• An article on Charles L. Sawyers, chair of the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program at MSK, points out  Dr. Sawyers’ crucial contribution to the discovery of three cancer drugs.  The most recent one, Xtandi, is for the treatment of metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer.  With the development of these three drugs, Dr. Sawyers has helped to bring about a novel approach to cancer treatment.
• In a study carried out by Jianda Yuan and colleagues of Memorial Sloan Kettering, serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) of patients with metastatic melanoma were analyzed before and after treatment with ipilimumab.  Patients with high levels of VEGF before treatment with ipilimumab have poorer survival than patients with lover VEGF levels.  Serum VEGF may be a predictive biomarker for ipilimumab treatment. Continue reading →

Here are some MSK news items from the last couple of weeks…

• New York institutions have recently been the recipients of generous donations for cancer research.  MSK received a gift of $90 million in January from the Ludwig Cancer Research organization to fund immuno-oncology research.  Other New York institutions which have received large donations are the NYU Langone Medical Center which was gifted with a $50 million dollar donation and the Weill Cornell Medical College which recently received a $75 million gift.
• A new journal, Hepatobiliary Cancer, has been announced by the publisher, PMPH-USA.  Dr. Yuman Fong of MSK, a world recognized researcher in liver and biliary surgery, will be co-editor of the new publication along with section editors, Dr. Ghassan K. Abou-Alfa and Dr. Gary E. Deng, also of MSK.  The journal will focus on new technology for the management of liver and biliary cancers from worldwide major cancer centers.
• The cell-surface glycoprotein, Mesothelin, can predict tumor aggression in lung adenocarcinoma patients according to studies carried out at MSK by Dr. Prasad Adusumilli and his colleagues.  Patients with high Mesothelin expression had lower 5-year survival rates than those with low Mesothelin expression.
• Cycle for Survival, is an event in which cancer survivors, patients and their families participate in a team cycling effort to raise money for rare cancer research.  The event took place on February 1st in 13 cities in the U.S.  The money raised will be donated to Memorial Sloan Kettering to support rare cancer trials and research studies.
• Obesity has been found to be a factor in poorer survival in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue.  The study, carried out by researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering and Weill Cornell Medical College, found a five-fold increase in risk of death in patients who were obese immediately prior to diagnosis of the tongue cancer.  According to Dr. Neil Iyengar, the lead author of the study and an MSK fellow, this discovery may lead to new, more effective treatments.

MSK teams up with the LGBT Cancer Network and more…

• MSK hosted a conference on cancer in the LGBT community.  In conjunction with the National LGBT Cancer Network, the conference, held at Memorial Sloan Kettering on Jan 18^th, was attended by allied health professionals, students, researchers, clinicians and survivors.  The intention of the conference was to provide attendees information about LGBT cancer risks and care of LGBT individuals, among other goals.
• Mark Kris, Chair in Thoracic Oncology at MSK recently discussed new drugs for lung cancer.  One of the groups of drugs Dr. Kris talked about was antibody medications that are still in trials. They may provide significant benefits for lung cancer patients which so far, appear to be long lasting. Continue reading →