The recent American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting placed MSK in the spotlight recently, both for research being performed here and for expert opinions. Here are two such featured items:

• Since 2017, CAR-T therapy has been used as treatment for forms of leukemia and lymphoma. Medical professionals collect and modify a sample of a patient’s immune cells, then return the altered cells to the patient to target and kill cancer cells. MSK’s Prasad Adusumilli and his team developed a CAR-T therapy targeting cancers outside the bloodstream—mesothelioma and lung and breast cancers that spread to the chest wall—and conducted a small phase I clinical trial. The trial found the therapy to be safe and early signs of the immunotherapy’s effectiveness are promising. Read more from the Associated Press, Daily Mail, and The Scientist.
• Two articles quoted MSK’s Monica Morrow’s assessment of a study performed by researchers at Loma Linda University and presented at the meeting. The retrospective study looked at National Cancer Database data from 2010–2012 to determine whether surgery impacted survival for women with HER2+ metastatic breast cancer. It found that women who received surgery were more frequently white, younger, and with private insurance. These socioeconomic factors account at least in part for their improved outcomes after receiving surgery. Dr. Morrow does not believe this study is sufficient to change clinical practice, in large part due to the selection bias in the patient population receiving surgery. She is awaiting results of a randomized trial currently underway.