrow as leukemia takes root and spreads. Read More

Siteman Cancer Center A grant to Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis will support research into understanding lung cancer recurrence. Ramaswamy Govindan, MD, and his colleagues at Siteman Cancer Center will analyze tumor samples from patients participating in a group of national clinical trials aimed at improving lung cancer therapies. Read More

UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center The NCI recently awarded Larry Fong, MD, an Outstanding Investigator Award (R35). These awards support investigators with outstanding records of productivity in cancer research and provide multi-year funding for projects of unusual potential in cancer research. Dr. Fong’s project will use single-cell approaches to explore response and resistance to immunotherapy. Read More

Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, UT Southwestern Medical Center Investigators at UT Southwestern Medical Center report the results of a clinical trial exploring the role of stereotactic ablative radiation therapy (SAbR) for patients with a handful of metastases, or so-called oligometastatic disease. The study represents the first clinical trial for patients with untreated oligometastatic kidney cancer. Read More

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center Worried about health effects from the U.S.’s increasingly smoky summers? One day, you may be able to pop a few pills that will help your cells pinpoint and extract the worst of the airborne carcinogens before they can do harm. Sound completely science-fictional? It gets better. Future space travelers may take these chemopreventive agents as well, to combat the adverse effects of galactic cosmic rays and other harmful space radiation. Read More

Moffitt Cancer Center Sarasota resident Phebe Morgan has made a $5 million gift to Moffitt Cancer Center to honor her lifelong love who had oral cancer. A longtime smoker, Glenn Hoffman was first diagnosed with throat cancer in 1991, developed early stage oral cancer in 2020, and died of the disease in November 2021 at the age of 75. Read More

Wilmot Cancer Institute, UR Medicine Laura Calvi, MD, a leader at the Wilmot Cancer Institute and the University of Rochester Medical Center Department of Medicine, has been voted president-elect of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR). Read More

Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University Results of an international clinical trial co-led by researchers at Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University show potential for a novel drug to benefit patients with multiple myeloma whose disease either recurred or was resistant to three or more earlier lines of treatment. Read More

UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center Using a CRISPR-based edit on T-cells’ genomes, researchers at UC San Francisco and Gladstone Institutes have rendered the therapeutic cells more resilient. The discovery may help overcome a major factor limiting the success of these promising therapies in curbing both solid and liquid tumors. Read More

University of Colorado Cancer Center Artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to reduce the number of biopsies of benign thyroid nodules, according to new research from University of Colorado Cancer Center member Nikita Pozdeyev, MD. Dr. Pozdeyev used 30,000 images from 621 thyroid nodules to train the machine-learning model that classifies thyroid nodules as "cancer" or "no cancer." The model achieved a sensitivity of 97 percent, and a specificity of 61 percent. Read More

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah Aik Choon Tan, PhD, has been appointed senior director of data science at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) and will also serve as a member of the research executive committee and research leadership council within the comprehensive cancer center at HCI. Dr. Tan will begin October 1. He joins Huntsman from Moffitt Cancer Center. Read More

Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center has named Sophia George, PhD, the inaugural associate director of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). In addition to this new role, she will continue her extramurally funded research on the study of breast and gynecologic cancers in women from the African diaspora and Africa. Read More

Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center During an event marking a decade of the Chuckstrong initiative, more than $2 million was raised for the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center. Hosted by the Indianapolis Colts, Jim Irsay, and former head coach Chuck Pagano, the 2022 Chuckstrong Tailgate Gala celebrated 10 years of Pagano's survivorship and more than $12 million raised for cancer research. Read More

University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center Kimberly Leslie, MD, was awarded a four-year, $1.8 million grant from the Department of Defense to further study high-risk uterine cancer. Her research has led her to study the differences between natural progesterone and synthetic progestins and the influence of progesterone on the tumor suppressor protein p53. Read More

USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center Exposure to a synthetic chemical found widely in the environment is linked to non-viral hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of liver cancer, according to a new study conducted by researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Read More

Cedars-Sinai Cancer Ju Dong Yang, MD, a liver cancer clinician-researcher who studies epidemiology, health disparities and outcomes, and biomarkers both nationally and globally, has been appointed medical director of the Liver Cancer Program at Cedars-Sinai Cancer.   Read More

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Michael Washburn, PhD, is a recipient of the Maximizing Investigator’s Research Award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. The five-year, $1.9 million grant will fund his work studying a protein associated with the development of cancer and other diseases. Read More

The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai Lung disease caused by a new drug for cancers—including metastatic or advanced breast cancer—can be effectively treated using approaches that focus on early detection and prompt management, according to a new study that provides one of the most comprehensive analyses of interstitial lung disease diagnosis and treatment in patients who received an antibody drug conjugate known as T-DXd. Read More

Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center Although typically classified as a single ethnic group, people of Hispanic heritage have markedly different risks for brain tumors based on their geographic origins. Researchers found that populations from the Caribbean had higher rates of glioma incidence compared to those from Mexico or Central America. Read More

University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center New technologies and treatment approaches brought Lara McKean Basté, MD, to colorectal surgery and to the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center. Originally wanting to be a cardiac surgeon, McKean Basté says that the diversity of diseases in the lower intestine drew her to the practice. And UNM's mission to serve everyone in the state drew her to New Mexico. Read More

Siteman Cancer Center A new study co-authored by Li Ding, PhD, has revealed details of two key transition points in the development of pancreatic tumors – the shift from normal to precancerous cells, and the change from precancerous to cancerous cells. The study also provides insights into treatment resistance and how immunotherapy could be harnessed to treat this aggressive tumor type. Read More

Moffitt Cancer Center In a new article, Moffitt Cancer Center researchers demonstrate that cancer associated fibroblasts can promote or inhibit drug sensitivity based on the type of tumor cell and the drug used for treatment. Read More

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah Patients with Hodgkin lymphoma are more likely to suffer from mental-health and substance-abuse disorders than the general population. Calling for more attention to mental health, a study by researchers from Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah found people with the disease had higher risks of anxiety, depression, substance abuse, suicide, and self-inflicted injuries. Read More

Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and clinicians at Washington University in St. Louis have identified biological markers in triple-negative breast cancer that are associated with resistance to chemotherapy treatment. Read More

Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Health Patients with metastatic small cell lung cancer (SCLC) have limited options for treatment, with few drugs available for patients who have already completed frontline chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Now a global multi-institutional study that included researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center has shown that the investigational drug tarlatamab is a promising new potential treatment for SCLC. Read More

University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center Coaching patients to voice their concerns about their medical care and advocate for themselves can offset physicians’ racial bias so it doesn’t lead to inferior experiences for Black patients, a University of Michigan-led study found. Read More

UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute En Huang, PhD, has received a three-year, $1 million research grant from the United States Department of Agriculture. Dr. Huang and his team will investigate why some bacteria isolated from retail vegetables in the United States are resistant to beta-lactam antibiotics. Read More

University of Colorado Cancer Center University of Colorado Cancer Center member Ryan Layer, PhD, has developed a method for scanning thousands of DNA samples to identify common variants. Scientists can evaluate cell DNA to identify mutations, Dr. Layer says, but the challenge is that the human genome is massive, and mutations are a normal part of evolution. Read More

AACI recently engaged in several conversations with representatives from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services about the Biden administration’s efforts to increase clinical trial diversity. AACI's CRI Steering Committee and Board of Directors developed recommendations related to clinical research infrastructure at community research sites; financial toxicity for patients; education among patients and physicians; enrollment criteria for clinical trials; and funding for clinical resear…

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Pregnancy in patients with lung cancer is uncommon. There are limited safety data during pregnancy for ALK inhibitors – targeted therapies for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with ALK gene rearrangements. Researchers report the case of a patient with metastatic ALK-rearranged NSCLC who was treated with the ALK inhibitor alectinib throughout two pregnancies. Read More

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center To find out how much protection cancer patients have against measles and mumps, Steven Pergam, MD, MPH (pictured), along with his biostatistician colleague Elizabeth Krantz, led a project in 2019 to assess the levels of antibody protection against those viruses in that population. They found that one in four cancer patients tested lacked protective antibodies for measles, and more than one in three for mumps. Read More

UK Markey Cancer Center A new study published by UK Markey Cancer Center researchers suggests that the common steroid betamethasone could be used to reduce unwanted side effects of radiation treatments for prostate cancer. Read More

Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University Studying triple-negative breast cancer, Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists say they have identified key molecular differences between cancer cells that cling to an initial tumor and those that venture off to form distant tumors. Read More

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center The highly selective RET inhibitor pralsetinib was well-tolerated and demonstrated robust, durable responses in patients with RET fusion-positive cancers regardless of tumor type, according to results from the international Phase I/II ARROW trial led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Read More

UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center New research led by UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and involving more than 50 researchers suggests that new technology in development may lead to a better way to detect early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma. Read More

Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University A pre-clinical study led by Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta researchers finds that combination therapy of the front-line drug osimertinib (OSI) and a second drug the group developed (MRX-2843) is effective in reversing OSI resistance and superior to using either drug alone when treating non-small cell lung cancer. Read More

AACI commends the Biden administration on its appointment of surgical oncologist Monica Bertagnolli, MD, as the director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). In addition to being the first woman to serve in the role, Dr. Bertagnolli is the first woman to hold the title of chief of surgical oncology at AACI member center Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Bertagnolli is also a longtime advocate of increasing diversity in cancer research as it applies to physicians, researchers, and patients en…

Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, UT Southwestern Medical Center Newly developed artificial intelligence (AI) programs accurately predicted the role of DNA’s regulatory elements and three-dimensional (3D) structure based solely on its raw sequence. Read More

Patient Resource is proud to support the upcoming 2022 AACI/CCAF Annual Meeting, October 2-4 in Kansas City. Please stop by our booth to learn more about how you can empower your patients while increasing your market share. Learn More

Cancer center directors Steven D. Leach, MD; Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD; and Sarah Thayer, MD, PhD, have been elected as new members of the AACI Board of Directors. Drs. Leach, Odunsi, and Thayer represent Dartmouth Cancer Center; the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center; and Feist-Weiller Cancer Center, LSU Health Shreveport, respectively. They replace outgoing board members Carlos Arteaga, MD; S. Gail Eckhardt, MD, FASCO; and Anil K. Rustgi, MD. Read More

City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center The City of Hope Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), has announced a partnership with actress, singer-songwriter, and advocate Lynda Carter Altman to accelerate diagnostics and treatments, including precision medicine approaches, for a deadly and difficult-to-treat form of blood cancer. She is providing a philanthropic gift to support this work, which honors her late husband of 37 years, Robert Altman. Read More

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center A $78 million commitment by Stuart Sloan and his wife Molly Sloan will establish the Stuart and Molly Sloan Precision Oncology Institute at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. The largest single gift in Fred Hutch’s 47-year history will go toward recruitment of an institute director, new scientific programs, and a laboratory building. Read More

AACI has added Northwell Health Cancer Institute to its membership roster. Directed by Richard Barakat, MD, the cancer institute is part of Northwell Health. Treating over 16,600 new cancer patients each year, the Northwell Health system includes 21 hospitals, nine ambulatory oncology centers, and roughly 400 physicians caring for patients with cancer. The cancer institute is located on the north shore of Long Island, in Lake Success, NY. Read More

Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center The National Cancer Institute has awarded Jonathan Backer, MD, a five-year, $10 million team science (P01) grant to investigate the mechanisms regulating cancer cells that seed tumors in the lungs. The research will focus on lung metastases due to triple-negative breast cancer. Read More

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center The National Cancer Institute has renewed funding for the Early Detection Research Network Lung Cancer Clinical Validation Center at Vanderbilt- Ingram Cancer Center to detect lung cancer at early stages utilizing biomarkers – an initiative that was started in 2010 and led by Pierre Massion, MD, who died in April 2021. The $5.2 million grant provides support to the program for the next five years. Read More

The University of Kansas Cancer Center Kansas Governor Laura Kelly proclaimed September "Comprehensive Cancer Centers Awareness Month" in recognition of The University of Kansas Cancer Center becoming designated as a "Comprehensive" cancer center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). AACI Immediate Past President Roy A. Jensen, MD, is the center's director. Read More

Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Health In a recently published supplement, the American Cancer Society’s National Navigation Roundtable, which is co-chaired by a Fox Chase Cancer Center researcher, provided an extensive update on the state of patient navigation and its role in oncology care. The supplement features 13 articles covering such topics as professional standards, the successful implementation of patient navigation in cancer care, and the roles of patient navigators during COVI…

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Eunyoung Choi, PhD, and James Goldenring, MD, PhD, have received $5 million in funding from a new initiative by the National Cancer Institute that aims to define how gastric and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinomas form and evolve at the cellular level. Read More

Siteman Cancer Center Cancer research will get a boost in Missouri through a new collaboration between Siteman Cancer Center and University of Missouri Health Care’s Ellis Fischel Cancer Center in Columbia. The aim is to improve cancer care throughout Missouri. Siteman is based at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Read More

Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health Unlike most other cancer types, where higher body mass index (BMI) is associated with increased risk of cancer, research has established that, paradoxically, people with higher BMI have lower rates of lung cancer diagnosis. However, a recent study by Hee-Soon Juon, PhD, has called this paradox into question for African Americans. Read More

Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University A four-year study of the RAS family by researchers at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, three other cancer centers, and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that the frequency of mutant RAS genes differs among various tumor types, age, sex and racial groups, and co-mutation patterns among RAS genes and other genes potentially can result in different clinical outcomes or identify new areas for the…

Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center A clinical trial led by clinicians at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center showed a remarkable 20 percent advantage in the two-year overall survival rate for people with advanced melanoma who first received immunotherapy (72 percent survival rate) versus those who initially got targeted therapies (52 percent survival rate). Progression-free survival, where the cancer is stable or improving, was also trending in favor of those who…

Cedars-Sinai Cancer Cedars-Sinai has appointed Cristina R. Ferrone, MD, as chair of the Department of Surgery. Currently a professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and director of the Office of Clinical Careers for Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Dr. Ferrone will assume her new position in January 2023. Read More

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah The inaugural Vincent P. and Janet Mancini Presidential Endowed Chair is Jonathan Tward, MD, PhD. Dr. Tward serves as the lead physician on several operational committees and working groups within the Department of Radiation Oncology. He is a recognized authority in prostate, bladder, and penile cancer treatments. Read More

University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center Colleen McCormick, MD, has a broad range of interests that include biochemistry, politics, and economics, but found a love for surgery. The UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center’s research mission and its robust clinical trials program made a great fit for Dr. McCormick’s expanding interests. "Gynecologic oncology fit perfectly with what I wanted to do," she said. Read More

Stanford Cancer Institute The Stanford Cancer Institute has named Terrance Mayes, EdD, the inaugural associate director for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Dr. Mayes has served Stanford Medicine as associate dean for Equity and Strategic Initiatives and executive director of the Commission on Justice and Equity. Read More

Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University Supported by a five-year, $3.9 million R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health, Lisa Flowers, MD, MPH, Canhua Xiao, PhD, RN, FAAN, and their research team plan to enroll 500 people in the study, "Oral microbiome and periodontal diseases in oral HPV infection among people living with HIV." Read More

Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health New research from the lab of Elda Grabocka, PhD, shows a new way that obesity may drive cancer formation in pancreatic cancer. Researchers found that stress granules are much more abundant in obesity-related pancreatic cancer compared to non-obese patients, and importantly, blocking their formation stopped cancer growth in animals. Read More

The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center Jasmin A. Tiro, PhD, MPH, has joined the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center as the new associate director of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences. She was formerly professor of population and data sciences at Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, UT Southwestern Medical Center. Read More

University of Virginia Cancer Center A new discovery has shed light on how our digestive tract, lungs, and liver form, and that finding could have important implications for our understanding of cancer. Chongzhi Zang, PhD, and collaborators have found how genetic material called chromatin interacts with other factors to switch genes on and off to carry out this essential transformation. Read More

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center Our cancer is written in our DNA. Or is it? By studying mutated cells that don’t turn cancerous researchers can discover how the body keeps mutated cells in line, and how to use these processes to treat, or even prevent, cancer. Read More

UK Markey Cancer Center The cost of cancer treatment negatively impacts the physical and mental health of survivors who are living in poverty, according to a recent study co-authored by Lovoria Williams, PhD, UK Markey Cancer Center’s associate director of Cancer Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Read More

Yale Cancer Center, Yale School of Medicine Newly released results from the Phase III ADAURA trial reveal that osimertinib yielded a 5.5-year median disease-free survival in the post-surgical treatment of patients with EGFR-mutated lung cancer, and nearly three in four patients treated with adjuvant osimertinib were disease-free at four years. The new results also indicated that the use of osimertinib reduced the risk of disease recurrence in the brain and spinal cord. Read More

The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center University of Chicago Medicine oncologists Wendy Stock, MD, and Peter H. O'Donnell, MD, have been chosen to lead committees of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, a clinical trials network sponsored by the National Cancer Institute that promotes collaboration among approximately 10,000 cancer specialists across the U.S. and Canada. Read More

Duke Cancer Institute, Duke University Medical Center The Society of Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging has designated the Division of Nuclear Medicine and Radiotheranostics at Duke Health as a Comprehensive Radiopharmaceutical Therapy Center of Excellence. The division is currently one of only 14 centers in the U.S. to receive this recognition. Read More

UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute The breast cancer program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute has earned reaccreditation from the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC). The breast cancer program first received accreditation from NAPBC in 2011. Read More

The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit has received national recognition for exceptional patient care and professional nursing practice from the American Association of Critical Care Nurses by being named a 2022 recipient of the Silver Beacon Award for Excellence. Read More

University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center Michelle Ozbun, PhD, and her team published a research article earlier this year in which they describe how protamine sulfate blocks HPV infection. They reported that protamine sulfate not only prevents HPV infection but also reduces the risk of infection even after cells have been exposed to the virus. Read More

Siteman Cancer Center A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests a simple blood test—administered before CAR T cell treatment is initiated— may identify which patients are predisposed to developing neurotoxic side effects in the days and weeks after CAR T cell therapy. Read More

The University of Kansas Cancer Center A recently published study showed better survival rates for patients who indicated they ate more unsaturated fats before they were diagnosed with cancer than those who did not. For people who consumed more of a certain type of unsaturated fat—Omega-3—the findings were even more positive. Read More

The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai Mount Sinai researchers have published results that show encouraging therapeutic options for patients with the blood cancer multiple myeloma after first-line treatment with bispecific antibodies fails. Read More