- Recent studies have shown that patients’ own immune systems can be harnessed to kill cancer. A genetic engineering procedure has shown success using the body’s immune system in the fight against B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, an aggressive blood cancer. Researchers at MSK and at the University of Pennsylvania have been trying to train immune cells to recognize leukemia cells and kill them. Dr. Renier Brentjens of MSK, one of the senior researchers, reported that 14 of 16 patients who received the special cell therapy achieved a “complete remission.”
- Renal cell carcinoma survival is negatively affected by smoking. Dr. Behfar Ehdaie of MSK studied the effect of smoking on cancer specific survival in 1,625 patients suffering from clear cell renal cell carcinoma, looking at data collected between 1995 and 2012. The results did not reach statistical significance but indicated an adverse effect from smoking.
- Moving liver surgery in the direction of minimally invasive procedures has been a focus of MSK. Dr. T. Peter Kingham of MSK discussed the emergence of robotic liver surgery which utilizes a high-definition 3-D camera. When compared with open resection, laparoscopic liver procedures for malignant tumors, have similar operative and cancer outcomes in selected patients.
- Dr. Carol Aghajanian of MSK commented on a study which showed that when advanced cervical cancer patients were treated with chemotherapy and Avastin, their survival was almost 4 months longer than those treated with chemotherapy only. Dr. Aghajanian considers this finding to be a major development that will play a significant role in U.S. clinical practice.