Category Archives: In the News

Unraveling the Complexities of Metastasis

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Dr. Adrienne Boire

Adrienne Boire, MD, PhD. Photo: Karsten Moran.

An April feature in The Scientist explores the current landscape of metastasis research.

Framing the story is the work of MSK’s Dr. Adrienne Boire. When she was a clinical and postdoctoral fellow at MSK, a young patient asked her why and how cancer metastasized to her spinal fluid.

The interaction changed the focus of Boire’s research. She now leads a lab at MSK where she and her collaborators are making inroads into understanding the biology of metastatic cells.

Learn more about the Boire Lab in this 2019 video.

Pre-metastatic Cancer Stage Intervention, Anti-Cancer Drug Ranking Algorithm, Melanoma Vaccine and More

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  • In a new National Cancer Institute study, the researchers interfered with the cancer metastasizing process at the premetastatic stage to prevent metastatic spread and shrink tumors. The scientists used myeloid cells that were known to promote cancer metastasizing by sending a signal from the primary cancer to the other sites in the body where the metastatic spread was going to occur and lowering the immune response. The researchers added a gene to these myeloid cells forcing them to activate and strengthen the immune response. This animal study was published in Cell.
  • Researchers from Rutgers University found that bariatric surgery significantly reduced cancer risk in patients with severe obesity and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The risk reduction was especially prominent in obesity-related cancers, such as colorectal, pancreatic, endometrial, and thyroid cancers, as well as hepatocellular carcinoma and multiple myeloma. The study was published in Gastroenterology.
  • An international group of researchers used Artificial Intelligence (AI) for mining “big data” to gain more insight into the development and prognosis of mesothelioma, a cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. The initial exploration revealed that mesothelioma development followed specific trajectories, which could also predict the degree of mesothelioma aggressiveness. The study was published in Nature Communications.
  • Researchers from Queen Mary University of London, UK, have developed a machine-learning algorithm that ranked cancer drugs based on their efficacy. Along the lines of personalized medicine, this will enable oncologists to select the best drugs for treating individual cancer patients. The study was published in Nature Communications.
  • Developments in Biomedical Engineering consistently create new opportunities for personalized medicine. Scientists from Japan created special hydrogel that reprogramed and reverted differentiated cancer cells into cancer stem cells within 24 hours. This innovation may help creating new stem cell targeting drugs and personalized therapies in the future. The study was published in Nature Biomedical Engineering.

Getting the COVID Vaccine? Here’s What You Should Know About Cancer Imaging

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Nurse leader Jeanine Gordon gives nurse Emma Devlin the COVID-19 vaccination.

Nurse leader Jeanine Gordon gives nurse Emma Devlin the COVID-19 vaccination. Photo: Richard DeWitt.

A small but significant number of people experience swollen lymph nodes as a side effect of receiving a COVID vaccine. This can look like a clinically significant finding on cancer imaging, including chest CTs, PET scans, mammography, and breast MRI. In response, radiologists from MSK and three other institutions recently published recommendations for cancer imaging and COVID vaccination.

As reported by Reuters and the Associated Press, the authors recommend scheduling routine cancer imaging screenings either before vaccination or six weeks after. But patients should not delay getting either the vaccine or clinically urgent imaging. Cancer patients should receive the vaccine in the arm opposite the active or suspected cancer. Medical staff should ask patients receiving imaging about their vaccine history, including the date of vaccination and the side of the body vaccinated. If enlarged lymph nodes appear on imaging, radiologists may request follow up images or, in a small number of cases, biopsy.  

Want to learn more about MSK’s COVID-related research? Visit Synapse, the Library’s database of MSK-authored publications, for a full list of COVID-related works.

 Want to know more about COVID vaccination? Visit MSK’s info page.