Category Archives: In the News

Former MSK Researcher Wins Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

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Last Monday, Dr. James Allison and Dr. Tasuku Honjo won the Nobel Prize in the category of Physiology or Medicine for discoveries leading to the development of cancer immunotherapy drugs. As MSK’s Dr. Jedd Wolchok told the Associated Press, “An untold number of lives … have been saved by the science that they pioneered.” Dr. Allison, now at MD Anderson Cancer Center, worked on this research in part while chair of the Immunology Program at MSK.

Two articles from Vox put the research into a larger context. The first explains that with Dr. Allison and Dr. Honjo’s findings, up to 15-20 percent of patients with advanced melanoma and lung cancer can now benefit from precise checkpoint inhibitor therapies that target the proteins CTLA-4 (studied by Dr. Allison) and PD-1 (studied by Dr. Honjo). MSK’s Dr. Michael Postow explains in the article that next steps in immunotherapy research include determining who the therapies will help and why they don’t help the majority of patients.

The second Vox piece looks at the economics of checkpoint inhibitor therapy. While immunotherapies save lives, they also can cost more than $100,000 per patient. The article includes this chart from MSK’s Dr. Peter Bach:

For more of Dr. Bach’s economic comparisons, visit the website of MSK’s Center for Health Policy & Outcomes.

How Much Screening is Enough?

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Recent research indicates that more post-treatment screening does not impact colorectal cancer survival rates. A study published in JAMA and reported last week by Clinical Oncology News found no connection between post-treatment screening intensity and cancer recurrence detection when comparing 4,188 patients at 613 medical facilities with high-intensity screening to 4,341 patients at 539 medical facilities with low-intensity screening during the first three years of follow-up. Based on their data, the authors recommend following the guidelines of the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which calls for two CT scans in the first three years and biomarker testing every six months during the first three years post-treatment. The Clinical Oncology News piece quotes MSK’s Dr. Andrea Cercek, who states that unnecessary testing can lead to avoidable patient anxiety.

2018 AACR Cancer Report Highlights

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The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) released its 2018 report on September 12. The comprehensive report provides a summary of the past year’s accomplishments in cancer early detection, prevention, precision medicine, immunotherapy, and more. Engaging graphics from the Report are also available, like the one on health disparities shown at the bottom of this post.

Highlights and Challenges from the Report include:

  • The U.S. cancer death rate declined by 26 percent for adults from 1991 to 2015, a reduction that translates into almost 2.4 million lives saved.
  • The number of new cancer cases in the United States is predicted to rise from more than 1.7 million in 2018 to almost 2.4 million in 2035, due largely to the increasing number of people age 65 and older.
  • Advances against cancer have not benefited everyone equally. Cancer health disparities are some of the most pressing challenges posed by the disease.