Category Archives: In the News

Men Are at Risk for BRCA-associated Cancers

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Dr. Robert Sidlow

Dr. Robert Sidlow. Photo by Richard DeWitt.

Jewish people of Ashkenazi (Eastern European) descent have an increased risk of genetic mutations that raise the likelihood of having melanoma, breast, ovarian, pancreatic, and prostate cancers. Yet women are more likely to be screened than men. In a recent Heritage Florida Jewish News article, MSK’s Dr. Robert Sidlow offers guidance to men who may be impacted by these BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations.

The men Dr. Sidlow sees as director of MSK’s Male BRCA Genetic Risk Program generally make an appointment after a female relative tests positive for a BRCA mutation. He recommends that men who test positive start regular mammograms at age 50 and have clinical breast exams. They should also begin prostate cancer screening at 40, 10 years earlier than the general population.

Learn more about male breast cancer and BRCA genetic mutations.

MSK is a Reason to Love NYC

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Dr. Luis Diaz Jr., far left, and Dr. Andrea Cercek, second from right, with patients from the trial. Photo by Richard DeWitt.

Dr. Luis Diaz Jr., far left, and Dr. Andrea Cercek, second from right, with patients from the trial. Photo by Richard DeWitt.

Reason #37 to love New York in 2022? Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

So says New York Magazine as it celebrates the groundbreaking clinical trial led by Dr. Andrea Cercek and Dr. Luis Diaz Jr. In the small trial, all 14 participants who received six months of immunotherapy for rectal cancer had complete remission without additional treatment. The patients had a specific mismatch repair-deficient tumor mutation, which is thought to occur for 5% to 10% of rectal cancers.

Read more about the trial from MSK’s coverage and the New England Journal of Medicine article.

Low-Protein Diet for Colon Cancer, Algorithm for Radiation Therapy Scheduling Drastically Boosts its Efficacy and More

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  • Researchers from the University of Michigan found, in preclinical studies, that a low-protein diet blocked the nutrient signaling pathway that drove colon cancer growth. “A low-protein diet, and specifically a reduction in two key amino acids” starved cancer cells and helped overcome treatment resistance Results of the study were published in Gastroenterology.
  • Researchers from the University of Missouri discovered that nicotinamide, or niacinamide, a form of vitamin B3, might increase breast cancer and brain metastasis risk. It is contrary to the results of earlier research that showed multiple health benefits of taking the supplement. The study was published in Biosensors and Bioelectronics.
  • New animal research on squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), a skin cancer linked to RAS gene mutations, found that cancer development was driven by the interaction and mutual influence of tumor stem cells and their environment. The study further discovered a surprising for SCC connection to leptin, a hormone produced by fat cells. The findings of this study go beyond the studied cancer type and give an insight into cancer biology that may result in developing new ways of treating cancer. The study was published in Nature.
  • Canadian researchers used mathematics to devise an algorithm for scheduling radiation therapy that could make it up to 22 percent more effective at killing cancer cells than existing standard radiation treatment regimens. The algorithm needs to be tested in clinical studies. The work was published in Journal of Mathematical Biology.
  • Scientists from Germany discovered the reason for the previously observed phenomenon where metastatic growth only appeared after the surgical removal of the original tumor. They conducted an animal study and, in the cancer cells, identified a messenger substance (ANGPLT4) that promoted the local growth of the primary tumor. In the blood, ANGPLT4 split into two fragments, one of which suppressed metastasis. Surgical removal of the primary tumor disables the source of the metastasis-suppressing fragment, thus activating individual dormant metastatic tumor cells. While surgery remains the gold standard in treating most cancers, further study of ANGPLT4 may pave the way to developing new metastasis-suppressing drugs. The study was published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.